By
Dora Machado
We at MB4 love to be part of the writing
community at large. When our dear friend, the talented Maria De Vivo, author of The Coal Elf, passed me the baton for
the Writing Process Blog Tour, I thought: Why not share it with everybody over
at MB4?
In turn, I passed the
baton to three writers who I think you might enjoy meeting, and our very
own Kim Smith. This means all of us get to answer four questions about our work. Score! Don't you just love
writer talk?
Let's get started. These are the questions I had to answer:
What are you working
on?
Oh,
my! And I thought these would be easy questions. I have several projects going.
I'm about halfway into a contemporary urban fantasy novel with a Latin twist.
I'm also in the research stage of three different projects, one of them a
fantasy/time travel adventure. And of course, I'm also in the process of
writing the companion novel to The Curse
Giver, a fantasy epic adventure with a hint of romance tentatively entitled
The Soul Chaser.
How does your work
differ from others in its genre?
I
think I bring a different perspective to the fantasy genre. I grew up in Latin
America and I've seen and experienced the advantages and disadvantages of
living in a developing nation. My stories are usually nuanced by issues of
poverty, inequality, corruption and injustice. I like a complex plot with
flawed, multidimensional characters engaged in passionate and meaningful
relationships at many different levels. I write characters that are a product
of changing environments and yet have to evolve with the circumstances.
I
don't mind a little length if it allows me the chance to ramp up the journey's
intensity and explore the richness of diverse and innovative worlds. My style
is a little different too. I like to tell an epic story with lyrical flare. Finally,
I bring some gritty realism to my fantasy worlds, a taste of the world we live
in.
Why do you write what
you write?
I
straddle many worlds in real life, so fantasy is a perfect fit for me. I love the
freedom of creating my own worlds. In many ways, fantasy is a reinterpretation
of the human experience, as current and enduring as the world we live in. To
me, fantasy is the most interactive of all the genres, the most flexible. I get
to play and experiment with concepts, settings and ideas in all kinds of
different frameworks. Who wouldn't love that? I write fantasy because it's fun.
What is your writing
process?
It
usually begins with an idea that gives birth to a character. Then that
character takes over. I'm quite obsessive when I'm writing. I write all the
time, wherever I am. The bulk of my writing takes place late at night. I write
best during those uninterrupted times and I write for as long as I can. Sleep
deprivation is usually a challenge. I can typically churn out a draft in three
or four months. After that, I go into a compulsive editing phase, where I might
be writing something new while editing the draft. It's a grueling process and
yet I love it. I wouldn't have it any other way!
There you have it. My writing process in a nutshell. Would
you like to know about other writers processes? Read on. I'm passing the baton
to:
My friend Jerry Hatchett writes thrillers you can't put down. He's
the author of several Amazon bestsellers, including Seven Unholy Days, The
Pawnbroker and the upcoming Unallocated
Space.
My friend Linda Au is a novelist, a humor writer and the funniest
woman I know. She's the author of several humor books, including Head in the Sand and the award nominated
Fork in the Road.
My friend Eleanor Khuns is a writer of historical mysteries, winner of
the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime
Novel competition and author of A
Simple Murder, Death of a Dyer and Craddle to Grave.
And of course, MB4's very own, the amazing Kim Smith, talented author of the YA fantasy An Unexpected Performance and hosts
one of the most popular writer podcasts in the field of writers
and books, Writer Groupie. Kim picked up the baton and answered her questions right here!
Go Kim!
Kim Smith's Writing Process
My sweet, wonderful, amazing, astounding,
marvelous, magnificent writer friend Dora Machado, author of The Curse Giver, passed me the baton for
the Writing Process Blog Tour. (And yes, she is ALL of those things and more :)
This means I have to answer four questions about my work. Here are my answers:
What are you working
on?
At
the moment, I am working on getting Loran
Rudder and the Secret Key finished up and ready to publish. I have
pre-release reviews coming in and am working on a final edit and polish of the
cover and manuscript.
How does your work
differ from others in its genre?
I
would like to think that all authors no matter what their chosen field are
different from one another. No one person can have my voice. It's mine. I think
most everyone can write within the guidelines of their chosen field, ie. space
matter for sci-fi, unicorns etc. for fantasy, couple in love for romance, but
no one can write it with my voice.
Why do you write what
you write?
It
is important to me to write what I love. I have always loved fantasy. My voice
is very youthful and true to the YA reader, so I have been told. I just want to
entertain with the same sort of books that entertain me.
What is your writing
process?
I
am so scattered these days this is a hard question. I write at night these
days. I pull my laptop onto my lap and go at it for an hour or so. I can
usually turn out about three to five pages in an hour of good writing time. My
favorite place to write is at my local Panera Bread. I love to be able to drink
coffee and eat and enjoy the ambiance there, but it's hard to make myself get
up and take all the gear there.
Thanks
Kim, Jerry, Linda, Eleanor and all of the amazing writers who shared their
writing processes in this blog tour. And if you'd like to share your writing
process with us, by all means. We'd love to hear how you write.
Coming up, we are also passing the baton to our dear colleague Aaron Paul Lazar, who will answer his writing process questions in his upcoming blog on Friday.
Don't miss it!
****
Dora Machado is
the award-winning author of the epic fantasy Stonewiser series and her newest
novel, The Curse Giver, available
from Twilight Times Books. She grew up in the Dominican Republic, where she
developed a fascination for writing and a taste for Merengue. After a lifetime
of straddling such compelling but different worlds, fantasy is a natural fit to
her stories. When
she is not writing fiction, Dora also writes features for Murder By Four, an
award winning blog for readers and writers and Savvy Authors, where writers
help writers. She lives in
Florida with her indulgent husband and three very opinionated cats.
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