The Writer’s Tag

Huge thanks to J.W. Martin for this tag! If you do anything after reading this post it should be checking out his!

https://www.jwmartin.com/the-writers-tag/

What genres, styles, and topics do you write about?

I write primarily adult contemporary romance and dark erotic thrillers, but there are elements of romance, suspense, mystery, paranormal phenomenon, unhealthy paranoia, love, and drama in all my stories. They are written for ages 18+ and each touches on a variety of important topics.

How long have you been writing?

A long time. Haha. I co-wrote my first novel in grade four. It was a fantasy-thriller. But seriously, writing has been a life-long passion of mine. I’ve always had a diary, journal or book of poetry that I added to when I was growing up. After a brief period of “life experience” (going off to college, falling in love, marriage and the birth of two little aliens that have a striking resemblance to my husband and I), I starting writing my first series. It was in 2011 when I started considering posting my fictional works for publication.

Why do you write?

To keep my sanity. It has always been my emotional release. It’s a cost-effective form of therapy for me. It’s a way to express happiness, release sadness, direct anger, exact revenge without harming any one (except perhaps your fictional characters). You should really try it sometime. It can help you come to terms with your feelings, among other things. Who knew you could rework all that energy into fictional stories that people might actually like to read? I certainly didn’t, or I would have tried it much earlier in life!

When is the best time to write?

For years it was at night after the kids went to bed. Now they stay up until all hours of the night, so I try to squeeze in half an hour every day over my lunch hour and a couple nights a week, if I’m lucky. Saturday used to be my go-to day for writing, but my daughter’s competitive dance team practices are out of town every Saturday. From September to December she danced from 9-5. Yes, that’s 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. She also dances two other nights of the week. At least now that the Nutcracker performance has ended, I will find some reprieve. Plus, I do have a car pool partner. That still means I’m stuck in Windsor for the better part of every other Saturday… sometimes more.

What parts of writing do you love and hate?

I love…

• Brainstorming;
• Writing first drafts;
• World Building; and
• Blurb writing. (“Back cover book blurb writing???” you ask. Yes! I love it!)

I hate…

Hate is such a harsh and unnecessary word in my vocabulary, but for the sake of answering this question…

• Self-editing;
• Researching;
• How little time I can dedicate to writing; and
• My uninspiring shared work space. (I need to work on this one the most. It’s an inspiration killer!)

How do you overcome writer’s block?

I don’t get writer’s block because I currently feel like I don’t write near enough. I only write when I’m inspired by events, ideas, or sprinting over lunch. Now that I outline my stories, it’s become easier to stay on track when I do finally sit down to write.

Like J.W. said, distraction blocks are another animal entirely–like You-tube, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, needy children, my husband, his toys, my mother… I could go on. Lol.

Are you working on something at the moment?

Yes. At the moment, I’m finishing the last chapters of my NaNoWriMo project, titled Perfectly Ruined, which happens to be the third and final book in the Destiny Series. It’s set in a fictional town in Northern Ontario where a country boy has returned to his hometown after a failed relationship only to find himself unexpectedly wrapped right up with a new girl. A firefighter, a city girl, and a country road. It’s a small town romance with a hint of heat… contemporary romance at its finest.

What are your writing goals this year?

For 2018 my goals include:

• Being true to myself and respecting the entire industry and readers everywhere… I’m publishing my books wide again (Although Amazon pulled a fast one on me, and of all books for them to auto-renew in Kindle Unlimited, re-enlisted Twisted for another 90 days. So, yeah. My January 1 perma-free plans went out the window real fast. Back to the drawing board for me!);

• Publish 3 novels (one is written, one is almost complete in rough draft, and the other is up in the air until I sit down and hammer out my entire year (scheduled around my family priorities).

• To complete number two above, I think I just decided which series should come next. To finish and submit a book to a certain publishing company. My ultimate goal has always been to be published by a certain renowned company and get into bookstores worldwide. I’ve started the perfect three book series that I expect is just what they’re looking for. It’s three Canadian romances with alpha heros and quiet, misunderstood heroines. Book two is more complete than book one, but I have a feeling this series will practically write itself once I lay out my plan with this amazing strategy I’ve discovered. It works for me like a charm EVERY time.

That’s all, folks. I’ve not tagged any writing buddies, because I don’t want to pester any one, but I’d love to hear your answers. Answer away and leave the link to your post in the comments or PM me privately if you don’t want everyone to know all your business. Me, I’m an open book. Any questions, ask away!

Fun fact about this post: I started writing it while sitting in the dentist office waiting room while my daughter got her teeth cleaned. I didn’t know how else I would find the time! My house is undergoing serious renovations right now and my writing space has been compromised. My family is practically living out of our hallway. Lol. The floors in my dining room, living room and kitchen are in the process of being ripped out and refinished. That probably doesn’t sound like much, but when your house is as old as mine there are a lot of layers to be removed, and nails in cement are always fun. Oh yes, removing baseboard heaters, even more fun.

It only took me three weeks to finally find a quiet 5 minutes to wind up this post. 🙂

Again, in case you missed it, here’s J.W.’s post: https://www.jwmartin.com/the-writers-tag 

My Non-Resolution

I don’t even know if my title makes sense and I don’t feel like Googling it right now, so I won’t. To clear up any confusion, let me tell you what I mean. 🙂 🙂

It’s the time of year when everyone seems to be setting goals and striving to meet them. Many of us are thinking up some fantastic New Year’s Resolutions to boost our spirits and light a fire under our asses. Lucky for me, I started my goal of eating healthier last month and so I can strike that from my list of unsuccessful New Year’s Resolutions.

Pop is the Devil. << no really, it is.

Contest: Name That Character!

I have a fabulous opportunity for one of my fans. How would you like to have your name as a character in my next book? Read on for more info!

Here I am, plugging away at my second round of edits on Beautifully Broken, book 2 in the Destiny Series, only to find that there remains a character that was not given a name. She appears on at least three occasions in the story, but apparently wasn’t important enough at the time for me to stop and do the honours of naming her.

I don’t know why I’ve been struggling with picking a name for this girl, but it’s really irking me and I need a resolution, like yesterday. I’m hoping to turn this into a bit of a game that can be fun and mutually rewarding. Rather than me playing with baby names from a list, waiting for the right one to click, I thought I’d open it up to my following.

For starters, the character is a girl, but I’m open to a sex-change if need be! This girl is currently known as “the floozy cousin”. If that title offends you, then A. There’s no need to continue reading this post; and B. I can’t believe you’re still following me!! 😉

So, this girl (<-see, isn’t that annoying??) is one of Destiny’s single cousins who attends her wedding. Yes, Destiny is getting married! “The cousin” is a good looking girl who tags onto the studly hero of the story, Matthew Knight, but he has his eyes set on someone else, Felicia, the heroine of course! “The cousin” really bothers Felicia because, well, she’s hanging off of Matt like a cheap air freshener when Felicia wishes she were the one doing that.

Writing your first draft is a labor of love.

I’ve suffered a horrible loss of my WIP, Beautifully Broken (Book 2 in the Destiny Series), yesterday. The file is corrupt. I’ve gone from 32,500 words to 15,000 words – and this is after I’ve recovered bits and pieces from emails, backups of my electronic notes and scraps of paper from the past three weeks that had yet to make it into the shredder. Maybe I should have renamed the story while I still had the chance. Would it have made a difference?

A nightmare is what it is.

I’m sharing part of my Prologue with you now, so you can see why I’m so devastated for losing over 17,000 raw words from my first draft. That’s a lot to lose at this stage of the game! Following is 1,355 of Matty’s words that I thought I’d lost forever.

Excerpt from Prologue

Even with my snow gear on, it’s frosty. The snow starts to rain from the heavens, covering the road with a wave of white blankets. Even with the hood of the truck blocking the wind, a blast of snow whips around it and slices across my face.

Felicia rolls down the driver side window and peeks her head outside. “Need any help under there? Whatever you’re doing, it’s not working.”

“I can always use your hands, doll. But not this time. I think I’ve got it. Give it another try.” I catch a look at her smile before she escapes from the blistery weather and reefs on the handle to roll up the window in the truck.

I’m still smiling, as she revs the engine in the aged truck. I knew it. I am the man. I hear a resounding wail of the horn and imagine that Felicia is celebrating, but then I jump from the loud crackle in the air. A resounding screech echoes through my ears and deafens me, as the hood seems to turn into the mouth of a crocodile and clamps down onto me like vicious jaws. The twisted wreckage wraps around me, and sandwiches my body precariously against my own truck.

Pain sears through my side and bolts right to my foot, as I gasp for air that can’t seem to reach my lungs. Starved for oxygen, dizziness settles in, but it doesn’t even numb the pain screaming across every inch of my lower extremities.

I’m moaning now. It hurts so bad. I don’t know if one can handle a pain like this. I think I’m going to die. That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea right about now. It feels like a waterfall of blood is spilling down my body and I’m suddenly very tired. I’m afraid to close my eyes though. I’m fighting for a breath as it is. If I fall asleep, I’m afraid I might forget to try and breathe at all.

Blog Hop: My Writing Process

When I was asked to join in the MY WRITING PROCESS blog tour by two fellow authors, how could I say no?! Thanks to Jennifer Ammoscato http://jenniferammoscato.com/blog and Gabbie S. Duran http://gabbiesduran.com for including me. Two fabulous authors right there, with very different writing styles. You should give them each a look, whether you’re into a witty dose of chick-lit or a heart-wrenching romance, they’ve got you covered.

My Writing Process

I’m told I have to answer four specific questions. And I will. But, since Jennifer broke the rules, I figure it’s okay for me to have a free-for-all too. Rather than list the question and follow it with an answer (boorring), I’m just going to have at it. Here goes!

ORGANIZED CHAOS!!!

That’s me. I keep an overall storyline in mind and go hog-wild with it. Let me share a couple of photos with you, which will help you to better understand my madness. The first image to the right is my electronic notebook. Those are just the stories I have hard core ideas for. Those stories must happen. That’s proof right there why it takes me so long to finish anything! And that’s not even the whole of it.

I’m constantly jotting down notes. When a thought comes into my mind, I mentally catalogue it into a story I have in the works. Keep in mind I use the term jot lightly. Most of my notes are written in a fit of inspiration, in a scrawl that even I have a hard time later deciphering. Those notes eventually get entered into my electronic notebook with a mess of other notes under its working book title. In each book tab you’ll find images, quotes, songs… anything that reminds me of my story or inspires me to write more. I won’t come back and organize that file until I’m ready to give it some form and prepare it for writing in MS Word.

My 30 Days Are Up!!

Holy crap guys, 99 people have added Twisted onto their Goodreads shelves!! One more makes 100. Can you help a sista out? 😉

Twisted by Christa Simpson.

Today marks the end of my 30 days since self-publishing my debut novel in The Twisted Trilogy and man am I floored by the response. 😀

Sure, there are mixed reviews, and I can handle that… because there are also some very awesome ones. I didn’t expect to put out a best-seller on my first try, but I also didn’t expect to sell this many copies in one month’s time either!!

Prologue Or Not Here I Come

Fake car accident. The vehicle on the picture is an FSO Polonez MR’89. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here’s my prologue (in rough draft) for TWIST AND TURN, book two in The Twisted Trilogy. I used a prologue to give the readers a glimpse at the paranormal aspect of this novel. I feel that it is very significant and, since my book is written in the first person (Abigail’s perspective), this is a way of seeing it through someone else’s eyes. It’ll tie in later, to make you say ‘whoa’.

So now you know. Abigail’s not crazy. Or maybe she is, for leaving Edwin. But she actually is seeing dead people. (At least one dead person in particular. J

PROLOGUE

~

Six years earlier.

TESSA CLARKE WIPED THE tears from her eyes as she sobbed out of control. She was miserable, but certain she was doing the right thing.

“This is my daughter, he’s not taking her from me,” she cried, as she sped away from her home with no intention of turning back.

She squinted through the dirty windshield at the dark night with blurry, enraged eyes and a heavy foot. She dangerously weaved through cars on the highway until she reached her exit. Relief overcame her when she finally passed the City’s boundaries and dirt began to plume behind her on the freshly gravelled country road.

She looked in her rear-view mirror flashing a glance into the back seat. “I finally did it baby. I did it for us,” she said, a soft smile creeping onto her downturned lips.

A sudden flash of red light blinded her as she turned her tired, burning eyes to the oncoming headlights.