Blog tour – All aboard

Okay – A blog Tour – I’ll do my best.

Ashen

I’ve been following Ashen’s blog Course of Mirrors for quite a long time now.  It’s a wonderful place, It always feels to me as if I have turned  into a walled garden from a busy street and found instant peace.  The content is inspirational and moving and uplifting in equal measure.  The images are glorious and the words are a delight and I am overwhelmed that this talented writer should be my blogging friend and that she is so very generous in her feedback and comments.

I tried to a blog tour once before and made a bit of a hash of it so I was told that I could stretch the rules and only needed to find one other candidate to pass the torch to.  My choice was easy.

I met  Fran Mcilvey on a writers site and have watched in delight as her book has been polished and honed and now published and not only published but made into an audio book.  Trapped – tells the story of Fran’s journey through her life up to now and it is different from the one that many of us travel.  Born with cerebral palsy Fran faces daily challenges that we can only wonder about and she has written about these with grace and humour and honesty and yes, bravery – this is not misery lit this is triumph lit.

Fran.

Fran’s blog showcases more of her writing with short pieces that amuse, entertain and inform and again I am amazed that this wonderful writer takes the time not only to read my work but to comment continually and offer encouragement and support and suggestions. – Thanks Fran.

Ah yes the final part of this is to answer four questions – hmm

Here we go

1.  What am I working on

At the moment I am working on the blog serial Pauline (this is probably just the working title).  It is another story of transition, flight and progress, at least that is what it is up to now.  With my serials I write them literally “on the hoof” and so the whole thing can change overnight.  I think it is one of the reasons that I enjoy writing this way, in fact last night another thread popped into my mind and I can’t wait to start to weave it in – what is it – aha – Watch this Space.

Apart from the blog serial I write short fiction, at least one story each week and the discipline for that comes from a little competition on the Authonomy writer’s site.  There is no prize apart from the fun of it but many of the ideas have spawned stories that have gone on to be quite successful in my other favourite place Shortbreadstories.

2. How does my work differ from other of this genre

This is almost impossible to answer because I don’t really know what the genre is until the thing is fully developed.  I am a one hundred percent pantser and apart from a vague idea at the start and occasionally a hint of genre I simply have to wait and see so this one is possibly women’s literature, possibly romance, possibly something else entirely.  Heh – I guess that’s different!

3. Why do I write what I do

That’s really easy to answer.  I write quite simply because I love to do it.  I enjoy the physical part, the computer, the typing the creation of a manuscript.  I hugely enjoy watching the story develop and getting to know the characters and finding out how they react and interact and yes, it has to be said I do feel real satisfaction when I finish a piece and tie the bow on it and am happy with the ending.

I also enjoy the process of self publishing and am so very happy that I am doing this thing at a time when there are so many exciting ways to show my work to anyone who may be interested.

4. How does my writing process work

As I have said I am a one hundred percent pantser.  The stories start usually from a sentence, a phrase maybe just a hint of an idea.  I sit down and I start to type.  If it’s not going to work I usually know pretty quickly and I don’t force it.  Now and then I have had an idea that I have been totally in love with but I just can’t get it down the way that I want to.  I have to let it go because the work is wooden and unconvincing and totally unsatisfying if it doesn’t just flow out of the ends of my fingers.  It’s the nearest thing to magic I have come across.  Things that I didn’t know I knew, thoughts that I didn’t know I could think and sometimes, don’t really want to look into too deeply, all just happen – or they don’t and then I fret and worry and fuss until it all comes back again.

So there we are – a blog tour post – I hope this is better than my last attempt.