This is a recording of an interview I did regarding My Stubborn Heart.  At one point I talk about author Theresa Medeiros when I intended to say author Diana Gabaldon.  Oops!  Would you be so kind as to please listen to what I meant instead of what I said?

podcast interview

my writing process


        My novels begin with one small seed of an idea.  My Stubborn Heart began with the idea for a ex-hockey player hero who’d been devastated by the loss of his wife.  Everything else came gradually, layer upon layer, from that one initial thought.  It’s like a spiderweb that starts off with a tiny strand, and then (with lots of work and time) that strand is built into something much, much bigger and more complex.  


        Once I have my idea, I begin to imagine both my hero and my heroine.  When I’ve got a fairly good grasp on who they are, I give them each an ‘interview’.  My particular list of interview questions came from an article in a very old Romance Writer’s Report magazine.  If I still had that magazine I would credit the author!  I typed her suggested interview questions into a document file on my computer years ago and I’ve used them on every hero and heroine I’ve ever written.  Thinking through the answers to each of the questions really helps me understand my hero and heroine better and more deeply.  It also helps me hear and see them.  As I move through the novel, I consult those interviews now and then.  For one thing, I want to make sure I’m staying on track.  For another, the interviews jog my memory about a facet of the hero/heroine’s character that I’d wanted to bring to light.


       Lastly, before beginning the first chapter, I’ll type up a simple bullet point list of every big and pivotal scene that I can envision for the book.  That’s my road map.  It may start off short, but over the course of the book it grows and grows as new ideas for new scenes drop into my mind.  As I go, I switch the font color of the scenes I’ve completed to red.  Making that simple change gives me a sense of satisfaction and progress.  Also, it’s a quick visual clue to show me where I am in the book and how many scenes I have remaining.  I often cut and paste scenes from one location in my list to another.  Nothing is set in stone.  It’s really a matter of feeling out where each scene fits best and where it will hopefully have the most impact.  Some scenes on my list never get written because I end up merging the purpose behind them into another scene or I realize that they’re too inconsequential to matter.  Some scenes I do write and then delete later for the same reasons. 


        Once I have my list of scenes, I begin the first chapter.  Personally, I write my books in four sections - four separate documents - and I shoot to make each section one hundred pages long.


        If it were up to me, I’d never write a synopsis (a long outline of the book written in paragraph form).  But, of course, a synopsis is an important tool for any a writer who wishes to market and sell her manuscript.


        Just in case someone out there is interested, here’s a glimpse into my computer files for My Stubborn Heart.  Astute readers will notice that a few details changed between my starting concept for the characters, the synopsis, and the finalized book.  Click the below to see:


Matt’s Character Interview      Kate’s Character Interview      My Synopsis



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inspiration


    Years and years ago my sisters and I visited the quaint sister towns of New Hope, Pennsylvania and Lambertville, New Jersey.  While there, the three of us stayed at a bed and breakfast called Chimney Hill Estate in a cozy second floor bedroom with dormer windows that overlooked the property.  I love old houses, and the old house at Chimney Hill struck me as particularly wonderful.

    My sisters and I had a lovely time together that weekend; shopping, eating out, driving through the wooded and rolling landscape bright with fall foliage.

    I was thoroughly charmed by the history, character, and tasteful beauty of the towns, the land, and our B&B.  All of the above stayed alive in my memory, and later, inspired the setting of My Stubborn Heart.

    It gives me more freedom as an author to set my books in fictional towns, so I changed Lambertville’s name to Redbud (a tree native to that part of the country that has a heart shaped leaf).  And I re-imagined the house where we’d stayed as Chapel Bluff -- the beloved old home that had been passed down through Kate’s family for generations. 

   

video interview