Guest Blogger: Addison Fox

Have y'all recovered from your sugar comas yet? :) Happy Halloween Daze! Today, we're gonna jump right into winter with my fellow Ruby Slippered Sister, Addison Fox. She's gracious enough to give us some insight into her writing process, and give away a copy of her new book, Baby, It's Cold Outside. So scoot over and make room on the teeter totter for Addison (we'll share our leftover M&Ms, I promise!).

Process... A Peek Inside The Writers Toolbox

First of all, my thanks to the Writing Playground for having me back to play. I love visiting these gals and am so excited to come back and play! And an extra-special thank you to Angel for inviting me back!

So I had someone ask me a question recently that’s had me thinking. I sort of just answered it off the cuff, but the more I’ve thought about it the more I keep thinking about it, if you know what I mean.

My new contemporary series is about to launch with BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE and up to now, all of my published work has been paranormal. The question posed to me was how different I found it writing contemporary versus paranormal. And my answer…

I didn’t find it different at all.

Literally – not one bit.

And what I’ve found, as I’ve thought about the question over the past week, is that how I write and what I write are inextricably linked. For me, the “how” is character driven. I’ve yet to write a story where the characters didn’t come to me first. Even in cases where I had a sense of the plot more firmly in my mind, it always comes down to characters. And the “what” is the story I’m going to wrap around them.

For me, the process of getting them from the “how” to the “what” simply doesn’t change. The process of telling “their” story (because we all know those characters become very real people in our minds) is my writer’s journey – not the world I’ve set them in.

After thinking about this for a while, I also began to understand why I write romance (seriously, I’m sure my friend had absolutely no idea she’d send me down this path of self-discovery!). While I’m an avid reader across genres, I’ve never thought about writing anything but romance. And I think it’s because for me, the fun in telling the love story is the joy in figuring out what makes these two people tick.

All of this self-discovery has only reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time now – that a writer’s process is sacrosanct. There is no class that will teach you about your process because it’s as personal and distinct as your fingerprint. In fact, if there’s one single thing I would like every writer starting out to believe – “live it, breathe it, be it” sort of belief – is that your process is not only special, but it’s the thing that makes you unique. None of this is to say that there isn’t always room to improve craft, technique, etc, but it also means that how you get the words on the page is your special gift and it’s not to be trifled with!

OK – Stepping off soapbox now!

So….now that I’ve rambled about process, I’d love to hear from you. As writers, what have you discovered on your writers journey that helps you understand your process? As readers, are you drawn to the characters or the plot first? One lucky poster will get a copy of my new release BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE – choice of format is up to you.

Happy Writing!
Addison

Check in later this week to find out Addison's winner!

Kate Walkers' winner from last week was Chey! Please contact Kate with your contact information. Also, don't forget to click on the link in the sidebar to enter the September-October Playgroud Contest! Today's the last day!

Angel

Eureka, I've Found It!

Some of you may recall me lamenting a few month's back because my process was all out of whack. I tended to get all my stuff done at work early, then spent a few hours every day working on whatever manuscript I needed to. I had learned to write sex scenes amongst quibbling engineers, constant interruptions, and inane phone calls. It sounds crazy, but it worked for me.

Then, the work situation changed. Don't get me wrong - in this economy I am damn glad to have a job, much less a good, secure one that pays well. But the new job meant I had enough work for me and three others so I watched my precious writing time slip away...

Over the last few months, I've been trying to find a new process. I'd been writing some at home in the evenings at my desk, but once we got Shadow, I wasn't comfortable leaving them alone downstairs. I didn't have a laptop of my own, so if I wasn't at my desk, I wasn't working.

On our recent vacation, I took my work laptop with me in the hopes I could keep up with emails and deal with anything dire while I was away. I ended up not having to use it for that, but something else happened. Something wonderful. I curled up in a big chair with the laptop and a drink and I worked on my book. And I worked and I worked. I got so much done!

So, when I came home, I decided to try bringing my laptop home with me on nights when DB worked. I crawled into my big oversized chair, fired up my laptop and voila! Book magic. Even now, I'm writing this blog on said laptop from the chair.

I'm hoping the chair and I will have a long, wonderful life together. I paid a fortune for the chair, so I'm glad to finally have a good use for it. I may have to breakdown and buy my own laptop so I'm not hauling my work one back and forth all the time, but for now, its working great. So productive!

Under what conditions do you get the most work done? I've noticed me in the chair plus some peanut M&Ms or jelly beans works even better. Have you had to cope with a death blow to your process? How did you recover?

SP

Guest Blogger: Kelly Fitzpatrick

I'm lucky to have Kelly Fitzpatrick as one of my fellow Ruby Slippered Sisters! She graciously agreed to join us today to talk about how she came to be published and her first release, Lily in Wonderland! Ask away, because Kelly will join us today and answer questions. One commenter will receive a free download of her book!

Welcome to the Playground, Kelly!

People always ask me how I came to start writing. No, actually they don’t, but for the sake of this blog, we’ll say they do. If someone did ask me how I came to start writing, this is what I’d say, “It all started with insomnia.”

Have you ever in your head rewritten the end of a movie? A book? Your life story? Me too. So already we have something in common. Add insomnia to the mix and you can entertain yourself for many, many sleepless hours. Try it. That started about five years ago, although I’ve had the insomnia for—well—ever. I still have it. Writing is not a cure, more of a coping mechanism.

My favorite rewrite is the movie Love Comes Softly (Insert heavy sigh laced with longing). The story of a newlywed who crosses the prairie in a covered wagon only to become a widow who is then left with no choice but to marry a stranger. Only I added some sex, some snark, got rid of the kid, put it on another planet in the future, and viola! I had an interplanetary mail order bride story. Yeah, that never got published. But that’s how it began.

So you probably think I write paranormal, futuristic, urban fantasy. No. I can’t even work my cell phone, update my website, or change the batteries in my TV remote, let alone predict what sort of technology the future holds. Okay, I must write sweeping epic historical novels. No. I wish. Too much research. I write contemporary romantic mystery with a side order of humor.

I wrote and wrote and wrote with a burning passion. I entered writing contests, becoming a finalist in several, but not with Lily in Wonderland, my bad-girl-heroine-with-a-past-that-follows-her-to-her-future manuscript. And no, there is no time travel involved. I decided it was time to join the romance writing community, because I needed all the help I could get.

The first thing I learned at the local chapter of Romance Writer’s of America meeting was: The reader must fall in love with your hero and like your heroine. Uh oh. My heroine is a trash talking, promiscuous, recovering drug addict. I got called names by contest judges. Names like crass, flippant and snarky, and that was from people who liked my writing. On a whim, I entered Lily in the Golden Rose. Why not? It’s only money. Right? And then I won.

Winning got me a request from Cerridwen Press for the full manuscript. The request led to a contract, but I don’t want to make it sound easy. There were rewrites, resubmits and several rounds of edits before Lily went to print. She’s out there loose in the world, and she does give the term loose a whole new meaning.



So what keeps you up late at night or gets you up early in the morning? Talk to me. I’ll randomly pick a winner for a free e-book download of Lily in Wonderland or a deck of Ellora’s Cave playing cards.

For more chances to win in July, just go to my website (where you can also read an excerpt) and leave a comment on my blog. http://www.kellyfitzpatrick.webs.com/

My Process is Broken... Can I Borrow Yours?

Everybody's process is different. PC writes at home at her desk with her shoes on. Instigator writes best in the bathtub with her alphie. Angel and PM take field trips and write in coffee shops and bookstores when they get the chance. Me... I write at work.

*gasp!*

I know. Honestly, its a weird process that has developed out of necessity. I spend most of my day at the computer. My work load is adequate, but I'm very good with time management and I usually get my stuff done pretty quickly. A lot of my work is 'hurry up and wait' while I send stuff out for review and such. So, with my free time, I started working on my books. Some people can write with Hannah Montana music in the background, while keeping one ear on dinner and the other on the laundry. I can't even imagine. However I can write with the constant interruptions of the phone, emails, IMs, and the occasional engineer standing in my doorway asking me questions. I do pretty well, actually.

But all good things come to an end. My job sort of disintegrated while I was on vacation and I ended up working on a new program in a new building with all new people (except my boss, who moved me with her and is awesome). The environment is... different. My old program was mature with lots of documented processes and procedures. This one is 2 months old and we've got nothing in place. There's lots of scrambling. Lots of pressure to get all our initial contract award deliverables in place (like 100). Its chaos. Interesting. Different. But chaos. Makes me a little twitchy to be honest.

I also have... and officemate. I haven't had a roomie in years - like 2001. He's a nice enough guy - a recently discharged Air Force weather specialist who's working part time and going to school. He's got a funny sense of humor. He tolerates my quirks, which is great. It isn't a bad pairing. Its just... that if he turns around he can see my computer screen. And it makes me paranoid. I hardly have time to write anymore, but even if I did, I'm nervous about trying.

So I'm busting out of my process. I've been writing some at home in the evenings, but I'm curious as to what my other options are. What about you? What's your writing process? If you don't write, how have you bounced back from having your schedule messed with?

SP

The Perils of Pantsers

If you’re not a writer, you may not be familiar with the terms “Plotter” and “Pantser.” Plotters, um… actually plot their books before they write them. They know what’s going to happen in chapter eight before they get there. Pantsers, though, fly by the seat of their pants. Pantsers start writing and see what happens. It’s an adventure! Who knows what will happen? The possibilities are wide open! Chapter eight? I'll worry about chapter eight once I finish chapter seven.

For me, every book is like a college road trip with a group of friends. I know I'm leaving campus and heading for Graceland. I have a general map – I know which direction I need to go at least – and I’m pretty sure I want to See Rock City, stop at the outlet mall in Nashville, and do some bar-hopping on Beale Street on the way. (That’s the synopsis I turn in to my editor.) But when I see that sign for the Giant Ball of String or The World’s Biggest Sweet Potato, I turn because it sounds like it might be fun. I figure I'll get to Graceland eventually.

And because I’m with friends, I enjoy the ride. Except when I don’t. Someone is going to keep changing the music to a crappy station and then sing along off-key. Someone else is going to conveniently “forget” their wallet and never chip in for gas. No one wants to take a turn riding in the middle of the back seat. After a while, I’m wondering why I ever thought I liked these people in the first place and contemplating ditching them at the next rest area (where, if I’m really lucky, a serial killer will find them).

Know what I mean?

Now, when I get stuck, I’m stuck. That general road map is kinda helpful – I know I’m at Rock City, and the next stop is Nashville, but I don’t know how to get back to the interstate. And it’s not like I can skip ahead and write that great scene that takes place on Beale Street. I don’t know what happens between here and there, so there’s a good chance that conversation won’t work by the time I catch up. Maybe my characters will have already had that moment by then – in a rest area on the side of I-24. And, of course, there’s an equally good chance they won’t make it to Beale Street at all. Hell, they might not make it to Nashville.

Another problem with Pantsers (or at least this Pantser) is that we end up writing ourselves into scenes we don’t have any research on. All of a sudden, my characters are pulling into the parking lot at the World’s Biggest Sweet Potato, and I don’t know how big the sweet potato is, who grew it, who decided it was the World’s Biggest, what purpose it serves in the tourist industry of the surrounding area, or even how much it costs to get in to see it. (In particularly exciting circumstances, I’m not even sure exactly where they are or what I hope to accomplish with this little side trip.) Everything has to come to a grinding halt while I frantically start Googling “giant sweet potatoes.” And, should I happen to find the email address of the country’s leading expert on exceptionally large yams, he’s always out of the office until Monday.

What? I’m supposed to just leave my hero and heroine in the Sweet Potato parking lot for a couple of days? Um, I’m on a deadline, people.

But Pantsing through a book has its charms, too. Because I don’t have everything plotted out, I never get bored of the story or feel it’s getting predictable. Because I don’t have a plan set in stone, I’m fine with adding interesting details and side trips and just weaving them into the book as I go along. So my characters stop at the Giant Sweet Potato. The heroine has a soft spot in her heart for sweet potatoes because her mother used to make them for her. (Go back and stick that in chapter 2). But her mother is dead now (quick trip back to chapter one), so this is an emotional and healing moment for her. Later, in chapter twelve, when I need the hero to make a grand romantic gesture, he’ll cook her a sweet potato casserole from his mother’s recipe. Ooh, when he asks his mother for the recipe, they are able to break down that estrangement barrier that I will go back right now and add in chapter five, and then reconcile in a way that makes him realize he’s not his father – run back to chapter three -- and can therefore commit to the heroine in a satisfying HEA. And they’ll get married at Graceland!

Plotters reading this just dropped dead from a heart attack – and it wasn’t from the butter and marshmallows in the casserole.

Road trip and sweet potato metaphors aside, this is exactly how I write books. Ask the Playfriends – they have to listen to me whine and argue my way through every single book because my people have gone off chasing giant yams and I don’t know how to get them back on the road to Graceland. It’s painful. For everyone. But eventually, it gets the job done.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go research giant balls of string. Ooh, and Elvis impersonators!

Process Progression

Over the weekend, I read this post from the talented ladies over at the Plot Monkeys blog that got me to thinking about my own process. (scroll down to the Saturday's Craft Series post)

Like Julie Leto’s, my process has changed over time. The biggest development in my process came last year when I was finally able to begin creating my rough drafts on the AlphaSmart, instead of writing them out freehand first. But there have been smaller changes, as well. Timing, for instance. Just as I’ve grown in my writing, so has my family grown as well. I’ve gone from having small babies or being pregnant to having school age children. I used to catch small pieces of writing time here and there while they were playing or asleep. Now I can actually create while they’re awake and work for longer periods of time. Later this year my process will probably change again, because I’ll have both children in elementary school for most of the day. I might actually get days to write hours at a time… Wow!

Some parts of my process never change. I start with plotting (even though the HOW of it is different than in the beginning). I write a rough first draft, then revise several times. I can’t create when I’m too tired or sick and I need relative quiet with minimal background noise.

The most important thing to me about process is: 1) I have one and recognize what it is. Beginning writers can take quite a while to reach this milestone. 2) I’m adaptable enough to change it if I need to. This is saying something, considering how resistant I am to change. 3) The speed at which my process works is slowly increasing, allowing me to complete more books and projects each year. Now I don’t feel like the slowest writer in the world, just the next-to-slowest. ;)

So today, tell me what’s on your mind. Read anything cool or informative lately? Changed something about your own process?

Angel

Cool bit of trivia: This is the 1,150th blog post on the Writing Playground. Wow! :)

P.S. PM's winner from last Wednesday is Caffey. Please email Playground Monitor with your snail mail info. Prizes not claimed in seven days will be re-awarded.

The Dreaded Art Fact Sheet

Well, there's good news - Afterburn, my next book, will be out May 2009. And there's bad news - I need to complete the Art Fact Sheet now. The AFS is the bane of my existence (or it is until I have to write my next synopsis and then it will be).

The thing to remember about the AFS is that I finished writing this book about...three months ago and since then have been working on my next two books. At the moment I can barely remember my own name let alone the eye color for a heroine two books ago. I have to count on my fingers to remember how old I am. It's sad when all I can remember is that my hero is, um, old enough to be a pilot. These things were important when I was writing the book. And when I finished I promptly forgot them.

And then there are the questions about theme, overarching characteristics, etc. I'm so blind when it comes to these things. I'm absolutely certain I have them...I've been told I have them. The problem is I can't see them. Maybe because I'm too close to pick just one. I absolutely agonize over answering these questions. I think it goes back to my years in school. I'm deathly afraid of putting down the wrong answers and flunking the test.

After the last two days I've decided for the next books I'm going to start a cheat sheet file. I wasn't allowed one in school but there's no one to stop me from using one now. Here's hoping I remember to actually open it because it won't do me much good blank.

Anything you've been agonizing over lately?

Instigator