Last summer, I had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful Roxanne Snopek at the Entangled in Vegas conference. She invited me to participate in the Writing Process Blog Chain, in which writers share information about (wait for it…) their writing process, by answering the following questions:

1) What am I working on?

Currently, I have several romance novellas in various stages of completion. One four-novella contemporary romance series (plus a shorter ancillary story) resembles stair steps at the moment – the first has been accepted for publication by Entangled; I just submitted the second; the next two (one longer and the shorter story) are finished first drafts; the last story is still in final plotting development. I’ve got finished first drafts of two other M/M romances (one of which is a sequel to Northern Light). TMI?

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

Most of my stories are set in Oregon, my current home state. However, my address history reads like a U.S. geography hopscotch game, so Oregon may not always be a defining factor. The Northern Light sequel, for instance, is set in Sarasota.

Any given story is just as likely to have a hero and hero as a hero and heroine. In the current series, for instance, the second book is M/M while the others are M/F.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I love the dopamine hit from romance, the guarantee of a happily-ever-after. Excessive angst depresses me, so I try to avoid it when I write as well as when I read or watch movies. My M/M stories are unlikely ever to have a tortured closeted character or a garment-rending coming out scene because that hasn’t been my experience (two out gay sons, years of friendship with gay and lesbian folks of varying degrees of fabulous flamboyance).

4) How does my writing process work?

I’m usually sparked by some small thing – a song lyric, a flash of a scene idea, a snippet of dialogue. In the case of Northern Light, the story prompt was a “haunted house” submission call from Entangled.

Once burned by the idea spark, I get to work on the first draft. (This post at See Jane Publish describes my development process.) After that, usually three revision passes to fill in scene gaps, handle transitions and flow, address plot holes and character consistency, check for stupid author tricks. Oh, yeah. And spelling. That too.

I’ve tagged these writers as the next links in the chain. Watch for their posts on January 13th.

Laurel Wilczek writes literary fiction, fantasy, and magical realism. Her short stories have appeared in T-Zero Literary Magazine, The Forward Papers, and Be a Better Writer. Writing under the pen name, Ravenne Law, Laurel enjoys exploring the dark fantasy in the short story and novel length format. Her entry, Spells & Tells, placed first in 2013 Rose City Romance Writers Golden Rose Contest in the Novel with Strong Romantic Elements category. Laurel is a member of Savvy Authors.com and Writers’ Village University. In her spare time she mentors young writers for the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge at her local library. Laurel lives with her husband, son, and three nosy dogs in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania.

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E. W. Gibson studied at École Parsons á Paris and received a BFA in Painting. In essence, her art training took place in the museums across Europe and the UK during the ten years she spent traveling with her husband. Ahhh, Paris, she sighs in her sleep.

For her, painting and writing reside beyond the right or left-brain. Like more south, where the heart and dreams blossom. Of course, she admits to being a little way out there. So, it makes sense her stories are about off-the wall characters on a quest of the heart not unlike the Richard Bach quote, “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.”

E. W. lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina with her adoring husband, three dogs, and neurotic cat.

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Gina Fluharty, who says: “We all have a dark side. I’m going to show you mine. Time after time, plot after plot, vulnerable and bleeding character after character, I am going to captivate you and make you confront that which you want to deny and repress. You’ll embrace it, revel in it and explore the razor-toothed expanses of it until we climb out the other side, into the light. Into redemption.

I live in the Greater Portland area. There’s nothing I don’t love about this city. She’s got everything I could ever want which is why when I see the ‘What will you do with your two days in Seattle?’ commercial I say, ‘Stay in Portland.'”

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Thanks again to Roxanne for including me in the chain!

Roxanne Snopek writes feel-good redemption stories with quirky characters and happily-ever-afters. Her popular Three River Ranch e-book series, published by Entangled Bliss, is set in Montana, and contains swoon-worthy heroes, strong heroines and various four-footed characters. Learn more at www.roxannesnopek.ca/blog.