Why write?

This is a good question. And one that has a couple different answers.

First of all, I just AM a writer. It’s part of who I am, like my curly hair and my skinny feet.

Second of all, I write because there are always people in my head. Stories spinning out. I’ve always worked my way through stories when I was bored, and starting writing ‘romances’ (ha ha) when I was in seventh grade, after the discovery of a friend’s mom’s Harlequins.

(Mine were a teeny bit different from those as I had no idea what, say, romance really was.)

But it wasn’t until the night before my first ‘real’ job (that required the use of my shiny new Master’s degree) that I realized I could write for publication. Somehow I’d never made that connection. It took a bit, but I used my 2-hour one-way commute to plot and sort and plan stories. Eventually I got so I’d start to scribble notes at traffic jams (lots of those on the drag strip known as I-75 in the Detroit area). And finally, I got a computer (my mom gave me an old Mac Performa–yep, I’m dating myself, but let me say it was already old when I got it!) and started in.

I found writing groups. I found RWA. This was a revelation to me, that there were thousands of other romance writers out there! I joined it and my local chapter eventually as well. The internet opened up so many possibilities, too–writers, writers everywhere.

So I wrote that first story. I have it out now, am revising it. It amazes me how much I’ve grown as a writer since I started that first book almost ten years ago. I’d have to say I’m rewriting rather than revising, using the same characters and general plot, but with the benefit of what I’ve learned. It is a better book, for sure.

And I wrote it because there wasn’t really any other option. These people show up in my head, and they need their stories told. I don’t use a muse (I fired her along with my internal editor–thank you NaNoWriMo!) but I do use cool colored pens.

But most of all, I write because I love it. Because, even when it’s hard (and it can be mind-bendingly hard) it’s what I do. It’s who I am.

I am a writer.

Are you a writer or a reader?

My Next Big Thing!

Thank you, Loralee Lillibridge for the tag in The Next Big Thing! Here is the link to her blog: http://loraleelillibridge.blogspot.com/

My questions:

1.What is the working title of your book(s)? My very first published book is titled An Accidental Family!
2.Where did the idea come from for the book? I’d read a book awhile ago about a woman who owned a flower shop. That sparked it for me. The rest of the story just unfolded from there!
3. What genre does your book come under? It’s a category romance novel. The line is Harlequin Romance.
4. What actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?Hmm. That’s a good one. I guess I’d go with Bradley Cooper for my hero, Ben, and Reese Wirtherspoon for my heroine, Lainey.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? When life takes unexpected turns for Lainey Keeler and Ben Lawless, they find themselves reluctantly drawn together–but can they set aside thier pasts and forge a future together?
6. Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher or represented by an agency? Published by Harlequin.
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? One month. It was a NaNoWriMo book!
8. What other book would you compare this story to within your genre? Well, it will stand up next to the others in the Harlequin Romance line.
9. Who or what inspired you to write this book? While I got the idea to set part of it in a flower shop elsewhere, I found Lainey’s character to be very compelling–she just needed her own HEA after all she’d been through!
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? It was a RWA Golden Heart® finalist in 2012 (Ubder the title Second-Chance Bride) and a Mills and Boon New Voices finalist in 2011. Plus, the hero is a sexy firefighter!

My first cover!

The cover for my very first published book! Love! This is the large print version–I’ll get one without the large print tag, too!