Having lived in Ireland for over seven years, I still pay homage to this holiday with as much zeal and vinegar as I can muster. Gone are the days of numerous pints and out drinking, singing and dancing til all hours. Now, I have two wee boys but we still go to hear some live Irish music and I have my pint of Guinness, rarely on draft but today. And the only way to have a Guinness!

Thanks to the lovely Mae Claire, I am here to give my own two cents on how my writing goes, where my inspiration comes from, what pre-planning I do, and of course, where I think of my ideas!

So let’s get started…

Right now, I am working on two books. The third book in the Love Where You Roam series, called Dusting of Light. Set in Alaska it stars the lovely Sophie who we are introduced to in the previous book, A World Apart, to be released in a couple of weeks! Yippee! I’m only about 10k words into Dusting, most of my effort is on Paraic: Rugby, Love & Other Stuff that I’m pushing to get down within the month. I need to get it out to my editor or to a new publisher asap so it’s ready for release around the Rugby World Cup in London in July 2015. Great time to promo it with everyone on the rugby buzz. Okay, not as many Americans, but overseas it’s huge!

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
That’s easily answered for Paraic, as it is written in all male POV, not one tear is shed the entire book LOL. Since I am also an editor, I was tired of the same flat heroine that had the same personality and traits as every other that I read of so frequently, so decided to write my next series only from the POV of the hero. Sure, what woman wouldn’t want to know what a man is thinking? 🙂 There is a heavy sports theme in this book too (or couldn’t ya guess? ha ha) so I think it could appeal to men as well, a bigger audience other than just the romance genre readership.But ultimately? It is a love story. 🙂
As for Love Where You Roam, the series is based on character connection. A secondary character will be the heroine in the next book. So for example, my lovely Irish Maggie is the heroine in Watershed where we also meet Aussie, Lizzy, who is in the next book, A World Apart. In this romance set in Scotland, we also meet Sophie, a mate of Lizzy’s who is in the next book, Dusting of Light. There is an American helicopter pilot (I’m calling her Chessie right now, but ugh that so won’t do) who will travel to Ireland in the final book. See the full circle? And in that final book, we get a glimpse of Irish Maggie, so the books could be read stand alone or picked up at any point to read the series. Ta da!

3. Why do I write what I do?
Mostly, my inspiration comes from my own experiences. I feel I can give the reader a much better sense of the places I have been, the things that I have done (okay, I was never a helicopter pilot but always wanted to be one) by having experienced it myself. And oh boy, was I mess when it came to romance when I was younger. So writing contemporary romance is a perfect fit from me. I am able to give wonderful descriptions of the countries or cities my characters are set, but at the same time create some fun and drama – many of the laughable moments actually happened! Honestly, I was such a knob when it came to men when I was younger – it took me years to figure it out. Now, I write about it!

4. How does my writing process work?
I seriously have to give myself goals and force myself to keep my arse on my seat. I am a bit ADHD, so writing and editing can be a challenging occupation. LOL. But I so enjoy it! So I try very hard and commit.
It’s easier for me to see a word count passing. So, I will give myself, let’s say two weeks to dig in and divide the number of days by the number of words in my goal. Does that make sense? Then I try and stick to it or everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, will come first before my writing, including my job as editor, kids, housework, cooking, groceries, walking dog, taking a shower, getting dressed, checking the weather….LOL brushing teeth, a must.
Just briefly, I can say that I do use a tentative outline so give me some sense of direction in the book. But the best thing ever to use? A Character Wheel, or Chart, they are sometimes called. I hate, absolutely despise, flat characters, so the more you know about your superstars, the more they come across as real, genuine, lovable people that the readers will root for from page one.

A HUGE THANKS for stopping by. This blog hop is all thanks the Miss Mae Claire, a lovely and talented writer who I admire greatly.

Mae loves creating character-driven fiction in settings that vary from contemporary to mythical. Wherever her pen takes her, she flavors her stories with conflict, romance and elements of mystery. Married to her high school sweetheart, she lives in Pennsylvania and is passionate about writing, old photographs, a good Maine lobster tail and cats.
Discover more about Mae on her website and blog at http://maeclair.net  

NEXT WEEK

I am passing the torch onto three other lovely and talented writers. Do take a minute next week to check them out! Trust me, they will have plenty amusing things to say. 🙂

1. M.Q. Barber