The Writing Process

Good Monday, y’all! I’m often asked about my writing process by aspiring to be published authors and non-writers alike. So when my author friend, K.M. Jackson asked me to participate in the My Writing Process blog tour, I figured “what the hey-it’ll be fun”. The request came at a pretty great time, too. I am working on several projects one of which, Just My Type, will be released by Crimson Romance in June 2014! Super excited about that, and telling you how my process relates to my latest novel.

1)  What am I working on?

Here is the blurb for Just My Type, the story that I’ll be revising, and working on furiously between now and June.

Janiyah Henderson may be and adult, but her family views her as a child. Granted, she’s enjoying her post-college life of little to no responsibility, but when her dad announces at a family meeting that her three older brothers will have to take care of her when he’s gone, there’s only one thing to do: land a desk job and prove them all wrong. When her brother’s best friend, Fredrick Jenkins, needs a new assistant, she knows she’s the perfect candidate. So what she’s had a crush on the conservative accountant since she was nine? She’s the last woman Freddy would fall for.

But Fredrick is far from impervious to Janiyah’s charms. Though he can’t help but be attracted to her, he knows Janiyah’s more interested in eating his cereal and teasing him, than viewing him as more than the good guy next door. When he offers her the job, he can’t imagine her giving up her late mornings and colorful outfits for eight a.m. meetings and pantyhose for too long. But as Janiyah excels as his employee, he fears he’s in danger of falling hard for a woman that he shouldn’t care for.

Pretty soon the attraction they tried to ignore boils to the surface. And after Fredrick shows Janiyah the man behind the numbers, she’s ready to show him that she’s just the type of woman he needs.

2)      How does my work differ from others of its genre?

That’s a good, tough, question. What I try to do is put some realism in my romances. Not so much to take away from the happily ever after, but enough that my characters feel like you would know them or someone like them. I hope to get some type of reaction from my readers: happy, angry, annoyance, humor, and everything in between.

3)   Why do I write what I do?

Because I love romance! I think I’ve said it here before, but I’m not good at sad and depressing. There is enough of that in the real world. I watch the news and sometimes have a heaviness left over from all the sadness reported. I write romance for the reminder that there are still good guys, great women, and the ability to overcome obstacles.

4)  How does your writing process work?

I’m trying to formalize my official writing process! Usually, it starts with an idea. Just My Type started back in 2012 as a short story using the common friends to lover’s trope where the girl falls hard for her brother’s best friend. But as the story evolved, and I got feedback, I realized I needed to delve into these characters more. I pulled out the Donald Mass Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook and used it to flesh out my characters. I created a beat sheet from Blake Synders’s Save the Cat to keep the plot moving forward. And I also found ways to up the conflict without being too out there. Just My Type is more light-hearted than my last story (A Heart to Heal) so I wanted conflict with humor, and not so much conflict with drama. That’s my typical process for any story I work on.

Well, I hope that you enjoyed my part of the Writing Process blog tour. Be sure to visit K.M.’s page and see what her process is. I tagged a few other authors to participate and have links to their blogs below. They won’t post anything until next week, but be sure to come back and check them out. It’s always fascinating to learn what tips you can get on improving your writing by learning from others.

Authors I tagged:

Elizabeth Boyce: The British Regency has captivated Elizabeth’s imagination since the fateful day she met Mr. Darcy. Of course. Regency romance has been part of her life ever since — first as an avid reader of other writers’ stories, and now as the author of her own.

M.J. Kane: Stay-at-home-mom turned Amazon Bestselling Author: Contemporary Romance/Women’s Fiction/Interracial Romance. The Butterfly Memoirs…Emotion.Drama.Love.Deceit