The Writing Process Blog Hop

Today, I’m participating in the “My Writing Process” blog tour, where writers take turns answering questions about their writing process. I’d like to thank Paula Martin for inviting me to participate. Last week, she answered questions, and you can find her answers here http://paulamartinpotpourri.blogspot.com/. Paula also writes contemporary romance, but her stories are usually set in European locations. She and I met as fellow authors at Whiskey Creek Press http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/ and she was kind enough to invite me to be the Tuesday contributor to the Heroines With Hearts blog http://www.heroineswithhearts.blogspot.com.

My own writing process tends to change depending on what else is going on in my life. But, I’ll try to give it some clarity as I answer the questions. So, here goes:

1. What am I working on?: I just finished the rough draft of two manuscripts. One is a stand-alone contemporary romance inspired by this beautiful old Victorian mansion that I checked out during an open house (I would have bought it too, if I’d had a few spare million dollars lying around). My girls and I fell in love with it, and it got my creative juices going. However, everyone dislikes my first scene (they like the second one though), so I’m currently doing major rewrites. The second manuscript is the sequel to The Seduction of Esther http://www.amazon.com/Seduction-Esther-Jennifer-Wilck-ebook/dp/B00D4J6A80/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1387652415&sr=8-2&keywords=jennifer+wilck. The hero in this book is the villain from the previous one, and the heroine is the previous heroine’s sister. The Jewish holiday it works around is Passover.
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?: Well, there are very few Jewish contemporary romances out there that are not chick lit. And there are even fewer that deal with holidays other than Chanukah. My goal is to make the Judaism seem as natural in my books as the Christianity is in other books. Even stories that don’t revolve around Christmas usually have an unspoken Christian piece to them—the characters go to church, or they get married in a church. I love reading those books, but I wanted to write something a little different. In The Seduction of Esther, the story takes place around the holiday of Purim. The holiday provided a great conflict—hiding one’s identity, and gave me a fun way of using the holiday—a holiday play. In my latest work, readers will get a glimpse of the Passover preparations and the holiday dinner, or seder.
3. Why do I write what I do?: In addition to what I said above, I’ve always loved reading romances and when I sat down to write, it just seemed like a natural thing to do. I like escaping from reality for a bit, and I love the guaranteed “happily ever after.”
4. How does your writing process work?: When my kids were little, I used to write at night, after I put them to bed. Now that they’re older, I have a hard time staying up later than they do. Plus, there are too many distractions, and I like spending time with my husband and watching TV. So now I write when they are in school. I usually get work and errands done in the morning and write or edit from lunch until they get home. Writing a first draft usually takes me about six to eight months. Then I take about three months to edit. After that, I submit and start writing the next book while I wait for someone to show an interest in what I’ve written.

Once again, I’d like to thank Paula Martin for involving me in this blog hop. Next week, be sure to check out Lila Munro at http://www.lilamunro.com/realmantic-moments-blog.html and Debra St. John at http://bookbeatbabes.blogspot.com