Next Big Thing Blog Hop!

Hey, kids —

So there’s this thing going on where if you’re tagged by another writer, then you do a blog that answers the questions they did on theirs. Then you tag somebody to keep it going. So it’s kind of like a chain letter, only not. Because if you choose not to do a blog, well, you’re not going to cause somebody to lose a million bucks and you won’t break the mysterious ju-ju of the chain letter and cause small animals to cry or whatever the hell. Instead, you might miss out on an opportunity to chit-chat about yourself and your work.

Anyway, I was tagged by author Cheyne Curry (you can see her answers on her blog). So let’s go check out these questions, which I may or may not answer correctly. And I’ve re-worded a few questions for ease of grammatical flow.

So clickie on to see.

What is the working title of your book?
Uh…which ones? And I don’t reveal working titles. I’m like a baseball player, and kind of superstitious about that. Plus, sometimes the title doesn’t reveal itself to me until I finish the manuscript. I will say that I just finished the third installment of my sci fi series and I’m hammering away on the 4th in my New Mexico mystery series. Oh, and I have another novella under way, as well. Plus a romance manuscript that I’ll be publishing next year (2013).

Where did you get the idea(s) for your book(s)?
The road and life, for my New Mexico series and short stories. I’m also an inveterate space opera fan. Hence the sci fi series. There’s also this tree trunk, rotting in the Redwood forests of northern California. You can only find it once in a while, when the stars and planets are in proper alignment. But if you do, well, you’re sure to find stories there. 😀

What genres do you write?
Mystery (New Mexico series), sci fi (Far Seek Chronicles), and romance-ish (short stories — you can read those on my site or buy my novella, Some Kind of River). I’ve got a couple of others up my sleeve, too. MUAH HA HA!

What actors would play your characters in a movie based on the books?
I’m super weird about this, because I have an image of what my characters look like, but I know it probably doesn’t match how others see them. Which means I don’t really like the idea of actors playing the characters in a movie because I like leaving things up to the imagination. That’s another reason that I tend to read a book first before I see a movie based on it. I’d rather have my own image of the characters before I see a movie, and I treat the movie as a separate entity than the book.

Can you come up with a one-sentence synopsis of your book(s)?
Well, all rightie, then. Here are the taglines:
Land of Entrapment: Ex-girlfriend. Her missing sister. Violent white supremacists. Ah, Albuquerque!
State of Denial: Homicide. Homophobia. Hell of a case. Ah, Albuquerque!
The Ties that Bind: Dead man. Dark Spirits. Deep Trouble. Ah, New Mexico!
Friends in High Places: Space bandit Torri Rendego takes an opal-running job on Earth, but runs smack into her past, as well.
A Matter of Blood: Outlaw Torri Rendego is back on Earth, but this time an ancient culture and the hated Coalition create a gamble even she probably shouldn’t have taken.
Skulls and Crossbones: Women pirates. HELLO!

And longer synopses?
Hey, I’ll do you one better, and make it easier on you. Hit this link for the mysteries, this one for the sci fi, and this one for the pirates.

Self-published, traditionally published, and or agented?
My mystery series is published traditionally, through Regal Crest books, my sci fi/pirate anthology is also published traditionally through Bedazzled Ink. I currently have a novella available through Kindle. I self-published Some Kind of River. No, I don’t have an agent because I haven’t needed one for the houses I’ve approached. There are publishing houses that will not accept a manuscript unless it’s via an agent, but I haven’t approached those, yet.

How long did it take to write the first draft(s) of your manuscript(s)?
Depends on the manuscript. My mysteries take a lot of research. Also, I’m not the kind of writer who sits down and hammers out a draft without going back to tweak/re-write some things. I’m one of those who DOES go back to tweak/re-write bits, so by the time I have a first draft, it’s already had a lot of work put into re-writing throughout. That said, I’ve written a draft in a month of one manuscript (I was freelance editing at the time, and had the time to write 5-8 hours a day on some days). Another took me about 4 months, but I was only able to write 2 hours a day, so it took a bit longer. Because I do research for my novels, that figures into the draft-writing time. So on average, it takes me 6 months to a year, ideally, to hammer a book out. Depending on what all’s going on in my life, and like 90 percent of writers out there, I have to fit it in around a day job.

Who or what inspired you to write?
When I was very young, before I could read, I used to go through my parents’ books and try to figure out what they said. I’d pore over them for hours, staring at the patterns the words made, trying to recognize them across the pages. I learned to read very early, and since then, I’ve had a fascination with the written word and what it can do. I’ve also always made stories up in my head, and created all kinds of worlds, characters, and scenarios. My parents encouraged reading, and they certainly encouraged writing, and I had some great teachers along the way. I read Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Edgar Rice Burroughs when I was young, and then continued my spec fic vein and read Anne McCaffrey (Pern is one of my fave planets) and Marion Zimmer Bradley. I loved spec fic. Still do, though I now enjoy urban fantasy, as well. And I enjoy mysteries. But I also read lots of nonfiction, because I’m interested in most everything, and you never know where you’ll find inspiration. 🙂

What else might make a reader interested in your work?
New Mexico mysteries! LGBT characters, including a cool homicide detective, a slightly off-kilter but means well sociologist, a groovy prosecuting attorney, a mystical-ish photographer! Or how about a space bandit and her crew? And the woman she just can’t shake? And the threat of the hated Coalition over them both? Or how about a quick romance novella that features kayaking and a summer among friends? And hello! There’s that anthology with PIRATES!

And there you go. Time for you to move on. Make sure you stop by Roselle Graskey’s pad. She’s got some cool stuff going on, and she’s a stop on this here hop. OH, and next week, check in with Kate McLachlan, author of cool time travel thrillers and a fun mystery. I totally tagged her. HA! She’s it!

Oh, and also! Roselle, Kate, Cheyne, and I (as well as a boo-coo ton of other authors!) are giving away books in the 12-Day Hootenanny over at Women and Words. It starts TODAY (Wednesday, December 12, 2012 OMG 12-12-12). Book giveaways for TWELVE FREAKING DAYS. Come on by and check it out.

Happy reading, happy writing!