Innovative Author Blog Tour: The Writing Process and Introducing Other Authors

Thanks to prolific author Helen Page for inviting me to participate in this blog tour. Check out Helen’s blog post as part of this tour to read about her writing process — http://budurl.com/HelenPagepost

Now it is my turn to answer the following four questions:

1. What am I working on?

I just finished publishing my screwball romantic comedy novella HOT POTATO on the free site Wattpad (see http://budurl.com/HPintro).

Meanwhile, at the moment front and center is my work-in-progress Cold War memoir TALES OF AN AMERICAN OCCUPYING GERMANY that I’m publishing chapter by chapter on Wattpad. (Check it out at http://budurl.com/TAintro)

I have all my original documents from September 1970 to May 1972 when my husband and I were stationed in Munich, Germany. Mitch was an officer with the 18th Military Intelligence Battalion and I eventually got a position as a civilian for the 66th Military Intelligence Group.

Americans not connected to the military may not realize that the U.S. has been occupying Germany since the end of World War II. The years 1970-72, while the U.S. was fighting in Vietnam, were a significant time period in the West’s determination not to allow the Soviet Union to advance even further into Europe.

My other work-in-progress on Wattpad is the sci fi novel THE MOTHER SIEGE, which takes place only 36 years from now and deals with many of the current issues in our world, including government eavesdropping and genetic manipulation. You can check this story out on Wattpad at http://budurl.com/MSintro

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I’m not sure my work differs greatly from other work in similar genres. Although I write in different genres, I tend to stick within the parameters of whichever genre I’m writing at the moment.

I will say that many of my stories are inspired by my own experiences or because of agendas that I wish to promote. For example, I wrote the short story SOLOMON’S JUSTICE to help share information about people getting help for PTSD (http://budurl.com/SJWattpad on Wattpad) and the short story PINKY SWEAR to talk about overcoming prejudice in 1964 (http://budurl.com/PSWattpad on Wattpad).

3. Why do I write what I do?

I love to share stories about interesting characters in various situations. Yet, although I love the mystery genre and the thriller genre, I do not write graphic gore. I’m more attracted to the intellectual challenge of figuring out who did it and why. (Yes, I love Agatha Christie mysteries.)

And I write because I have always written. (One summer during high school I wrote an entire book on a manual typewriter about children living in The White House.)

4. How does my writing process work?

I write, and then I rewrite. I actually enjoy rewriting because it provides an opportunity to check the logic of a story, character consistency, and timeline consistency.

I don’t really use outlines. I decide the story I want to tell, where I want to get to in the ending, and then I put myself mentally in the story and write.

(And I thank my parents for making me take two summer high school typing classes — being able to type very quickly really helps get my thoughts down.)

Now it is my turn to introduce three other book authors:

Award-winning author Ashley Fontainne delves into just what lengths a person is willing to go when they seek personal justice in her trilogy: ACCOUNTABLE TO NONE, ZERO BALANCE and ADJUSTING JOURNAL ENTRIES. Her short thriller NUMBER SEVENTY-FIVE touches upon the dangerous world of online dating. It is currently in production for a feature film. Her latest work, the thriller THE LIE, won the GOLD medal in the 2013 Illumination Book Awards. http://ramblingsofamadsouthernwoman.blogspot.com/

Kingsley Iweka is a creative writer and has vast experience in Content Development, Content Marketing and Media Consultancy. He is the author of the fiction novella titled DAPPLED THINGS published by Partridge Publishing, a Penguin Company in India. He manages a platform (Africa-ontherise) that delivers ONLY positive and progressive news about Africa. He is passionate about positive change for Nigeria and Africa, and this reflects very much in his writing and works. http://iamscopeman.wordpress.com/

Nicholas Rossis was born in 1970 in Athens. Greece. In 1995 he moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he received his PhD in Digital Architecture from the University of Edinburgh and taught various publishing courses at Napier University. In 2000 he moved back to Greece, where he has written a score of children’s books, numerous award-winning short stories and PEARSEUS, an epic fantasy series. www.nicholasrossis.me