#TheWritersBlog How I write, why and what the heck is FLOW, Cerise? #amwriting

Coming in next few weeks!

      The Writers Blog answers the Big Question: How do authors write. A mystery even to the writers themselves, inspiration is an elusive guy!
     Here are four questions that have been circulating the internet for a few months and are now in the form of a “Blog Hop”. It’s a tag for writers who blog. I was tagged by my pal, Desiree Holt, at her blog www.desiremeonly.com
     Here we go!

WHY DO I WRITE WHAT I DO?
    
   I adore a great romance. Few other novel types can thrill me or relax me as a reader. But I am keen for history...and with a BA and MA in it, I love what's "real" in a novel.  So I like to give that accuracy of background to my readers. 
     Nah. I don't (as my husband calls it) "hang the curtains" and describe every tiny detail, but I do strive for accuracy of time, place and atmosphere. Thankfully, I've been able to give that to my readers because they write to me about how grateful they are.
     But I adore characterization that is real, too. Rakes and spies and bluestockings really did exist and for good socio-economic reasons! While I know I am not teaching history, I do think part of the fun of writing and reading is getting the background accurate. History is often dissed by many, being poorly taught in school. I like to make it live.

My Italian Duke...
and journey to
Tuscany!

     That is also true of my contemporaries. I like to travel and do a lot! So I love to set my stories  in this marvelous places I've been. Paris, London, Tuscan countryside, Mexico, all feature in my stories.
     But living in Texas as I do, I see cowboys and longhorns every day. I mean EVERY DAY. Not a mile away live a dozen longhorns, big handsome dudes who roam the plains. And right next door is a local rodeo where every Saturday and Sunday, rodeo competitors come with their horses to win a buckle and a purse or two!
     Yep. I am an Eastern gal, city slicker through and through, but I tell ya, there is nuthin' like a man in a crisp white western shirt, thigh hugging jeans, boots and huge black Stetson, saying, "Howdy, Ma'am."

WHAT AM I WRITING NOW?
      
    I am knee deep in RENDEZVOUS WITH A DUKE! My next Regency Romp, this one is really a Cinderella story starring a young woman with a huge secret and a tremendous talent. You see, she is a composer and in 1819, women just did not break out of their molds to compose! But my heroine does and she hopes to money at it as well! 
     Our hero admires her devotion and tries to help her. But she suffers from The Secret in her past so much so that she fears she will ruin him.   

HOW DOES MY WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS?

In my fictitious town of Bravado Texas,
where men are good and plenty...
and women wear only a smile!
  http://amzn.to/13aBAob

     
     I tend to write very tightly. I am not a fan of extraneous sub-plots  and I am BIG BIG BIG on sex. Okay, so you know that! I BELIEVE that great sex is a viable part of any romantic relationship and any love affair so I lace my stories with scenes in which two people discover each other within the sex act.  So, no, my scenes are never throwaways, but vital to the development of the couple's communication in bed and out!

HOW DOES MY WRITING PROCESS DIFFER FROM OTHERS?

    I am literally STRUCK by an idea. Perhaps, I have written down a few ideas about a story I want to write...or an editor has asked me to produce a synopsis or outline. But I HATE THAT.
    I need to be struck by lightning and then I have to hit the keyboard or I lose it.
     RENDEZVOUS WITH A DUKE is like that. I thought it was based on the heroine's past and someone was trying to kill her, but I wasn't sure why. I know Our Hero would help to save her but had no idea why.
    Then one day...in the shower, it hit me that she was poor and living with a terrible aunt and cousin, but she had talent and hope and aspirations...and I had to give her a better life! So Cinderella meets her Duke!
     I do believe in the power of flow. Once I am in the world of my characters, I do LIVE There. I am not good company. I get peeved when my characters do. I am in heaven when they are. I want to resolve my differences when they do...and this is tough on my family.
     To this day, my children can tell when I am in flow and totally spaced out. They have learned to smile, wait and then repeat the question they just asked me. Hubbie, too.  To his chuckling dismay!

     Okay, now I am handing this over to Dominque Eastwick and Samantha Cayto, two fabulous authors whose works you must read!