What am I working on?

I was tagged by my friend and fellow writer Tony Noland (@TonyNoland) in a bloghop meme, along with Larry Kollar and John Wiswell, to answer a few questions! So without any further ado, here we go…

1. What am I working on?

I’m being a bit silly and working on two projects at once – I’m in the planning stages for the sequel to The Necromancer’s Apprentice, which is going to be a bit more broad in its scope and needs more tinkering before I can write it. This one will see more exploration of the Underground City, and brings in characters that have so far been introduced through the Friday flashes I’ve been writing. I’m also finishing the last 2k words or so of the sequel to The Guns of Retribution before it can go to beta readers.

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

Well they’re both pretty different works from each other! The Guns of Retribution is a pulp adventure first and a Western second, but its sequel, To Kill A Dead Man, takes it further and adds horror to the mix. Weird Westerns aren’t new but I enjoy writing them – this one will see Grey O’Donnell discovering that something doesn’t rest easily in the mines of Colorado. The Necromancer’s Apprentice is a horror/fantasy mix, but it also falls into the YA category, so I suppose it’s not constrained to just one genre.

3. Why do I write what I do?

Because I enjoy writing them, so I hope others enjoy reading them. My primary goal has never been to ‘just tell stories’ or write because I ‘have’ to, I write because I like entertaining others and I hope they provide the same escapism that I seek when I read.

4. How does my writing process work?

• Come up with an idea, often in the form of “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?”
• Work out the beginning, middle and end.
• Put any important plot points in place.
• Write a draft, essentially ‘freewriting’ between these plot points.
• Set draft aside for a couple of weeks, then go back and edit the crap out of it.
• Send it to my lovely beta readers.
• Get their feedback, and make any necessary adjustments, then send to my lovely editor, Nerine Dorman, for her feedback!
• Then take the rest of it as it comes!

TURNABOUT

Now, the folks whom I tag are supposed to answer the same four questions. Those people are:

Sonya Clark, who writes books I absolutely love!

Heath Lowrance, who also writes books I love.

Emma Berry, fellow crafter and writer!