So Kate Larking, a fellow Calgarian writer and friend of mine from university, tagged me in the latest writing blog hop on writing processes. My responses was, more or less, “yay, a blog post I don’t have to come up with the idea for!”
(You can see why these things are successful with writers, as we all try and keep our blogs fresh to drive readers to our books.)
These are also important questions to answer, and ones that give insight into the writer answering them, so off we go!
1. What am I working on?
I am currently working on what I refer to as Projects 1, 2 and 3.
Project 1 is the Starship’s Mage novella series. Episode 3 is waiting on first reader feedback and a cover, it should be out by June 15.
Project 2 is a side-story in the Changeling’s Fealty universe. Like Changeling’s Fealty, this is intended to go the rounds with the traditional publishing crowd. It’s going slowly at the moment, not least because Project 3 moved into my brain and wasn’t leaving extra space.
Project 3 is a space opera war novel that hasn’t left my skull in a few months. Draws on some of the odder corners of modern science to justify its trappings, and sets out to tell a story of all-too-human characters and the eve of a renewed war.
2. How does my work differ from other works in the same genre?
For Starship’s Mage, it differs to a certain extent by not sharing a genre with much else. There have been other stories to blend science fiction and fantasy (Star Wars comes to mind), though most were a softer SF than Starship’s Mage aims for. To separate from the Space Fantasy I’ve seen, I do try and keep the science elements of Starship’s Mage as hard as I can – I already have one excuse to break from reality that allows many sins!
My other work depends on the book in question, but I try to keep both feet on the ground, keep my characters all too human (even the ones who aren’t) and add just a little bit of snark to them all to keep the reader entertained.
3. Why do I write what I write?
Because it’s fun.
I write what I enjoy reading, and I enjoy plotting out stories and characters arcs in my head. I’m not so good at converting every story that ends up in my head into a written story, but that will come with time!
4. How does my writing process work?
I try to put together a rough outline of the story, though this outline will evolve over time. Then, I try to settle the next two to three scenes in my head – this often happens outside at lunch. Walking around helps get the creative juices flowing.
Then I will sit down at my computer, turn on some music, and plow through between five and fifteen hundred words in about forty five minutes. If I’m on a roll (which usually only happens when I’m really close to done) I still write in these spurts, but I may do two or three of them a day.
So those are my answers, and now I pass the baton off with a gracious bow to Marshall Maresca , a fellow author of my agent who was recently picked up by Daw with two books coming out in the next year.
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