Blog Tag Tour - My Writing Process

Do you remember playing tag as a child, well this week I got the chance to play tag once again – with some fellow Authors & Bloggers.  I was very excited when Deborah McNight asked me to join in the blog tag tour.  Please make sure to check out Deborah’s answers on her blog Novel Notions.  Make sure you visit her site and learn more about her book, Of Dreams and Shadow, a Young Adult Paranormal.

With this tour, the participants are given four questions.  Below, you'll find my answers.

·       What are you currently working on?  So far my two books have both been non-fiction, but I am currently working on a young adult historical fiction story about the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.   I am really excited about moving beyond non-fiction and I have a strong passion for history.  My experience working with middle-school students has given me a very unique perspective on young adult books, I actually have two different story ideas, so I will be pretty busy working on both of those projects, as well as continuing to work on blogging and marketing efforts for ‘The Misadventures of Me and My Uterus”. 

·       How does your writing process work? For “The Misadventures of Me and My Uterus” I actually spent several months going through my old blog posts and journal entries, and writing down all of the procedures I had during my crazy year of uterine issues, the weird physical symptoms and all of my feelings and fears during that time and I put them together into a book. It was actually very therapeutic for me.   As I researched every procedure, I checked out online support groups, I studied types of uterine cancer, and I included all of it in my book.  No one ever wants to talk about their uterus.   In my research I found that gynecological cancers are much more common than I realized. 

For my new book, I started with an idea, then I did a bunch of research, and put it all together in a very loose story outline, then it’s time to just write it.  When I sit down with a notebook or when I sit at my computer, I just start writing and let the story just jump out onto the paper or the screen.  The only barrier I face is enough time to work and avoiding distractions. 

·       How does your work differ from others of its genre? I think every writer has a unique voice and style of writing.  In “The Misadventure of Me and My Uterus”, I kept the book very informal and tried to use humor as much as I could. 

With my new book, I think what will really distinguish me from other historical fiction authors are two things; first, I choose historical events that are not as well known, which makes the story unique right away, and second, my story itself, it draws the reader in to the action and mixes accurate historical research with authentic young adult perspectives. I feel very strongly about not talking down to kids, my experience in middle school gives my work a very genuine feeling.

·       Why do you write what you do? I have always been a writer, creating stories as a teenager, using journaling to process my feelings, and I have always been an avid reader – especially historical fiction.  It was inevitable that I would wind up writing, and specifically writing historical fiction.  I learn new history facts and find myself creating stories about the people who lived at that time and place.  I feel like these stories are already inside my head and I simply have to let them out. 

 Who's up next?  That would be authors Rita Chapman and Celia Kennedy.  Rita is the author of Missing in Egypt and Winston-A Horse’s Tale.  Make sure you swing by her blog.  Celia is the author of Charlottes  Restrained and Venus Rising. Make sure you visit her blog too.