Why I do what I do ...

Happy Friday, everyone! This week has been fast and furious with many unexpected events interrupting my work schedule. If this blog could speak, you'd hear a long, drawn-out sigh of self pity. I'll explain my frustration in a minute, but first I wanted to respond to a request that I received earlier this week from a dear friend and fellow author, Alivia Anderson. Alivia tagged me in a blog hop. "What's a blog hop?" you may ask. A blog hop is where you answer questions back and forth between blogs and then tag each other.

Alivia is a multi-talented author who writes clean, contemporary romance. If you haven't read any of her books, I highly recommend them! Here's the link to Alivia's Blog

Here are the questions:

What are you working on now?

I'm working on a Christmas Story that Mom and I started about five years ago. I keep putting it on the back burner and finally decided, NO MORE! I'm trying to finish it in time for Christmas, hence the long sigh of self pity. My schedule has been crazy as of late, and it has taken a super human effort to carve out time in which to write. So, I'm writing into the wee hours of the morning, catching a few hours of sleep, and starting all over again. I had to pause today and clean the house because the laundry was piled so high, I couldn't see over it!

This is mine and Mom's first ever Christmas story. There's a love story and a bit of a mystery involved (we can't seem to write a story without throwing in some suspense). Romantic Suspense is one my favorite genre's to read, so I guess it goes without saying that I would also love writing it. More to come soon about this novel ...

Why do you write what you do?

Hmm ... that's a good question. Mom and I always end up writing the story that intrigues us the most.  Let me explain--We love stories! (Of course we do. We're southern!) There are so many wonderful stories, just waiting to be told. Sometimes it's hard to choose only one. Mom has this amazing ability to write on several stories at once, but I have a single-track mind, so I focus on one at a time. Normally, I'm working on one story, and Mom's working on two or three. So, to answer the question. We write the story that commands our attention--the one we feel the most passionate about at the given time. At present, we have about five stories that are at varying stages. Like I said earlier, we started the Christmas novel several years ago, and we're only just now finishing it.

So far, all of the novels we've released have taken place in the South. What can I say? We write what we know. The Christmas story takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is a switch, but I'm enjoying the change.

Everything we write tends to be inspirational. We don't ever set out thinking, "We need to make this novel inspirational," but it always turns out that way. We are both deeply religious, and it comes out in our writing. Mom and I both pray on a daily basis. I never write a word without first praying for inspiration and attribute any and all success to a higher power.

How does your writing process work?

Sometimes like clockwork, and other times, it's like trying to push a pencil through a brick wall. LOL! Since Mom and I work together, we always start each novel with a loose outline. The outline is in reality a page containing a list of bullet points, outlining scenes and the order in which they take place. I call these bullet points Guideposts, and they change as the novel progresses. We don't always see the end from the beginning, but it evolves as we get deeper into the story. Mom and I compare it to baking a cake. Sometimes I'm making the batter, and she's doing the frosting or vice versa. We've gotten more and more comfortable with our process over the years. It works, so we don't spend too much time looking a gifted horse in the mouth.

And there you have it, folks! A short Q&A with yours truly. Thanks for taking the time to read it. Now I'm off to work on ... (You guessed it--The Christmas Novel).