fuonlyknew

How to find time to write as a parent.

I can’t say I have a set schedule for writing. I have a set schedule for riding and that is truly where the ideas flow. There’s something about the rocking of my horse’s gait that takes me back to another time and another place.  Once the inspiration hits and the characters become real in my head, I can write for hours or days.

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Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reins of the story?

When I say my characters become real people, I really mean it.  They wake me up at night.  I can see them sitting across the room, and they blab until I ask them to kindly disappear so I can get some sleep.  When they refuse, I sneak into my studio and, like a court reporter, record everything they are saying.  I must admit most times they are heading me in the right direction.

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What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?

Since the mid 1800’s is the timeframe for all my romances, many years ago my mother and I took the dog and travelled to the states where the scenes happened. We visited county seats and perused old newspapers, walked historical areas and graveyards. Of course, with the internet today, all that traveling and reading can be accomplished with the slash of a keystroke (although not half as much fun). Sometimes I can’t achieve the feel of some scenes from the internet though.  For example, I had a fire scene to write and I visited the local fire marshall. Once I had convinced him that I was not an arsonist and really did write romance (and he and the other firemen stopped laughing), we had a great discussion of how the fire scene could be accomplished with accuracy.  As I left, I heard him telling the other firemen I was definitely going to be dinner conversation with his wife that night.  I just smiled.

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What is your writing process?  For instance do you do an outline first?  Do you do the chapters first?

Every writer has their own unique writing process. I search the public domain and find pictures of what my hero and heroine look like in my head.  Then I frame their faces and place the frames on my desk as I write.  When I am in the hero’s head, I stare at the heroine’s face and vice versa. For me this helps the dialogue flow naturally. I write down a general idea of how the plot will move forward from beginning to end, but I must say I do not rigidly adhere to an outline, not do I write the chapters consecutively.  The reason for this is because once my characters come alive in my head, scenes have a tendency to change.  For example, as I wrote my first romance, Season of the Shadow, I knew exactly what would happen when the hero entered the barn.  However, when he arrived I was shocked at how the hero and heroine had rearranged the scene.  I liked what they had done and  wrote the scene their way.  Hearing about this 3am occurrence, my husband often taps my shoulder while I write and asks, “Anybody talking to you yet?”

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Advice you would give new authors.

Storylines can spring from anywhere…a song on the radio, a conversation at a dinner party, or the view from a ski lift chair.  Best advice I could give is…just write.  Write for yourself.  Write for the sheer joy of creating something from nothing.  Remember, as the writer, you are omnipotent and that’s a powerful feeling.  When you are feeling sad, use that emotion to write sad scenes.  Do the same with happiness.  Those emotions will flow into your words and make scenes truly believable.  Write the ideas that pop into your head.  Don’t worry about the grammar or the spelling or searching for just the right word.  All those things will come later.  Don’t allow any of those things to stop the flow of ideas because, at least for me, if I don’t scribble the ideas I lose them and many times they don’t come back.  Then I’m left saying, “What was that thought I had? Geez…and it was such a good idea.”  Keep pencil and paper by your bed for those magical ‘ah hah’ moments when your characters come alive and tell you how they want their story written.  In the car or on my horse I simply use my voice recorder.  Just scribble whenever the ideas flow and, before long, those ramblings will take shape.

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Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?

Before pen to paper…Inside The Grey…This novel was composed entirely on horseback.  The ideas flowed, and I bounced portions of the plot with my fellow riders as we galloped through the fields.  Jumping fences dressed in our finery to keep up with thirty hounds on the scent, transported us back in time. When I returned to present day, I simply wrote about my day in the past.

Before pen to paper…The Inn At Little Bend…Within one year I lost three people I loved dearly, and I retreated to my studio.  It seemed only there could I make sense of things and force the capricious fates to bend to my will.  Drake and Grayson are struggling with their own losses, searching for the realization that they, too, can survive the anguish.

Before pen to paper… Season of The Shadow…I was recovering from a serious neck and head injury when these characters came to life.  I have since learned to compensate but the injury severely affected my inner ear and my balance for years.  Fletcher’s affliction intrudes on his life as it did mine.  Other parts of the storyline are based on actual happenings in my life as are the surroundings.  My grandmother’s home (since demolished) had been built by a bootlegger with hidden compartments, peepholes, and tunnels leading to the river.  The home’s uniqueness was our parents’ nightmare but a child’s delight.

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What can we expect from you in the future?

A new story is on the computer with the working title, ‘TruDeceit.’ The blurb is on my website.

www.Bobbiscorner.com   Readers will recognize several previous characters entering and exiting as the time frame has progressed twenty years into the late 1860’s.  The beginning chapter has been written, and I know the general plotline. However I am still searching for images to frame so my new hero (Rafe) and new heroine (yet to be named) can develop into real people.   Once that happens, the three of us will be off and running.