The Writing Process

I’m always intrigued by how other writers writer. Are they more organised, talented or creative than me, more confident or less paranoid. You know the type of things we all go through. So I readily accepted the invitation to join this Writing Process blog tour from my Triskele colleague, Catriona Troth. Kat has written published two fantastic books so far. A novella entitled Gift of the Raven and her first literary novel, Ghost Town. Check out her blog here http://catrionatroth.blogspot.co.uk

Here are my answers to The Writing Process Blog Tour …

1) What am I working on?

At the moment I’m working on final edits of the first novel in a new crime thriller series called The Gold Detectives, title not yet finalised but I need to get a move on as release date is June 2014.

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

I’m quite a strong advocate of breaking rules and pushing boundaries, so my first three books (The Charter, Closure and Complicit) have all been cross genre – mixing genres I love, such as crime and paranormal or crime and historical. I was told by my agent at the time that these would never be published mainstream, which was one of reasons for forming Triskele Books in 2011. With my new series, The Gold Detectives, I am conforming somewhat but I’m proud to say I’m still writing what I want because they’re the kind of books I love to read.

3) Why do I write what I do?

As I’ve touched on above, I write what I would like to read. Subjects that interest me and I enjoy spending time researching will always feature heavily in my work. For example, I love shipwrecks so wrote about the Royal Charter in my first book. I’ve a deep interest in pathology, so took a forensic science course with The Open University so I learned enough to sound proficient in my current ms. I have always been a huge fan of crime fiction, from teenage years reading every Agatha Christie in our local library, so it was logical I would naturally veer towards writing crime too.

4) How does my writing process work?

Usually I have a seed of an idea at some point – long car journeys are active breeding grounds for ideas for me! I’ll make a few notes, then when I’m ready to start plotting, I’ll research and make notes. Depending on subject, research can take up to six months. Then I work on structure, characterisation, decide on location. Only when I am bursting to write, and the characters’ voices are clear in my head, do I sit down abut it never happens! Then I’ll pass the finished (or at least in my mind finished) product to my Triskele colleagues and one of two chosen beta readers, and then usually spend the next month or so picking through their comments, making the relevant edits, and taking on a second round of edits after a full read through. Then it’s back to any willing readers for a second go through, and the finally it’s off to my proof reader for final edits and tweaks.

The next three authors on this Writing Process Blog Tour on Monday 31st March are:

• C. P. Lesley, a historian, is the author of The Not Exactly Scarlet Pimpernel—her 21st-century take on the classic Baroness Orczy novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905), now in the public domain—and of The Golden Lynx, volume 1 of a series set during the childhood of Ivan the Terrible. The sequel to The Golden Lynx, The Winged Horse, will appear in June 2014. For more information, seewww.cplesley.com
• Amy Morse, writing as Amy C Fitzjohn, is a writer, enterprise coach and entrepreneur. She is a business trainer by day and performer of random acts of creativity by night. Finding inspiration in the everyday, creating something from nothing and enabling others to do the same. Author of The Bronze Box (http://amzn.to/1jd0sDE)  and currently working on Solomon’s Secrets (http://bit.ly/1jdpXqW), Amy has always had a passion for stories.
• Ann Swinfen (http://www.annswinfen.com) published three novels with RandomHouse, but her two latest – The Testament of Mariam and Flood – herself. Loving the whole independent publishing process, she thinks it unlikely she’d ever return to conventional publishing. Short stories previously in magazines and on BBC radio are now on Kindle. She’s reissuing her backlist and writing a new series set in 16^th century London, featuring a young physician coerced into becoming a code-breaker and spy in Walsingham’s secret service.