The Process Project: Rhiannon Paille

If you're not yet familiar with the Process Project, check us out here!

Meet Rhiannon Paille!

Rhiannon is a Booksmith from the middle of nowhere, Canada. She holds a PhD in Metaphysical Science and Parapsychology, which is to say she happens to know a lot about what goes bump in the night. When she's not writing she's singing karaoke, burning dinner, and hiding her superhero identity. She'd like to own a unicorn one day, as long as it doesn't eat her. You'll find her sipping iced cappuccino despite her allergy to coffee at yafantasyauthor.com


And now, for the questions...

What is/are your main genre/field of writing?

Young Adult and Non Fiction

The Process Project: Tyrese L. Coleman!

If you're not yet familiar with the Process Project, check us out here!

Meet Tyrese L. Coleman!

Tyrese L. Coleman is a writer, wife, mother, and lawyer. She is also a master's student with the Writing Program at Johns Hopkins University. Her writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in the Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review, PANK Magazine Online, the Tahoma Literary Review, Quaint Magazine, and elsewhere. Follow on Twitter @tylachelleco or her blog, Clever Title Pending, at www.tyresecoleman.blogspot.com.

And now, for the questions...

What is your main genre of writing?

I spend most of my time drafting what I like to consider "literary fiction." I have dabbled in young adult, even wrote a whole YA novel before I started graduate school. But, as anyone who has written anything and then gone to a Master's program afterwards, you realize that how you wrote before "learning how to write" is nothing like how you write once you've "learned" how to do it. So, my YA novel is sitting on an electronic MS Word shelf collecting imaginary dust. I tend to write short stories now, however, it appears that what I am most successful at getting published are my pieces of creative non-fiction.

​What is your writing routine like?

Before I can get into the answer to this question, let me explain a few details of my life -- paint a picture, so to speak. I am a licensed attorney who does not practice, but works full-time for the federal government. I am married to a Historian. We have twin soon-to-be two-year old boys. And I have a four-year old Bassador (Basset Hound and Labrador) named Luna. I am also currently a student with the Writing Program at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.

Here is an example of my day-to-day schedule and when I find a time and place to write:

• 6-9am: shower, get kids up and down for breakfast, take care of dog, drop off kids, and get to work
• 9am-5:30pm: BS with co-workers, eat breakfast, surf internet, turn up PANDORA (usually listening to Sam Cooke or some other soul station) and in between working on what I get paid to work on, I dip into the always-active open screen to my short story/personal essay/workshop critique/online journal/blog/duotrope/etc etc
• 5:30-7pm: grab kids, make dinner, feed kids, put them to bed (oh, and maybe say hello to my husband...can't forget him)
• 7pm-10pm: write and/or read, homework, and sometimes, very rarely, watch TV.

I think the above is evidence of my adult ADHD and short attention span than anything else, but it is also evidence that you can fit time to write into any schedule, no matter how tiring it is. Writing is my default, it is what I am doing when I am not doing anything else.

When you are preparing to write a new story, what kinds of techniques or methods do you use to organize your ideas?

Recently, I've been seeing success in my works of creative non-fiction and have decided to continue using my past real-life experiences as impetuous for new material, whether it be fiction or more non-fiction. This could change, but its what I am up to right now.

When I start any new piece, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, I generally focus on a particular memory or sensation, not so much an event. For example, the feeling of having an aunt comb your hair or riding on the handlebars of a bike. I find sensory details much more interesting than actual events. I write down what is happening in that moment, how the character or myself felt, and then proceed with "what happens next." Sometimes that intro is kept in the story, but often times it is taken out because it doesn't fit with the final piece, but it always leads somewhere.

Where the process differs between fiction and non-fiction, for me, is the pace in which I then proceed to work. With my non-fiction, I find that I can complete a first draft in one sitting. This is because the "story" has already happened, I am just documenting it.

However, it can take weeks for me to finish a short story draft. In some instances, I know exactly what I want to do with a story, but because of a lack of writing time, I may not be able to finish it all within a reasonable amount of time. So, I will go through and bullet point the main plot points and then write everything out as I go along. Other times, I may draft it out on a piece of paper, making notes and corrections.

Other times, I brainstorm. The best thing about working in an office are co-workers. When I am stumped on what should happen next in a story, I confer with one of my co-workers and talk about the story out loud with her. She gives me her opinions and thoughts, but mostly, the exercise allows me to let out what I've had boxed up in my brain since I first got the idea. It really helps to think about a story, characters, plot, theme, etc., out loud in able to voice what the story really is about.

While you are working on a piece, do you have any particular way that you structure your work?

As I mention above, if it is fiction, I will bullet point plot points or major thematic elements that I definitely want to include or I will write them down on a piece of paper and keep it with me, often going back and making more notes. I find that when I start writing with no idea as to what I want to have happen, i.e. "letting the story figure itself out," I end up not finishing. So, I am now trying to employ some of type of methodology where I determine at least one major plot and/or thematic point that holds the whole piece together. Then I write on through to those particular "scenes." Sometimes, those ideas change as I write. The story may have started off as one thing, but the characters I have written have taken it off somewhere else. At some point, I reevaluate and determine if what I've written is consistent with what I want to have happen.

I keep everything in Dropbox so that I can access my documents anywhere. Because I often write at work, at home and over and across several different computers, I find Dropbox to be one of the best ways to get to my work whenever I feel like working on it. Inside Dropbox, I have several different folders for the different types of writing I do. And, I save drafts with a date at the end so that I can see which one is the latest right away.

​When it's time to revise your work, do you have any particular methods that you use to help you through the process? ​

Revision...oh boy.

So, I like to revise first by printing off a draft and line editing. I will shred my draft to bits and question as much as I can via that printed document. Then I go back, make the edits, and repeat. I cannot "revise" on a computer screen. Revising on a computer screen is what I consider drafting the story, as I tend to revise what I previously wrote in a draft over and over again until the draft is complete. I print the draft only when its complete, never before. I don't know why...probably for similar reasons sports players grow mustaches during play-offs, superstition, I guess.

After that point, and especially since I started the program, the story gets workshopped or read by someone else before I move on. After workshop, generally there is a larger revision that may include cutting and adding significant portions of the story and reevaluating what is working and what isn't. Again, the printer is cut off. It is not until I address these issues that I start the second revision process. After that, I print and go through line by line, word by word until my eyes bleed or I start dreaming about my characters trying to attack me with Elmo shaped forks and then realize those aren't my characters, but my children instead.

And most importantly: why do you write?

​I write because it makes me happy. Simple as that. It is the one indulgence in my life that I allow myself to obsess over. I don't want to call it a "hobby," because the word "hobby" does not connote the seriousness in which I take my writing. However, I cannot call it "work" because, to me, "work" involves getting paid, and there isn't too much of that happening.

But, writing is my way of life -- getting life, seeing life, enjoying life, loving life, understanding life, making it through life. When I write, I feel the most like "me." Not Tyrese the employee, the wife, the mother, the fur-mom, the friend. I am just me, enjoying life, when I write. That's why I do it. Simple.

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I want to thank Tyrese for the wonderful answers and inspiration! We are so happy she was able to add to the Process Project,. I loved seeing the life of a real-life writer who does it all! Thanks, Tyrese!!!

Check out some of her work here!

I am Karintha [Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review]

How to Sit [PANK] and her PANK Interview

http://www.divergentvoices.com/ ("A Caged Bird")

Follow her on Twitter at @tylachelleco 

And read her blog at www.tyresecoleman.blogspot.com.

The Process Project: Meet Gareth S. Young!

If you're not yet familiar with the Process Project, check us out here!

Meet Gareth S. Young!

This week I am proud to introduce my friend who I call Spartagus :) I met Gareth on Twitter and read his book Monsters (which you should get your copy of asap!) and we became fast friends! 

Gareth S. Young was born and raised in Scotland, but has now lived for more than 15 years in the American Midwest. This has played havoc with his accent. In 2010, he published his first full length story, a mystery/suspense novel called Monsters  In April 2013, his short story "The Orange-headed Serpent" was published in the Orange Karen Anthology. 2015 will see the release of Dynamo City: The Wolves of Dynamo, part one of an audacious YA urban fantasy series. Other upcoming works include Persephone, the much anticipated follow up to Monsters  and part two of the Dynamo City saga.

And now for the questions....

JB: What is your main genre of writing? 

GY: Mystery/thriller, although I'm currently working on a series of Young Adult Urban Fantasy books.

JB: What is your writing routine? 

GY: I usually write at my desk on the PC or on the couch with the laptop. Invariably I find myself writing at night, since I work second shift and get home late. I have found that my inability to sleep and my imagination intersect perfectly in the evening time. When I'm writing, I often use music to set the general mood, to influence pace, or to focus on a specific emotion. I tend towards music without lyrics, to avoid getting too caught up in the words, and that means I have several movie soundtracks in constant rotation. There's no special food I like to eat. In fact, I prefer not to eat when I'm writing to avoid greasy fingers, interruptions in my typing and, I really need to watch my weight. Plenty of liquids, though.

JB: When you are preparing to write a new story, what kinds of techniques or methods do you use to organize your ideas? 

GY: I always try to write down ideas--on bits of paper if I'm not at home, or on the computer if I am. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I'm going to write before I really get stuck into it, just playing ideas out in my head until something feels good. I'll run scenes that will mark the path to the end, although I leave a lot of room for the characters to lead me off in different directions. I like to build the characters from the ground up, giving them a deep history, even if I never use it, and figure out character traits and dynamics between characters. That way, I will be able to write in different voices without feeling all my characters sound the same.

JB: While you are working on a piece, do you have any particular way that you structure your work? 
GY: I tend not to get stuck too much in one format, but I like to make sure there's a certain symmetry to my stories. I love the idea of fractals -- a never ending pattern on any scale. You can zoom in and see the same image as if you zoom out. In stories I like the idea that the broad theme of the story can be seen whether you look at the story as a whole or if you're looking at only one character. Sort of like a fractal.

Also, you have to understand the arc of your main character, your character has to "change" in some way, so it's important you know how to affect that change. Sometimes this means breaking down the most important scenes, figuring out where they go in the story, and connecting the dots between. Sometimes it means writing yourself into a corner to see if your character can get out of it. I write important dialogue heavy scenes first as pure dialogue, no description or direction, just to get the beats of the conversation. With action, I do a rough outline to be fine tuned later. I find opening chapters difficult. The first half-dozen are often the most re-written in my stories. Once I get going, though, I am usually able to see the map in my head and I write to that. I'll write down details, dates, times, and all the character information for reference, but my stories sometimes have little shape until I've gone through them once. I actually broke Monsters into three sections/parts/acts to pace it out better. For my urban fantasy I just wrote and the rhythm came naturally.

JB: When it's time to revise/edit your work, do you have any particular methods that you use to help you through the process?

GY: Yes, I use an editor. lol. My first release of Monsters was riddled with mistakes despite the fact I went through it a dozen times. I think after a while, you become blind to your own mistakes, so it's always better to get some fresh eyes on it. I pulled the book and enlisted the editorial services of Gina Hylton (a.k.a. author Regina West), who whipped it into fighting shape. I re-released it, feeling much better about it. Being self-published puts you under a little more scrutiny, and I've learned there's no reason to settle for second best just because you put the book out yourself. Work hard, get help, hire an editor and probably someone to do your cover. The dollars might add up, but its worth it to put out the best book you can.

JB: And most importantly: why do you write? 

GY: I write because I remember what it was like sitting in a movie theater as the Imperial Star Destroyer chased the rebel transport through space...and remember watching Bruce Willis realize he was a ghost. I remember racing through the words as Boo Radley rescued Jem...and being shocked to discover the man from The Scythe wasn't just cutting wheat, he was doing the work of Death...and stunned as the hunters returned from the past in A Sound of Thunder to find their own time had changed because one of them had strayed from the artificial path and crushed a butterfly. It is so much fun to be caught up in a make-believe world to the point you are invested in a make-believe character. I don't know why we care about these things, but we do, and the excitement, terror, and satisfaction we can feel from stories is something I want to recreate and share.

* Imperial Star Destroyer chasing Rebel transport? Star Wars of course. A ghostly Bruce Willis? The Sixth Sense. Boo Radley and Jem are from To Kill a Mockingbird. The Scythe and A Sound of Thunder are two classic short stories by Ray Bradbury.

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Thank you so much, Gareth, for participating in the Process Project! 

You must follow SpartaGus on the web!
 @Spartagus on Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Wattpad | Blog | Monsters

Monsters (available as paperback and Kindle ebook)

The Process Project: Meet Poet, Kim King!

I am THRILLED to be sharing with you an interview with the amazing Kim King! I was fortunate enough to share my thesis experience with this wonderful and supportive poet who I am now happy to call my friend. In honor of National Poetry month, I bring to you, the writing process of Kim King!

Meet Kim King!!

Kim King's poetry has appeared in a number of journals and anthologies, including Prompted, An International Collection of Poems, Wild Onions 2013 and Wild Onions 2014, Point Mass, In Gilded Frame, The MidWest Quarterly and The Road Not Taken. She lived and studied in France before becoming a high school French Teacher. She has an MA in Writing from the Johns Hopkins University and writes from her home in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

And now...onto the questions!

JB: What do you write?

KK: I'm a poet!

JB: What is your writing routine like?
KK: My writing routine is not a routine, because I teach French at two different high schools every day. Sometimes, if I have an idea percolating, I will drop everything to get it down, but I always have lessons to plan and papers to correct. In the summer and on weekends, I have time to write. I like to write in the mornings, when the sun is hitting the patio. I'll make a pot of coffee, take my journal outside, listen to the birds, smell the grass, and start writing. I prefer quiet to write, so I find writing in a coffee shop distracting, unless I put on headphones. I often write poems directly on the computer, but the distractions of email, Twitter, and FB get me off task. Following an interview that I read in The Paris Review with Billy Collins, I've returned to the journal and pen. I ordered the same pens and journal that he mentioned, hoping that they'll bring good writing karma.

JB: When you are preparing to write a new poem, what kinds of techniques or methods do you use to organize your ideas?
KK: Usually, poets will say that the poem writes itself. For me, when I have an idea, an image, or a metaphor that is rattling around in my head, I'll write down those first few words. Sometimes a title comes first. I'll try to think of concrete images to connect to those first words. I may do research on whatever it is I'm writing about, like the types of trees, names of flowers, descriptions of how bridges are built, or historical or literary information. I'll write one line, and then another, and just keep writing until it ends. I'll read what I have written and decide whether or not the poem needs to be written in a certain form. Some poems come out as sonnets and others as free verse. I may rewrite a free verse poem in iambic pentameter blank verse, if that's how it sounds best. I may start out writing a sonnet and decide later that the poem does not want to be a sonnet. I experiment.

JB: While you are working on a piece, do you have any particular way that you structure your work?
KK: Once the poem is down, I transfer to the computer and always write in Times New Roman twelve point double spaced, as my professors at Johns Hopkins required. Once it's on the computer, it's easier to move the lines, to add and delete words, and to play around with the form. I'll save the first version by a title or by the first line of the poem. Later, when I work on it again, if I make major changes, I'll rename it as the "Title2", "Title3", etc. When the poem is where I want it to send it out for publication, I'll rename it "TitleFinal." I keep my poems in files for each year. When a poem is sent out for publication, I move it to a "Submissions" file. I keep a document with all the names of the journals where I submitted, the dates of my submissions, the title of the poems that I sent, and the deadlines for responses. I update that file with "Accepted" or "Rejected" when I hear from the publication. This way I can be sure that I do not send simultaneous submissions to journals that do not accept them.

JB: Can you tell me a little about your revision process?
KK: Revisions are tricky. I'll go back and tweak a poem many times, trying to tighten it up and eliminate unnecessary words. I'll double check the meter, if it's in meter, and concentrate on end words and enjambment. I want the end words of each line to carry a punch of sound or meaning. I'll look for words that I've used twice, find another synonym, and change one of them. I want each line to pull the reader to the next line. If the reader gets bored or lost, he or she will never finish the poem. I have a few trusted poets that I may send the poem to for another pair of eyes. They may find a tense shift, a preposition, or a metaphor that doesn't quite work, and I'll revise it again. I revise until I cannot find anything else to fix. I usually have the most trouble with the endings. I have to decide if the poem is complete, or if it needs another stanza.

JB: And so, Kim, my final question for you is...why do you write?
KK: I write because I have ideas for poems in my head, or because I'll see something that I want to tell someone else. I wrote a poem about domestic violence after I saw a man smash his wife's head into boxes of candy at Costco. I wrote a poem about a crippled man begging at an intersection on North Avenue in Baltimore, because I saw a girl hand him a lunch out her car window. I wrote many poems about my father, a World War II veteran, because I wanted to preserve my memories of him for my children. He told great stories and taught me all about life and how to be a good citizen. I wrote a series of poems while I was going through medical procedures for a possible breast cancer diagnosis. Those poems tell the story from the first phone call to the biopsy and then to the negative results. I wrote most of them in the waiting room or while staring at the ceiling in the hospital.

I look around me every day, especially when I'm driving, and I see something that triggers an idea for a poem. The idea may lay dormant for a while, but eventually, I write about it. I've been driving and jotted notes down for a poem on the back of an envelope, and if I'm a passenger, I always have my notebook with me. I often come up with ideas first thing in the morning, when I'm in the shower. When I get out of the shower, I write them down.

Some of my best writing comes from being under pressure, so taking a writing class with prompts and deadlines is a good idea. I also suggest participating in one of the Writer's Digest's April Poem-A-Day writing challenges. Even if the poems are not ready for publication, you have thirty poems at the end of the month to start revising.

Kim is participating in the Poem-A-Day via Robert Lee Brewer’s Poetic Asides Blog you can check out her poems on her blog here! Ksquaredpoetry

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I want to give a big giant THANK YOU to Kim King for taking the time to share her answers with us. Remember, April is National Poetry month! So get out there and read and write some poetry!

Want to read more of Kim King? Check out the links to some of her work below, and you can check Kim’s Blog out here: Ksquaredpoetry – or Follow her on Twitter @madkking.

Check out Kim's work here:
Prompted, An International Collection of Poems
Wild Onions 2013
Wild Onions 2014
Point Mass
In Gilded Frame
The MidWest Quarterly
The Road Not Taken

The Process Project: Meet Justin Sloan!

Welcome to week eight of the Process Project!! If you don’t know about us already, please visit The Process Project page to find out more about this project, and read interviews with other authors.

This week I am really excited to share an interview with one of my fellow classmates. We met virtually through the Johns Hopkins MA program, as he was taking classes remotely from across the country. I’ve had a chance to read some of his work and also receive feedback on my own novel from him. He’s a terrific writer, and I’m so excited to share this interview with you!

Meet Justin Sloan!!

Justin Sloan is a video game writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He studied writing at the Johns Hopkins University MA in Writing program and at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television's Professional Program in Screenwriting. Additionally, he has published short fiction and poetry.

Justin was in the Marines for five years and has lived in Japan, Korea, and Italy. He currently lives with his amazing wife and children in the Bay Area, where he writes and enjoys life.

And now...on to the questions!!

JB: What is/are your main genre/field of writing?

JS: Many of the panelists at writing conferences and speakers on podcasts and whatnot recommend we find our niche, or focus on a genre of writing so as to meet our readers’ expectations or give our agents a way to sell us. To this end, you could say I write middle grade and young adult coming of age fantasy (urban and epic). My novels on Amazon certainly match this (Back by Sunrise, Teddy Bears in Monsterland, and Falls of Redemption), as does my novel that will be published in the next couple of months, Allie Strom and the Ring of Solomon (a MG urban fantasy).

That said, I would argue that we are artists and therefore should not limit ourselves. If you are angry one morning, work on that thriller or epic sword fight in your fantasy story instead of the cute children’s book you have been focusing on. Are you feeling fancy? Put your mind to work on a literary novel. I have written one literary novel and have outlined a second, and find it to be a rewarding experience that uses a different part of my brain than my typical stories. My short stories are all over the place, and my screenplays tend to be half in the fantasy realm and half in the comedy genre. Luckily, Telltale Games seem to fit right into my genre, as we are doing a Minecraft game, Game of Thrones, and Tales from the Borderlands.

The Process Project -- More from Louise Lindley!!

Welcome to week seven of the Process Project!! If you don’t know about us already, please visit The Process Project page to find out more about this project, and read interviews with other authors.

Today is a continuation of yesterday’s interview with the lovely Louise Lindley (like that alliteration there? ;)). To read the firstpart of her interview, click here! Today we are going to talk to Louise about how she writes! On to the questions!

JB: When do your best ideas come to you? What are your best brainstorming times?

Walking the dog and in the bath! Occasionally, last thing at night when I get into bed. When I was at the end of Bruises, about to write the last chapter, I knew how it was going to end but I couldn’t figure out what the order of events would be. I also wanted to give you something that would make you want book 2. I was lying in bed one night staring at the ceiling, my mind turning over. My husband was in the bathroom and walked out to me all of a sudden saying ‘OMG, that’s it, that’s what I have to do…’ He gave me that ‘she really has lost it this time!’ look, and offered to go back into the bathroom and come out again. I had the perfect ending…

To be honest, inspiration can come from anywhere, often when you’re least expecting it.

JB: What is your writing routine? Do you have any writing rituals?

LL: As a busy mum of boys who are now 6 & 8, I can’t be too choosy about where, when and how I write. I pick up whatever I’m working on in the oddest of places: while watching swimming lessons; in the school playground; the doctor’s office. I’ve been known to sit with a head full of foils under the dryer, tapping away!

When I’m at home I can get a little carried away if I’m really into a story. I might be sat at the table I use, overlooking the garden, in the afternoon, or I might be sat on the couch in the evening, after the boys have gone to bed. I can fully absorb myself in my work wherever I am, especially in the busy coffee shop where I wrote most of my first (& second) novel. I nearly always have a large bottle of water on the go, but as a dedicated caffeine addict I love to sip a latté too. One thing I do like to do is spread myself out, but then I do that with everything -cooking, crafting, sewing, putting my makeup on, getting dressed… I like space so I can access all my iThings, notebooks, pen case etc. easily. When I tie my hair back I have a habit of ramming a pencil into the ponytail for easy access, often forgetting it’s still there when I leave wherever I am!

JB: When you are preparing to write a new story, what kinds of techniques or methods do you use to organize your ideas?

LL: I love notebooks! I have at least 3 or 4 on the go at one time, one of which is currently my 365 journal that I write something in everyday. I also have a quote journal, and I’m tweeting a quote every day. When I first began writing I had no idea where my story came from, it just kind of evolved while out walking the dog and listening to music. I then threw down all my ideas for characters and story line in a battered old notebook I found on a shelf in my husband’s study (I think his tax receipts were supposed to be recorded in it but it was empty!). In no particular order, anything and everything I thought of became notes. Then I broke it down into sections, a summary of each character – what they looked like, personality, family history, work history, etc.. The story became mind maps in the form of rough chapters. I have known the ending of each novel before I began to write; my story might have changed slightly along the way, but essentially I always knew exactly where it was going to end up. Then I started to write, working through the notebook, ticking off the bits I’d used. I recently got to know a mum at my boys’ school, who is also writing her first novel. She has a background in animation scripts, so she showed me how she organizes her thoughts, and it was interesting to learn that a more professional approach was actually a similar process to my more amateur attempts that I’d developed naturally. The most useful thing I learned was that she used Post-It notes in her notebook, so she could move them around her story board. I am in the process of trying this myself now with my fourth novel, and so far I like it.

JB: When you’re on the road and ideas come to you, what do you usually do?  

LL: I always have a notebook… always!

JB: While you are working on a piece, do you have any particular way that you structure your work?

LL: I write each chapter as a separate file, but save them to one folder – in more than one location, my hard drive & in Dropbox. I try to keep my notes together as much as possible, but honestly if anyone looked through one of my notebooks they would never believe it was turned into a novel. I was much clearer in my first two novels (which are essentially one story I cut in half) where it was going & how I was going to get there, so it was fairly easy to structure. With my third, I tried out some different approaches: I wrote in in the first person; I started the book at the end of the story and then took you through the events that led up to the main character being in the situation she was in… it felt odd at first and took some planning, but once I was into it, it was fun to write!

JB: When it's time to revise/edit your work, do you have any particular methods that you use to help you through the process?

LL: I always read a chapter through when I’ve finished it, just to correct my dyslexic fingers and make sure what I’ve written does actually make some sense. I find I can read something a gazillion times before I notice something so obvious. I failed English at school, my grammar and punctuation is appalling (& don’t even get my husband started on my spelling!), as far as I’m concerned as long as my imagination and basic story structure is there, I let the professionals (i.e. my husband!) worry about the rest. I always read the ‘finished’ work from beginning to end before I start any sort of editing, and nearly always on my phone so I’m not tempted to correct any minor mistakes, I just read it like a book and make notes of any major changes I want to make. I have a very supportive group of close friends who love to read my work and give honest feedback. One of my biggest critics is my mother-in-law, who can look beyond all the bad bits and constructively criticize the deeper aspects of the book. I changed the story slightly in my first novel as a result of this and it worked much better. Essentially, editing for me is just going back over it enough times that I’m happy it works.

JB: Is there any advice you can give to writers struggling to get the words flowing?

LL: You have to believe in yourself and write what you want to read. Don’t write what you think people want you to write, write it for yourself, the way you would want to read it. We all have our own styles, it will make you more comfortable and confident with your work and hopefully encourage the words to flow better.

Write something everyday, doesn’t matter what it is, the shocking weather… what you had for breakfast… the fool who thinks he can still get through the closing doors on the Skytrain...what your kids said when you told them they’re going to Legoland on vacation (mine don’t actually know yet so don’t tell them!)...or just simply how you’re feeling that day. WRITE. IT. ALL. DOWN. You never know when you might want to go back through all that nonsense and use it.

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I want to extend a HUGE thank you to Louise for providing such rich answers to our questions! I hope you enjoyed her story as much as I did! Thanks Louise!!!!

You can follow her on the web here!

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Wordpress

And you can get your copy of her debut novel, Bruises!

Louise grew up in the North-East of England. In 2004 she moved to Canada with her husband, for what was supposed to be one year. Ten years, two children, two cats and a dog later, she appears to be staying. She worked as a registered nurse until giving up her career to raise her family. When she was diagnosed with a chronic disease, she turned to writing, combining her knowledge of the medical world with personal life experiences. She currently lives in Vancouver with her husband and two boys. Bruises is her debut novel. 

The Process Project: Meet Louise Lindley!

Welcome to week seven of the Process Project!! If you don’t know about us already, please visit The Process Project page to find out more about this project, and read interviews with other authors.

Today’s interview is going to be broken into two segments, you can read the continuation of our interview tomorrow!

MEET LOUISE LINDLEY!

Louise grew up in the North-East of England. In 2004 she moved to Canada with her husband, for what was supposed to be one year. Ten years, two children, two cats and a dog later, she appears to be staying. She worked as a registered nurse until giving up her career to raise her family. When she was diagnosed with a chronic disease, she turned to writing, combining her knowledge of the medical world with personal life experiences. She currently lives in Vancouver with her husband and two boys. Bruises is her debut novel.

And now, for the questions...!!

JB: What is/are your main genre/field of writing?

LL: Romantic fiction, my first novel has been classified as “erotica,” but honestly, despite its steaminess, is very tasteful.

JB: Do you think your genre of writing informs your process? 

LL: I don’t think so. I imagine I would use the same process if I wrote a different genre. I consider myself a bit of an amateur, so I’m not sure what other process I would use to be honest. I just do what comes naturally.

JB: Who/what inspires you?

LL: Writers: JK Rowling, she taught me to believe in myself.

Personal friends/relatives: My mother-in-law for her courage & my best friend for her loyalty and selfless support.

I am inspired by the fact my life often feels like a test I didn’t study for, but somehow manage to pass and move forward.

JB: And most importantly: why do you write?

LL: Where do I begin?! First you should know that since 2010 I have suffered from a chronic arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis. Essentially my spine is slowly fusing. It is normal for people like me to suffer chronic pain, but look completely normal. I self-inject two mls of very expensive fluid, known as a biologic, every three weeks, as well as a whole host of other medications I take orally for the other parts of me the disease affects. You may find it interesting and amusing to know that I take Viagra for very poor circulation! Since before my definitive diagnosis I have attended physiotherapy 1-2 times a week. I usually have IMS treatment – fine needles inserted into my muscles to stimulate then relax them. This is often very intense, and causes a lot of discomfort/pain. It is an essential part of my quality of life, and why I look so ‘normal’. This disease rules many aspects of my life: what I eat (I can’t eat starchy foods), what activities I can do, where I sit, how long I sit for, if I can put my own socks on, how I play with my kids, if I can play with my kids, if I sleep, etc., etc.. I could go on and on. It has taken many things away from me; things that I never thought it could possibly get its evil claws into. It has forced me to retired from nursing due to ill health.

When I turned forty, which in itself didn’t bother me, I began to notice that as my boys were becoming more independent, I was becoming more brain dead. I had lost my identity, a common problem when you stay at home with your kids apparently. Whenever I met people who hadn’t seen me for a while I would either be asked about the boys, or if the inquirer knew about my physical condition, I would hear a very patronizing ‘and how are you?’ Honestly, I felt like a walking disease, but I didn’t have anything else to steer the conversation away from these two subjects.

This was all around the time that Fifty Shades was gaining momentum. I read it, of course, and a whole host of others popular at that time, and began to get bored and frustrated with the same format that was being used for all of these stories. I didn’t get why we had to be so crude and raw about this subject, why couldn’t we have all the steam but be more tasteful about it. As I mentioned earlier, English was not my strongest subject, but I was always told at school that I had a good imagination. And so it began, my mind turned everything on its head and created a story that gives the reader characters they can relate to, with more realistic jobs and life issues, with tasteful, but smouldering bits in between, and most importantly, no obvious ‘happy ever after’.

Suddenly, I became more interesting, enthusiastic, and animated about ‘what I do’. Nobody ever expects you to reply ‘oh yeah, I’m a fictional novelist’ let alone an erotic one at that. I had an identity again; my brain had been resuscitated, and I had found the perfect escapism from the cruel realities of chronic disease. Most importantly a published novel is something my disease can never take away from me… that is why I write!

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Check back in tomorrow when we delve a little deeper into how Louise writes.

In the meantime, you can follow her on the web here!

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Wordpress

And you can get your copy of her debut novel, Bruises!

The Process Project: Meet Karen Bynum!

Welcome to week six of the Process Project!! If you don’t know about us already, please visit The Process Project page to find out more about this project, and read interviews with other authors.

MEET KAREN BYNUM!

Dragons, unicorns, genies…oh my! NA/YA author, coffee-lover, olive-hater, tea-drinker, music-listener. Random becomes me. Married to a genius. Mother of a human baby and a furry baby. Easily distrac --  Rep'd by AKA Literary, LLC.

And now, let’s hear some more about Karen’s writing process...

 

JB: What is/are your main genre/field of writing?

KB: I started out writing Young Adult paranormal romance, but as I looked back on my seven completed works, I realized only two of them were true Young Adult stories. I really write more New Adult urban fantasy/romance with diverse characters.

JB: Let’s talk a little about your writing routine and rituals. First, do you have a writing time or day?

KB: Before my little *cue Gollum voice* precious was born, I used to write at 4:30AM (insanity, right?), but now I covet every second of sleep…so I write throughout the day when he naps.

​

JB: Music you listen to? Need silence?

KB: Uh, none! Unless it’s totally instrumental. But, I prefer silence. All the better to hear the voices, my dear. :P

JB: Do you drink or eat something special?

KB: Hmm, it varies…coffee, chocolate, some kind of carb, or hot tea. I tend to eat more when I’m editing/revising then when I’m creating new worlds.

JB: When do your best ideas come to you?

KB: On the treadmill, in the shower, and on long drives.

JB: When you’re on the road and ideas come to you, what do you usually do?

KB: Jot them down at a stop-light on the Post-It notes I keep in the console or put them in Google Keep on my phone.

JB: When you are preparing to write a new story, what kinds of techniques or methods do you use to organize your ideas?

KB: Back in the day, I pantsed my way through many a novel. I’d just open a Word document and race through the tunnel until I saw the The End light. The problem with that was plot holes, flat characters, and rushed endings. While all those things are fixable and did get fixed -- because I have an amazing editor -- I wouldn’t have had to work as hard if I’d known more of my characters’ backstory, goals, motivations, and conflicts. After loads of hard work and experience, I’ve found plotting -- at least fleshing out goals, motivations, and conflicts (GMC) -- helps the words flow easier and the edits less intense.

JB: While you are working on a piece, do you have any particular way that you structure your work?

KB: Even though my thoughts about the story don’t always come in order, I still write linear. I’ve tried writing by scenes, but it just ticked me off because I ended up having to rewrite those scenes completely since things changed.

So instead, I start each story out with a few notes about the world-building and GMC, scribbled on Post-Its or in old notebooks, and then I launch into the words. Fingers to keys. Eyes to screen. Voices chatting away inside my head.

I do find plotting out a few overarching ideas/turning points helps. And I use Michael Hauge’s Plot Structure for that. But I can’t plot too intensely because if I do, and I know everything that’s going to happen, it just kills the story for me. (I had that happen just recently. Argh!)

JB: ​When it's time to revise/edit your work, do you have any particular methods that you use to help you through the process? ​

KB: After I type The End, I usually don’t look at that story for at least a week…maybe two, if I can wait that long. ;) Then, I read the entire thing over a couple days while taking notes on repeated concepts/phrases and things that need to be tweaked/rewritten. I get those things done, send to my beta readers, and cut out overused words while I await their feedback. After I make the beta reader adjustments I read it one more time, and then it’s off to my freelance editor (*insert plug here* Danielle Fine is ALL THE AWESOME, seriously, don’t know where I’d be without her). Once she’s worked her magic -- AKA we’ve done about a gazillion rounds of edits until it’s shiny like a diamond -- it’s off to my agent!

JB: What do you do when you're stuck?

KB: Keeping the momentum going is a huge help. So even if I only write ten words one day it’s something. If I’m plugging right along and suddenly seem to have worked myself into a corner, I’ll do something else for a few minutes -- laundry, dishes, eat a snack. Anything that I can accomplish in a short amount of time, and then I go back to my manuscript. Usually, I’ll have worked out the problem by not thinking about it for a bit. And I always try to remember, “First drafts don’t have to be good. They just have to be written.” Because… “You can’t fix a blank page.”

JB: And most importantly: why do you write?

KB: To be honest, guilt. LOL Writer’s guilt is real and alive in me. If I don’t meet my daily word count the voices in my head make me feel horrible. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE writing… It’s an escape -- and it’s like playing God to the worlds I build. But, it definitely is something I have to do. If I don’t, all the worlds I have in my head will collide and my soul will implode. I need those worlds on paper! I need to keep my soul intact! So, yeah, that’s why I write. :P

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Want to read more by Karen Bynum? You can check out here books (and download FREE below!)

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Check her out on the web:

Karen Y. Bynum's Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest

The Process Project: Meet D.D. Syrdal!

Welcome to week five of the Process Project!! If you don’t know about us already, please visit The Process Project page to find out more about this project, and read interviews with other authors.

MEET D.D. SYRDAL!!!

D.D. Syrdal lives just outside Portland, Oregon, where her yard is frequently visited by deer, raccoons, skunks, pheasants, and neighborhood cats. You can purchase her latest release, Revenants Abroad, on Amazon and Smashwords.

And now, to the questions!

JB: Why do you write?

DD: Mostly I just keep getting ideas. I can be watching the most banal show or movie, and something a character says or does will trigger something. I never know.

JB: What do you write?

DD: Science fiction and fantasy are my main areas of interest in writing. I have also written a couple of ghost stories, and would like to do more.

JB: Do you have any writing rituals?

DD: I really don’t have any rituals. Mostly I’m just plunked down either in my living room or bedroom with my laptop on my lap. A few years ago during NaNoWriMo I discovered I can really crank out the words at a write-in (we were meeting at a local Panera Bread) and I’d like to go to cafes more, but in the interest of saving money I usually just work at home.

JB: Do you have a particular time of day you like to write?

DD: Nope, whenever something pops into my head. It could be in the middle of the work day at the office, and I’ll get a couple lines and quickly type them into a Word document. Now, that said, despite the fact that I am and always have been a morning person, I generally get no writing done in the mornings. I tend to find it easier to get into ‘the zone’ in the evenings, which is tough. I have to get up very early for my day job, so I can’t stay up at night writing. It’s very frustrating!

​

JB: Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer silence?

DD: Sometimes I get ideas from music, whether it’s the title of a song, a single phrase, or a whole song, but usually for the actual writing silence is best for me. I can listen to soundtracks sometimes, but anything with singing is too distracting.

JB: Do you drink or eat something special when writing?

DD: No, not at all. I nearly always have something to drink, either water, tea, or coffee, but there’s no magic elixir. Just stay hydrated.

JB: How do you prep your ideas for writing?

DD: I have a couple of little notebooks that I scribble ideas, scenes, bits of dialog as they come to me, but I have no formal method of organizing. I don’t use index cards, or storyboard. Maybe I should, maybe I’d get more done!

JB: While you are working on a piece, do you have any particular way that you structure your work?

DD: I have never been an outliner, total pantser all the way. I used to (and still do when I have to) open a new Word document for each new scene, but I started using yWriter a few years ago and really like it. I got Scrivener a few months ago, but it’s not portable the way yWriter is (I have it on a thumb drive that I take with me to work) so I haven’t used Scrivener as much. yWriter is simple, free, and it’s easy to create new scenes and chapters which is very helpful instead of having everything in one big file.

JB: When you’re on the road and ideas come to you, what do you usually do? 

DD: Oh, I wish I had a good answer for this. I try to remember it long enough to write it down at the first light I get stuck at. I did finally buy a digital voice recorder, but if you do that, be sure you know how to operate it without fumbling for the ‘record’ button while you’re driving. This of course only works if you remember to bring it with you.

JB: ​Do you have any techniques you use while revising?

DD: Read it out loud. It’s also crucial to set something aside for a while, and come back to it fresh so you can hear where the rhythm is choppy or awkward. I also like using the “search” and “replace” functions in Word to zap my problem words. I have a few that I overuse and that’s a great way to get rid of them. Also I love editminion.com to catch things. Using that really helps me tighten the writing and clean up junk words and phrases, repetitive phrases.

​ 

JB: Is there any advice you can give to writers struggling to get the words flowing?

DD: Just start writing anything. I know everyone says that, but honestly it works. It doesn’t matter what. “My cat is weird today.” “I wish I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow.” Anything. Get outside and go for a walk, or pull weeds. Watch a movie that you’d normally never watch. Read something you wouldn’t normally read. The point is to pull yourself out of the pattern that’s keeping you stuck.

I want to thank D.D. for taking the time to share her answers to these questions, and to shed a little more on her writing process with us fellow writers. Want to read more by D.D. Syrdal? Check her out on the web here! Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Wattpad | Smashwords | Amazon