Today I'm playing in a linked blog tour, thanks to fellow author, Annette Snyder, whose work and bio can be found here. One of the fabulous things Annette does, is host the Fifty Authors from Fifty States blog which can be found here. Her book, Intimate Flames, was also a 2011 EPIC finalist. She has sweetly invited me to join the My Writing Process Blog Tour, and my answers to the tour questions are below, along with the three authors that I am happily introducing for the next tier of the tour.
Thanks, Annette!
My Writing Process:
1) What am I working on?
I am currently working away at book four in the Kingdoms Gone fairy tale series. Blame the Bearer is going to continue the story left off at the end of Horded and I'm about half the distance through the first draft as we speak.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
The Kingdoms Gone series is about our perceptions of people. The books explore misconceptions and first impressions and the perspective of each character by taking someone who may have been seen as the antagonist in one book and casting them in a different light in the next...sometimes by placing them in the role of hero or heroine, and sometimes by showing them at different times or stages in their lives. Blame the Bearer has at it's core a protagonist who, up until this book, has been cast as incredibly villainous. Whether or not his story can redeem him, however, remains to be seen.
3) Why do I write what I do?
I am writing the fairy tale series for many reasons. I have always been fond of them, for one. Aside from that, the fairy tale is a caricature. It is both a reflection of reality and a symbolic story, and so very useful for exploring concepts like good and evil, the nature of character, people and the dangers of looking only at the surface or first glance. The world does not have to be exact, for it is fantasy and myth, not history. The focus can shift to the people, and how they change when we twist them to look from a different angle.
4) How does your writing process work?
This often changes from book to book, but usually I do a little pre-writing. I don't outline, exactly, but I do line out the major plot points and character arcs and then import that information into Scrivener. Once I have the bones in, then I usually dive in with the storytelling. I write from start to finish chronologically, and though many authors do it, can't imagine trying to skip about and then piecing it all together afterwards.
Of course, I drink obscene amounts of coffee and tend to mutter to myself in a very cliche manner as well.
Thanks so much for joining our tour! Next week three of my favorite people will be posting their answers too. Check them out!
Up Next Week:
Three fantastic authors and great friends will be posting their answers on Jun 9th at the following links:
S. Evan Townsend
S. Evan Townsend has been called "America's Unique Speculative Fiction Voice." After spending four years in the U.S. Army in the Military Intelligence branch, he returned to civilian life and college to earn a B.S. in Forest Resources from the University of Washington. In his spare time he enjoys reading, driving (sometimes on a racetrack), meeting people, and talking with friends. He is in a 12-step program for Starbucks addiction. Evan lives in central Washington State with his wife and has three grown sons. He enjoys science fiction, fantasy, history, politics, cars, and travel. He currently has five published fantasy and science fiction novels.
Adriane Ceallaigh, Author of Unbound: Kayla Blackstone Book One, enjoys knitting and managing the Central Washington Authors Guild. She can be reached at Author@adrianeceallaigh.com
Voss Foster lives in the middle of the Eastern Washington desert, where he writes speculative fiction.