My Writing Process Blog Tour…

This is a Blog Tour where writers and authors answer questions about their writing process. My friend Eva Scott shared all about her writing process last week on her blog HERE. She has written both contemporary (The Reluctant Wedding Planner, and The Marriage Makeover) and historical romance (The Last Gladiatrix).

What am I working on?

I have a completed manuscript of the second book in the series entitled, The Last Timekeepers and the Dark Secret, but there’s the fun job of revising it into Jordan Jensen’s point of view. Hopefully, I’ll have a refurbed first draft sometime in the spring. I’ve also signed on with literary agency, Walden House (Books & Stuff) in December 2012 to take on another young adult series I’ve created about teens with psychic abilities called, Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls, so it seems that I’ll be one busy gal!

How does my work differ from others of its same genre?

Keyword: Atlantis. I wanted to create a book series for middle grade/young adults that had a different slant to the time travel genre. I love history. I also love myths and legends. There’s many time travel series out there, but nothing that has roots leading back to Atlantis—at least what I know about and have read. And since there’s no concrete evidence that Atlantis did exist, then that left the door (or arch) wide open to possibilities.

Why do I write what I do?

I have a confession. I didn’t start out writing middle grade or young adult. Nope. I lurked in the deep pool of the paranormal romance genre before I ever considered dipping my toes into the welcoming waters of middle-grade/young adult fiction. The idea to write in this genre actually came to me through a dream. In this dream, I saw seven arches, and there were seven people (five kids, two adults) with crystals in their hands, walking up to these arches. It definitely had an Indiana Jones feel to it. Then, boom. The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis was born.

How does my writing process work?

Cut a vein and write. Kidding. My writing process is always the same for every book. First, I start with the characters and build the story around them. The characters, my characters, must carry the story to completion, give readers closure. It’s a must. In order to do this, I begin writing out character tracking sheets (stats on characters appearances, clothing, likes and dislikes, etc.) which have served me well throughout the writing process. Then the fun begins. Research, research, and more research. When you’re writing time travel, you’ve got to know your facts to create the fiction. I love this part of the process too. Only when I have enough facts, and I feel my characters are fleshed out sufficiently, then I begin to start the novel. Sometimes I’m a panser (writing by the seat of my pants), sometimes a plotter (outline entire storyline)—it all depends on the tone of the book and where my imagination directs me.

Cheers for taking the time to stop by! Next stop on the Writing Process Blog Tour are the amazing, and often sensual authors LIZZIE T. LEAF and SAM CHEEVER on the lucky 13^th of January.

Here’s a little about Lizzie T. Leaf and Sam Cheever:

Award winning author, Lizzie T. Leaf started life in Kansas, continued her growing in North Carolina, and currently shivers through the winters in Colorado. 

Since discovering the fun of writing paranormal, she plays with creating vampires, faeries and other immortals. When she needs a touch of reality, her Contemporary Erotic Romances come into play.

If she’s not creating mischief for paranormal beings, or getting under the covers with her erotic heroes, she can be found exploring the other genres she wants to write.  She also is on the board of Heart of Denver Romance Writers.

Lizzie loves to read, spend time with her family and travel with her best friend husband during her free time.

Award winning Sam Cheever writes romantic paranormal/fantasy and mystery/suspense, creating stories that celebrate the joy of love in all its forms. Known for writing great characters, snappy dialogue, and unique and exhilarating stories, Sam is the award-winning author of 50+ books and has been writing for over a decade under several noms de plume.

Look Who the Cat Dragged In…

Recently, I wrote a post that showcased books featuring dogs as one of the central characters. If you happened to miss it, please click HERE. Today, I thought it would be only fair if I turn the tables and talk about felines who have made appearances in books and movies. Growing up, I was a huge fan of Disney’s Aristocats, and must have seen it at least a half dozen times. And those dastardly Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp turned me against the breed for a long time until my mom decided to get a Siamese kitten. I guess I couldn’t resist those blue eyes after all!

In my new yet-to-be released book, Legend of the Timekeepers I introduce my readers to a lion-human hybrid named Etan, who aids14-year-old Lilith and her newfound friends with the very first Timekeeper mission. In another YA series I’ve created, my book Lost and Found: Mysterious Tales of Fairy spotlights Whiskey, a cantankerous, old calico cat who helps 15-year-old animal communicator Meagan Walsh find her true path. So, keeping with the theme of this post, I thought I gather together a group of authors who have made it a point to have cats in their books. Let the purring begin:

Lisa Orchard: The Supers Spies and the Cat Lady Killer

In a small town in Michigan, fifteen-year-old Sarah Cole is stuck spending the summer at her Aunt and Uncle’s with her sister, Lacey. She’s not happy with the situation until she befriends a girl named Jackie. The three girls stumble upon the ruthless murder of a reclusive neighborhood woman and what's worse? One of the officers investigating the crime believes the girls are responsible for her death.

Fearing that this officer will frame them for the murder, the girls organize their own detective squad. They become the Super Spies and start their own investigation. The Super Spies can’t understand why anyone would want to murder the “Cat Lady” until they start digging into her past and discover a horrible crime that happened thirty years ago. They uncover a connection between the two crimes and attempt to bring this information to the police, only to be reprimanded for meddling in the investigation. Not only are the girls upset by the admonition, but they also struggle with the fact that their exuberant investigating could provide a legal loophole allowing the killer to go free. Frustrated by this turn of events, the Super Spies realize it’s up to them to snare the Cat Lady killer.

Or die trying...


Linda Benson: Six Degrees of Lost, featuring a cat named Rags owned by protagonist Olive.
Sometimes you have to take a journey to find out where you really belong.

Olive’s mother is headed to jail and her brother to join the Army, so thirteen-year-old Olive is uprooted from sunny California and dumped in Washington State like a stray. That's exactly what she feels like surrounded by her aunt’s collection of homeless dogs, cats, and horses.

Fourteen-year-old David’s future is already carved in stone. From a military family with two brothers serving overseas, he’s been pointed towards the Air Force Academy his entire life - but a rafting trip gone awry might ruin his chances.

When a runaway dog is almost hit by a car, the search for its owner leads Olive and David, two kids from entirely different backgrounds, to an unlikely bond. Will their growing attraction to each other be enough to keep Olive from a foolhardy journey to find her mother? Will David risk his family’s plans to save her?

PM Griffin: The Bastet Trilogy

Three cats, three incarnations of great potential, but terrible peril lies before each of them.

The Goddess Bastet has granted three cats the potential of greatness and happiness in their new incarnations, but each must face terrible peril to gain it:

Bast’s Gift is just accustoming himself to his new life when a deadly intruder threatens his assigned human. What can he, a small cat, do to defend her?

Firecat and his beloved Partner Eva are suddenly confronted with the overwhelming horror of a raging firestorm. Can human and feline, working together, manage to survive?

Pennyroyal returns to the time of her previous death to help save not only her chosen human but the better part of the human race. Can she and Flavia defeat a demon’s malice?

Eva Scott: The Reluctant Wedding Planner, featuring a cat named Manouche who has his own facebook page!
Not only flowers bloom...

Dr Camden James is a rural vet, not a wedding planner, so he quickly feels out of his depth when, in a fit of generosity, he offers to glam up his sister's budget wedding in a secret move designed to surprise her. With only six weeks to make this the wedding of his sister's dreams he needs to move fast.

Stumbling around in the largely female world of weddings he gets a lead on the go-to girl for wedding flowers - Georgiana Mac Intyre. Georgi, reeling from a very public breakup, is not interested in men in anyway shape or form. Not even super-cute vets - even when they are clearly interested in her.

Cam shamelessly uses his story to get her to help. It has all the elements; romance against the odds, true love, orphans (you can't have good story without an orphan or two), and a bride.

I thought we’d finish this post with an appropriate musical slide show, sung by none other than that rockabilly group, the Stray Cats. Enjoy!