My Writing Process - Blog Hop

I am participating in the Internet phenomenon My Writing Process Blog Relay. Like an old-fashioned chain letter for writers, each new post refers to the writer inviting this post, and mentions the upcoming writers. Each answers four questions about writing process. 

I met Charlene Dietz at Left Coast Crime 2013 when we both appeared on a short story panel. Charlene Dietz attended both the University of Wyoming and the University of New Mexico.  She received her Bachelor and Masters degrees from UNM focusing on art, science, and education. Her writing includes award winning short stories, published articles, and children's stories. Cuba Libre Conspiracies is looking for an agent/publisher home. Her second book in this series, Illusive Inheritance, is in progress.  Visit her on Facebook or follow this link to learn her answers to the four questions. http://inkydancestudios.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/blog-hop-a-game-of-tag-for-writers/ Thank you for tagging me, Char!

Here are my answers to the four writing process questions:

1)        What am I working on?

I have two projects going right now. I am working on an amateur sleuth short story, and brainstorming ideas for book three in my Rock Shop Mystery series. I have two novels waiting on the sidelines for when I have time to polish them.

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

“There is nothing new under the sun,” according to Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NKJV)

Still, I like to think I have a unique take on the amateur sleuth murder mystery. For example, I am unaware of any mysteries set in a rock shop. Several of my short stories take place in a factory. My fiction that focuses on the West portrays my vision of New West sensibilities, with environmental themes and modern cowboys and cowgirls.

3)        Why do I write what I do?

I write what I want to read. I enjoy amateur sleuth mysteries that are on the cozy end of the sex and violence spectrum. I don’t need to see entrails and brains strewn around, and I don’t care to view the bedroom activities of characters. I hope I’m writing fiction that my grandmother would have been comfortable reading.

4)        How does my writing process work?

Pain, suffering, beating my head against the wall, and then voila – a completed story. I begin short stories longhand on a notepad, then type them up on the computer, then work on a printout, back and forth. Novels mostly begin and end on the computer, with some work on printouts late in the process. As far as the creative process, I typically am struck with an idea for a scene, a character, an unusual setting, or a line of dialogue. That original spark may or may not stay in the story, but it is what gets things rolling.

Who is up next in the blog hop?
I met Liesa at a Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers of America meeting. At the time, we both had novels in the queue with Five Star. I was so happy to know someone with whom to share the anticipation, and to compare notes on the publication journey. Mystery author Liesa Malik's second Daisy Arthur novel, Sliced Vegetarian, has recently been purchased by Five Star Publishing, and is currently scheduled for release in the summer of 2015.
https://liesamalik.wordpress.com/author/liesam/