My Writing Process Blog Tour #bloghop

So, the great and wonderful Suzy Ayers asked me to be a part of a blog tour, and, I agreed. The requirements of the blog tour seemed simple enough – answer four questions about your writing and get select three or four authors to follow you the following week. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy, right?

Wrong.

For a myriad of reasons, the authors I felt I knew well enough to ask had already participated. Damn it!

Others didn’t feel like they could or should. Well, ok.

I asked one author who is interested, but I’ve dropped the ball and haven’t followed up, so if she participates that’s wonderful, but no guarantees.

I was bemoaning my inability to follow the rules to the letter, when the great and snarky Sheri Savill said something I’ll never forget: “We don’t need no stinking rules!” Pearls of wisdom right there, y’all.

So, I’m answering the questions and doing an open call for any authors who want to participate. The official rules are to link back to the person who invited you to participate, answer the four questions, and then link to 3 (or is it 4?) other authors who will participate the following week. Or, be a mavericky-maverick like me, and fuck the rules!

But I will answer the questions, so here you go:

What am I working on?

I’ve got two book ideas rattling around in my head and one book, the second Sir and Babygirl book is finally being written. The two ideas are outside of my comfort zone, but won’t leave me alone so I have to write them at some point. The Sir and Babygirl adventures are desperate to get out, but I haven’t figured out how to add more hours to the day yet.

How does my work differ from others of my genre?

A lot of authors write BDSM erotica. I think the big difference between myself and some is that I write about realistic relationships. I love to read fantasy and other types of erotica, but there are no billionaires, were-wolves, or aliens in any of my books. Real people, real relationships – that’s me.

Why do I write what I do?

Because I can’t do anything else. Writing feeds my soul, makes me feel sane, and gives me an outlet for the sexual fantasies (read: PORN) that float through my mind on a near-constant basis. And, I want to make BDSM, specifically D/s, seem real and less frightening to people who know it turns them on but are still fearful of it.

How does my writing process work?

I write on the weekends, and I plan out what I intend to write ahead of time. That being said, I don’t work from outlines. I don’t plot out the details before I write the story. I write short stories (usually) and Sir and Babygirl are simply a series of short stories. Each weekend, I work on a short story. When I’m done with the first draft, I leave it alone and the next weekend, I start the next story. Sometimes, I can write a full short story in one weekend and sometimes I need multiple weekends. I don’t go back to the rough drafts until all the stories are written. Then, I spend a weekend refining a story. The next weekend, I move onto refining the next story. Once they’re all refined, I start sending them to beta readers. Once I get them back from a beta reader, I look over them for any suggestions, tweak as needed. Then I sit on them for a couple more weeks.

Why the hell do I do it this way? Well, I can’t afford to hire a copy editor, proofer, or a creative editor. So, I give plenty of time between readings of the story. What happens is that I catch something to correct each time – something I didn’t see the time before. This means it takes longer for me to get something out and published, but I know it’s as good as I can make it when it does.

There you have it. That’s my writing process. Nothing life altering…on the weekends, I spend about 16 hours (between Saturday and Sunday) sitting at my kitchen table trying to build my brand, promote my book, write my blog, write the next book, plus build a vanilla business. Ya know, so nothing much. 😉