Blog Post Tour

I was invited by Camelia Miron Skiba to participate in a blog tour for writers to answer a few questions about our writing process, and then pass the baton to other authors. So here are my answers to the specific questions.

What Am I Working On?

I'm nearly finished with a contemporary YA titled The End of Feeling. It's about a teen named Benjamin who seems to have it all: gorgeous, popular, star football player, straight-A student, can get any girl he wants. But it's all an act, he's hiding a secret that can destroy his carefully built world. Enter Charlie, new girl in town, who has her own secrets she's keeping, and who just might be the one to get Benjamin to feel something again.

How Does My Work Differ From Others of Its Genre?

I try to make my characters realistic, even if they're in one of my fantasy or paranormal stories, because I feel that character development is one of the most important things in a book. I also refuse to let my characters fall in love right away. Attraction is surely there, but there needs to me more to their relationship than "You're cute, I love you."

Why Do I Write What I Do?

I was introduced to the world of YA about 5 or 6 years ago, and fell in love with the genre. The stories are good, exciting, fresh. And there's generally not a heaving bosom in sight. I've always written, but never completed a manuscript. YA lit a fire under me, sparked an excitement that I couldn't ignore. I love writing about teens in that unsure, hyper-emotional, trying-to-discover-who-you-are time of life.

How Does Your Writing Process Work?

I come up with an idea from any number of different ways (I have about 10 stories swirling in my head right now fighting to get out). I sometimes have the opening line (as I did for The End of Feeling) or sometimes I have the ending. Other times I might just have a vague idea for the story with no real idea of where it's going to end. I sit down and just start writing. I almost always write from beginning to end, though on occasion I have a scene that begs to be written, so I'll write it and then work it into the story. As a general rule, I don't outline. I prefer to just begin and see where it goes, see what my characters are going to do in any given situation.

Next week take a peek at Karey White's blog to read about her writing process. Karey is the author of Gifted, For What It's Worth, and My Own Mr. Darcy. I've read all three and I can tell you Karey is one talented author. Gifted will wring your heart, For What It's Worth has a huge awww factor and a yummy recipe at the beginning of each chapter, and My Own Mr. Darcy is one of the cutest, funniest romances I've read.