Writing Process Blog Hop

Thank you to Elsa Winckler for tagging me to take part in a writing process blog hop - a chance for authors to spread their wings far and wide for more people to discover them. You can find Elsa's writing process blog post here: Elsa's Website. She's a prolific Afrikaans romance writer who has recently had an English romance published by Escape Publishing called "Love, in Writing." It's a beautiful story and can be purchased here: Amazon. I'm amazed how someone can write novels in more than one language. I certainly couldn't do that.

So, today, I'm going to give some details of my writing process. I'm answering four simple questions:

1. What am I working on?
At the moment, I'm actually writing a book for my alter-ego. I write books under a pseudonym and I'm working on a new line that Decadent Publishing has brought out called Beyond Fairytales. You get assigned a Grimm's fairytale and must write a romance based on it. I was given The Frog King which is similar to the children's cartoon movie, The Princess and The Frog. I'm writing a contemporary fantasy romance which has now become one of my favourite genres to work on. The book is about a single aspiring writer who buys a bureau from an antique shop which magically brings one of her characters, a hot Theo, to life, as her husband. For someone who's enjoying her freedom as a single, a new husband dumped on her, no matter how cute, is a total nightmare. Joanie is set out on getting rid of kind, gentle Theo, but the magic and Theo have other plans.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
It took me a while to work out my own style or voice as they call it. From reviews and comments on my books, I've realised that my stories and characters are mostly sweet, gentle and tender. I think it just comes out naturally and I don't intend to write like that but that is my natural voice. Even my books under my pseudonym, although spicier, are essentially sweet romances. As much as I would want to write about very strong-minded, tough and spunky characters, they usually don't end up like that.

3. Why do I write what I do?
My main aim is to make characters who are real to life. I generally don't like those that are super-rich, super-put-together or perfect. I like characters with flaws that my readers can relate to. Maybe because I'm just an ordinary, everyday person, I want my characters to be the same. I also tend to prefer to read books about everyday people, not about billionaires or rakes. I write romance because I'm a lover of romance. Since I fell in love with my husband, my heart has become like putty. I never used to cry in movies, now I cry so easily. And also because I gave my husband such a hard time before I accepted his proposal, I tend to enjoy making my characters find it very difficult to say yes.

4. How does your writing process work?
My first job is to come up with a book idea. I come up with the gist of the story in my head. I don't write it down in detail. Maybe I'm superstitious but as soon as I write an idea down in too much detail, it loses it's power for me. I never plot the whole book beforehand but just start writing with a general idea where the story is headed. I write a bit and then brainstorm the next step as I do other tasks like housework. When I sit down again to write, I have an idea what direction I'm going. Sometimes I stick to it, other times I don't. Basically, I'm a hybrid pantster but lean more towards pantster than plotter.

I've tagged two other authors who will blog about their writing process a week from now - the 17 March. Zee Monodee, author of contemporary romance, romantic suspense and urban fantasy novels and Leigh Hann, contemporary romance writer.