This week I’m delighted to have Larynn Ford as my guest on Work In Progress Wednesday.
MJ: So let’s get to know a little bit about Larynn the person. If you could travel anywhere in the universe, what would be your top three destinations?
Larynn: I’d love to be able to travel the US extensively and see the beauty of our great nation. I’m not so much the bright lights, big city kinda girl, but I do find the wonders nature has to offer fascinating. Though I’m not a world traveler, outside the US, I would love to visit Ireland and Scotland.
MJ: Do you have any recurring dreams you’d be willing to share with us?
Larynn: None currently, but when I was young, maybe five or six, I had a similar dream numerous times. I was always outside playing in the front yard. My mama would come to the door, check her watch, and say it was time to come in. I begged for more play time of course, but she’d warned me to hurry because it was almost time. ‘It’ was coming and this happened everyday at the same time.
I don’t know what ‘it’ was but I remember looking up the road and hearing ‘it’ roaring toward me, like a tornado or the Tasmanian Devil. Fear seized me, my feet became weighted, making it difficult to move. I’d look again and ‘it’ would be coming closer and closer.
I always made it safely inside the screen door just in time. ‘It’ would pass by the house, the wind blowing, accompanying the whirring, frightening, roaring sounds. For another day, we were safe.
Maybe I’ll turn my ‘it’ into a book one of these days:)
MJ: That sounds terrifying, but good for you for thinking of turning it into fiction fodder. Let’s say you weren’t a writer. What would be your creative outlet?
Larynn: I love gardening. Never said I’m good at it mind you, but I would love to be. My animals are fun and I wish I had more time to spend with them. A pot-belly pig named Oreo, two goats, Ethel and Tinkerbelle, and Chrissie the cat, would love it if I was able to spend more time with them.
Tinkerbelle and another goat, Wendy (no longer with us) can be seen in the banner on my Face Book page.
MJ: What is the one thing you won’t leave home without?
Larynn: It’s everyone’s answer these days, the iPhone. How did we ever get along without them?
MJ: True enough. What do you normally eat for breakfast, of do you skip it and get straight to work?
Larynn: I always take breakfast with me and eat at my desk. If it’s from home, it might be a peanut butter sandwich or a couple of boiled eggs to go with coffee from the break room. If I stop at McDonald’s on the way to work, it’s a Sausage McMuffin and a large coffee with three creams.
MJ: I’m too fond of Sausage McMuffins myself. Tell us a little about your ideal writing space.
Larynn: Anywhere quiet but preferably home, in my recliner, with my laptop, my iTunes playlist, and plenty of coffee.
MJ: And how do you get to your recliner?
Larynn: Since I work a regular job, my only full writing days would be the weekends and that only happens if there are no other plans–family, holiday, and such.
I feed the cat and the fish and make a pot of coffee. One would think the writing would commence at this point, but as you well know, there are emails, Face Book, and such that must be tended. After an hour or so, the writing, or editing as is the case for me this weekend, will begin.
MJ: Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Larynn: I wish there were a choice in between the two. I start out with an idea and write that (pantser). As ideas pop into my head, I’ll start a list at the bottom of my word doc and add new thoughts or bits of dialog as they present themselves (plotter of sorts). Then as I come to the spot in the story for one of the ideas, I’ll pluck it from my waiting list and write it into the story.
MJ: Name 3 things on your desk right now.
Larynn: My cast iron fairy (picked her up on vacation in a little country store in North Carolina when I was writing In My Wildest Dreams), posters of my book covers (4), and my prized copy of Wild About You. Autographed by Kerrelyn Sparks at RWA Nationals 2013 in Atlanta.
MJ: Would you consider self publishing?
Larynn: I consider it from time to time, but I would need to do so much research to be able to decide. I don’t do change well and tend to stick within my comfort zone until my frustration level pushes me to make a decision.
MJ: Time for the Lightning Round. Wine- red or white?
Larynn: Red
MJ: Beer: bottle or can?
Larynn: bottle
MJ: Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick’s Day?
Larynn: Cinco de Mayo
MJ: Paper or e-books
Larynn: e-books!
MJ: Coke or Pepsi?
Larynn: Coke
MJ: Introvert or extrovert
Larynn: Introvert
MJ: Favorite ethic food
Larynn: Chinese
MJ: Now for the meat of the interview. Can you share the first five to ten sentences of your current work-in-progress?
Larynn: This is from A Place to Belong.
Carly’s SUV sailed through the air. Her entire life flashed before her eyes, displayed across the windshield like a movie on the big screen. She relived every painful moment . . . her struggle to fit in as she was bounced from foster home to foster home, defending herself from school bullies, double shifts in numerous burger joints that paid her way through college, her whirlwind romance–.
Treetops slapped the windshield and brought her out of the trance as she watched what had been her life. “You bastard! This is all your fault.” The SUV began its descent, snapping limbs as it careened through the air on its way to the inevitable crash. She squeezed the steering wheel in a white-knuckled death grip as if maintaining her hold would change her fate. Her head smacked hard against the side window. A gazillion stars filled the inside of car around her. Pain vibrated from one side of her skull to the other.
MJ: I know I want to read more! How can we buy any current releases you have?
Larynn: IN MY WILDEST DREAMS: http://www.amazon.com/My-Wildest-Dreams-Larynn-Ford-ebook/dp/B00CE3B11I/
MJ: And how can readers find you on social media?
Larynn: Here are my links:
Twitter @larynnford
MJ: Thanks again for stopping by, Larynn. Good luck with your book!