Today’s Work In Progress Wednesday guest is Becky Lower. Welcome Becky! What are you top three dream destinations and why?

BL: My cabin in the George Washington National Forest, any of the Redwood forests in CA, Sedona, AZ. All of these destinations have one thing in common–they get me closer to nature.

MJ: Sounds lovely. What is the top book on your TBR pile?

BL: Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ new book, Heroes Are My Weakness.

MJ: Loved it! If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?

BL: I would probably be a well-known quilter by now.

MJ: If you could trade places with anyone for just one day, who would you be and why?

BL: I’d want to be Sacajawea, traveling with Lewis & Clark as they explored the western US for the first time.

MJ: What do you normally eat for breakfast, or do you skip it and get straight to work?

BL: I have to have coffee. Then, I head to my office and, depending on how things go, I forget to eat until about noon.

MJ: Describe your ideal writing space.

BL: I love my office. Soft green walls, the covers of my first 4 books on the wall greeting me each day, my beautiful desk. Okay, you can’t usually see the desk because of all the papers on it, but I know it’s there, and gorgeous.

MJ: Briefly describe your writing day/process.

BL: I get up about 7 am, get my coffee and head to the office where I spend an hour or so checking my overnight sales, web visits, email, etc. Then, I get to work on my WIP. I try to write 1500 words by noon. Then, after a break, I either pay attention to social media or I edit another manuscript.

MJ: Name 3 things on your desk right now.

BL: I have a pile of business cards from the most recent RWA conference, a paperweight, and my old computer. I’m trying to transfer all my files over to the new one, but it’s a slow process.

MJ: Do you collage your story before writing? Explain.

BL: I have found using Blake Snyder’s beat sheet works best for me. I don’t want to do a complete outline, since that eliminates the magic, but a simple beat sheet keeps me on track while allowing room for surprises.

MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?

BL: I love that Henry Cooper is a fencer. While in college, I had a crush on someone on the fencing team, and I immortalized him in Henry. Henry also has every reason to hate his sister, yet he loves her enough to put his own needs on the back burner.

MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?

BL: Rosemary Fitzpatrick is a writer, which in itself would be enough. But she’s also unconventional in other aspects of her life. She doesn’t need a man to take care of her, but Henry is a perfect match for her.

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

BL: The Duplicitous Debutante is a historical romance set in Victorian America.

MJ: What is your favorite genre to read?

BL: I usually read historical romances mixed in between contemporaries, since I also write contemporary.

MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?

BL: The Fitzpatrick children are all names for seasonings and herbs. Rosemary is the sixth child to be featured. Henry’s name came about because I wanted to make him a Boston Brahmin, and Cooper is a long-standing Brahmin name. But I also wanted him to be half-French, so the name Henry, or Henri, was a perfect choice.

MJ: Ready for the lightning round? Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick’s Day?

BL: Cinco de Mayo

MJ: The last movie you saw in a theater?

BL: Get On Up, the James Brown Story

MJ: Favorite band when you were in high school (Marching band doesn’t count)?

BL: The Music Explosion.

MJ: Coke or Pepsi?

BL: Coke.

MJ: Introvert or extrovert?

BL: Extrovert with introvert tendencies (or maybe the other way round).

MJ: Oh, an ambivert!  And what’s your favorite ethnic food?

BL: Greek.

MJ: And now, what we’ve all been waiting for: you current Work In Progress. Can you share the first few lines?

BL: Yes. Barnswallow Summer is a contemporary romance.

Nick Freeman pushed the large face of his Irish wolfhound away from between the seats of his car. “In the back, Rufus. I know you’re excited, but we’ve got a ways to go yet, and I can’t deal with your doggie breath for the next hundred miles.”

Rufus wasn’t the only excited boy in this car. Nick had been working non-stop on his business for years without much of a break. Buying up foreclosed homes, fixing and flipping them, had brought in the dollars, but somewhere along the way, the thrill, the pride, of it went by the wayside. Along with his marriage. And a couple really promising relationships.

MJ: Excellent! And where can people purchase your current release,  The Duplicitous Debutante?

BL: The book is available on Amazon.

MJ: And how can readers stay in touch with you?

BL: My website, my blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

 

 

 

Today I’m pleased to welcome author Gay Yellen to Work In Progress Wednesday.

Gay, what are your top three dream destinations and why?

GY: Paris, because I lived there when I was twenty, and I can never get enough; Montana, because hiking in Glacier National Park is a big dose of heaven; Venice, because it’s Venice.

MJ: What is one thing most people don’t know about you?

GY: I used to have a nightclub act.

MJ: Really? What did you do?

GY: I was cabaret singer–some Broadway, some pop, some French/American hits.

MJ: That’s wild! If you weren’t writing, would that be your dream job?

GY: No. I’d be a philanthropist. I’d love to help create meaningful solutions to some of our most intractable problems – educate the poor, aid in medical research – and encourage struggling artists, too.

MJ: What do you normally eat for breakfast, or do you skip it and get straight to work?

GY: Multigrain toast with almond butter and a slice of fresh fruit (peach in summer, pear in winter) or my brother’s yummy fig preserves) and a big mug of coffee. Then I’m ready to work.

MJ: Describe your ideal/dream writing space.

GY: A room of my own, with a big beautiful view.

MJ: Briefly describe your writing day/process.

GY: I try to visualize the next day’s work as I’m falling asleep at night, so that by morning I’m ready to start the next scene, or fix a passage that’s been bugging me. It’s an old habit from my student years, when I’d use the same technique to review whatever I’d been studying. Of course, this can backfire, and keep you up all night worrying! But it usually prepares me to start writing the next day. I work until the muse leaves me, or life gets in the way.

MJ: That’s a great process!  Name one writing-related website you use a lot.

GY: I find Anne R. Allen’s blog useful (annerallen.blogspot.com), and Pamela Fagan Hutchins is the queen of successful indie authors (pamelahutchins.com). Even though I have a publisher, I learn so much from her. Sorry, you said one, but I have two!

MJ: That’s okay. What book do you wish you could have written?

GY: The Book Thief

MJ: Name 3 things on your desk right now.

GY: A crazy pile of manuscript edits on the sequel to The Body Business. Three full flash drives and a fourth waiting to be used. A paperweight my husband made for his Mom when he was in third grade with his adorable school picture on top.

MJ: Love the paperweight! Do you listen to music when you write? Explain.

GY: When I work on the historical fiction I hope to complete before I die, I listen to music of that place and time. Otherwise, silence is golden.

MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?

GY: He’s a man of mystery, with a sad past and a kind heart. Handsome and rich, too. I like everything about him, except that it’s hard for him to share his feelings.

MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?

GY: She’s still trying to find herself, but I think she’s going to make it!

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

GY: Mystery.

MJ: What’s your favorite genre to read?

GY: Literary fiction.

MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?

GY: I pictured them in my mind and tried a few until something stuck.

MJ: Do you ever base characters on people you know?

GY: Not consciously.

MJ: How did you chose the setting for your current WIP?

GY: It’s a sequel to The Body Business, so for now, the characters are in the same place, which is Houston and the beautiful Central Texas hills. Stay tuned, though . . .

MJ: LOL! And with that, it’s time for the lightning round. Wine: red or white?

GY: Do I have to choose? Red, mostly, but I do love Prosecco.

MJ: I don’t blame you. Beer: can or bottle?

GY: Bottle.

MJ: Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick’s Day?

GY: Cinco de Mayo. I live in Texas, and even if I didn’t – the margaritas!

MJ: Paper or e-books?

GY: Paper.

MJ: Introvert or extrovert?

GY: Introvert.

MJ: Favorite ethnic food?

GY: My comfort ethnic foods are Italian and Mexican.

MJ: Mmmm. Now for the meat of the blog: your current WIP. Can you share the opening lines with us?

GY: The working title for this is The Body Next Door.

Miles of dark empty highway had lulled me into a stupor until, out of nowhere, a thundering convoy of eighteen-wheelers caught up to me, hurtling their loads like freight trains. They closed in around my compact rental—a Ford Ferret, or Frito, or something like that—threatening to crush it between their bullying wheels.

My brain jerked into hyper-alert. I drained the last of the Super-Sized Java from the All-Nite in Denton, switched the radio to hard rock and turned the volume up to ear-bleed. Maybe it was foolish to try to make it home from Nebraska in one go, but after two days of reliving the second-worst chapter of my life, I’d had it. By dawn I’d be home, or what passed for home these days: Carter Chapman’s condo in Houston, on loan while I got back on my feet.

Practically everyone important in my life was gone, the career I’d worked so hard to build, destroyed. And the person I thought could be the man of my dreams, vanished. The future was a great big blank. Yet here I was, bee-lining it back to the city where it all went down.

MJ: Wow! I understand you have a current book out.

GY: Yes, The Body Business, which is available at Amazon.

MJ: And how can your fans stay in touch with you?

GY: My website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkdIn, and Goodreads.

MJ: Thanks for stopping by today, and good luck!

 

 

It’s Work In Progress Wednesday, and I’m delighted to welcome author Neva Brown to Comptonplations.

MJ: What are your top three dream destinations, and why?

NB: Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales. I have ancestors from these places and would love to spend time where they lived and do research.

MJ: Name one thing most people don’t know about you.

NB: I am, by nature, shy.

MJ: What’s the top book on your TBR pile?

NB: The Traitor,  by Grace Burrowes

MJ: If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?

NB: Watercolor and oil painting

MJ: If you had a theme song, what would it be?

NB: Religious- “Amazing Grace” / secular – “Love Me Tender”

MJ: Is there a particular movie that you preferred over the book version of the story?

NB: Yes. Gone With the Wind.

MJ: What do you normally eat for breakfast, of do you skip it and get straight to work?

NB: Hot tea and toast spread with crunchy peanut butter.

MJ: Name one writing-related website you use a lot.

NB: Writers in the Storm

MJ: Name 3 things on your desk right now.

NB: A printed article on POV, a notebook with all kinds of notes for my WIP, a copy of my first book, Casey’s Courage (to remind me I can write).

MJ: Great idea! Do you listen to music when you write?

NB: No. I like the quiet with just the characters talking to me.

MJ: Do you collage your story before writing?

NB: No. My characters refuse to go along with me. I go along with them and hope for the best.

MJ: What do you love most about your WIP heroine?

NB: The strength of the heroine when things get tough.

MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?

NB: Her not recognizing her own worth.

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

NB: Historical

MJ: What is your favorite genre to read?

NB: Romance.

MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?

NB: I often change the hero and heroine’s names after the story is well under way. Usually the way they handle themselves brings to mind a name that seems to fit.

MJ: Do you ever base characters on people you know?

NB: Never!

MJ: How did you chose the setting for your current WIP?

NB: I read an old diary of a man who traveled the southern route to California in the early days of the California Gold Rush 1849—the route the Texas Argonauts traveled.

MJ: Now it’s time for the lightning round. Cinco de Mayor or St. Patrick’s Day?

NB: St. Patrick’s Day

MJ: Last movie you saw in a theater?

NB: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games)

MJ: Favorite TV Show?

NB: NCIS (The original, with Mark Harmon)

MJ: Favorite band when you were in high school (Marching band doesn’t count)?

NB: BobWills

MJ: Coke or Pepsi?

NB: Coke.

MJ: Favorite ethnic food?

NB: Mexican.

MJ: Now to the meat of the matter. Can you share the first few sentences of your current work in progress with us?

NB: This is from By Clear Water.

The crack of rifles, death screams of her father and brothers shattered the peace. Leslyn jerked to her feet. The dish pan full of fresh-washed tin plates and cups clattered to the ground and rolled into the creek. She stifled her outcry with her fist. It’s happening just like the wagon master said it would. Blood-chilling screams sent her running toward the wagon where her mother prepared beds for the night.

MJ: Oh, great hook! And you have a book coming out soon, too. As in, today! Gorgeous cover. It’s available at Amazon.

 

MJ: How can readers stay in touch with you?

NB: My website, on Facebook, via Twitter, LinkdIn, and Google+ .

MJ: Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!

 

It’s Work-In-Progress Wednesday again, and today’s guest is Caroline Warfield. Welcome Caroline.

Let’s dive right in, shall we? What are your top three dream destinations and why?

CW: So many so many! The highlands of Scotland. I’ve seen the borders and I’d like to see the rest. Cappadocia to see the cliff churches Argentina because I haven’t been to South America yet.

MJ: What is the top book on your TBR pile?

CW: The Whisky Laird by Donna MacMeans.

MJ: Other than writing, what would be your dream job?

CW: International Relief worker.

MJ: If you had a theme song, what would it be?

CW: My theme MUSIC would be Beethoven’s “Appassionata Sonata”.

MJ: Oooh. Nice choice! Name one thing you won’t leave home without.

CW: My Cell phone, of course.

MJ: If you could trade places with anyone for just one day, who would you be and why?

CW: The Pope’s secretary. I admire him greatly and think of the visitors he gets. What great conversations.

MJ: Describe your ideal/dream writing space.

CW: Right where I am surrounded by my books in a room full of windows looking out at trees.

MJ: Briefly describe your writing day/process.

CW: Generally I try to be at my desk at 8 taking care of social networking and marketing, and then I write for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. I need to walk in between.

MJ: What book do you wish you could have written?

CW: Simply Love, by Mary Balogh, What Angels Fear, by C.S. Harris to name but a few.

MJ: Name 3 things on your desk right now.

CW: Kindle, Roget’s Thesaurus (the real deal), a tall glass of water.

MJ:  Do you listen to music when you write? Explain.

CW: I usually find music to suit the mood of the story and set up a Pandora channel. One of my children’s books required blue grass. Dangerous Secrets demanded Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and traditional Italian.

MJ: Do you collage your story before writing? Explain.

CW: I don’t collage but I set up a Pinterest board with visuals for inspiration.

MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?

CW: He believes he can fix anything and anyone, even if they don’t want it. He is loyal to a fault.

MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?

CW: She ran when faced with what she saw as an insurmountable problem.

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

CW: A Regency romance.

MJ: What is your favorite genre to read?

CW: Regency romance and historical mysteries.

MJ: How did you chose the setting for your current WIP?

CW:  I often start with a setting. Dangerous Secrets began with, “I wonder if I could write a Regency romance set in Rome?”

MJ: Great answers all around. Now for the lightning round: Wine–red or white?

CW: Red.

MJ: Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick’s Day?

CW: St. Patrick’s Day.

MJ: Last movie you saw in a theatre?

CW: Jersey Boys.

MJ: Favorite TV show?

CW: Justified.

MJ: Paper or e-books?

CW: E-books.

MJ: Coke or Pepsi?

CW: Coke

MJ: Introvert or extrovert?

CW: Extrovert.

MJ: Ready to reveal your current work in progress?

CW: That would be Dangerous Secrets.

Rome, 1820

“Major Bently? Are you in there?”

Bently? Jamie Heyworth covered his ears. Some damned fool wants my Uncle Charles.

Pounding, urgent and loud, echoed through his room.

He ignored the noise. Perhaps it will stop.

It didn’t.

“Major Bently!”

There it was again. Uncle Charles can answer.

His Uncle Charles lay dead these eight years. Jamie peeked out from under his ragged pillow and stared at the cracks in the ceiling.

MJ: I’m hooked! Now, I understand you had a book come out just last week.

CW: Yes, Dangerous Works was released a week ago today. It’s available on Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/lsaryjx

 

MJ: Where can your fans catch up with you?

CW: My website, my blog, on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+.

MJ: Thanks again for joining me here today, Caroline, and best of luck with your books!

 

 

 

I am utterly delighted to welcome Beth Carter to WIP Wednesday this week. In addition to her children’s books, Beth has a new release, Thursdays at Coconuts, which is a contemporary women’s romance. Welcome Beth!

What are your top three dream destinations and why?

BC: Maui, Hawaii, because we honeymooned there and it’s gorgeous!!! Florence, Italy because of the architecture, beautiful language, and the pizza. We ate a whole pizza every day for lunch and I didn’t gain a pound. Of course, I was ten years younger. AND I met Rod Stewart there! Alaska. Even though I’m not a fan of being cold, I’d love to see the whales!

MJ: Rod Stewart? That had to have been exciting! Name one thing most people don’t know about you.

BC: I’m adventuresome (I swam with sharks!) and am pretty athletic (I played softball for years—loved playing first base and occasionally pitched). However, I also have what I call Lucille Ball moments. I do the craziest things that could never be repeated even if I were offered a million dollars (like losing a contact and finding it in the cuff of my pants—in the BACK of my pants! Finally, I was a single mom for a LONG time—16 years. Oh, you said name one thing.

MJ: If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?

BC:  I’d like to pursue photography. I entered my first-ever photography contest last year and won both first and second place with two photos! I couldn’t believe it. And I took the pics with my cell phone camera. So, now, I’m hooked and am always snapping pictures. Sadly, most are “stuck” inside my phone camera.

MJ: If you had a theme song, what would it be?

BC: The Cheers theme song, “Where everybody knows your name.” I’m such a people person, and my daughter says I’m a creature of habit. I tend to frequent many of the same places (Barnes & Noble, Starbucks and T.J. Maxx). Most employees know my name, the fact that I’m an author, and even the kind of coffee I drink: skinny vanilla latte.

MJ: Good choice! Briefly describe your writing day/process.

BC: Coffee. Facebook. Email. Facebook. Occasionally Twitter and then I write in the afternoon. That’s the plan anyway.

MJ: Name one writing-related website you use a lot.

BC: www.sixwordmemoirs.com I am addicted to  this short genre and have been published in three six-word collections alongside celebrities and famous authors, including two six-word memoir books and one six-word desk calendar. I’m a calendar girl! Hemingway was challenged to write his memoir using just six words and I liked that backstory.

MJ: Name 3 things on your desk right now.

BC:  Laptop, Post-it notes, family photos, coffee mug and books–and PILES of junk to be filed. Wait. It’s not junk. I’m sure somewhere in the mess is the next Great American Novel, right?!

MJ: Do you listen to music when you write? Explain.

BC: NO. I need quiet to concentrate. I occasionally try to write from Barnes & Noble or Starbucks just to get out of the house and can only manage this when in the early draft stages (or if I need ideas for characters!)

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

BC: Women’s fiction with romantic elements, plus suspense and humor. The title is Thursdays at Coconuts. However, many of my mystery writer friends are telling me it has a lot of mystery in it. What can I say? I’m a genre straddler.

MJ:  What is your favorite genre to read?

BC: Women’s fiction, contemporary romance, and thrillers.

MJ: Do you ever base characters on people you know?

BC: Yes! Usually the ones I don’t care for.  They are easier to write about for some reason. But I mix and match people I know and create most characters from “scratch.” I’d rather not be sued.

MJ: Oh, I hear you there! Okay, now for the lightning round. Addams Family or Munsters?

BC: Addams Family

MJ: Wine-red or white?

BC: White (chardonnay)

MJ: I Dream of Jeannie or Bewitched?

BC: Bewitched!

MJ: St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo?

BC: Cinco de Mayo–I love Mexican food!

MJ: Favorite TV show?

BC: The Voice (probably because I can’t sing and am amazed by the talent). Plus, Adam and Blake sure are cute!

MJ: Paper or e-books?

BC: Paper but I’m thrilled to join the 21st Century with my first ebook!

MJ: Favorite band when you were in high school (Marching band doesn’t count)?

BC: Doobie Brothers and Eagles, hands down!

MJ:  Coke or Pepsi?

BC: Diet Coke

MJ: Introvert or extrovert?

BC: Extrovert (but I was terribly shy as a young girl and have a scar to prove it). I’ll let you ponder that.

MJ: Thank you for that. Now for the meet of the blog. What are you working on now and please share the first five to ten lines.

BC: The tentative title is Cowboys and Coconuts:

The teacher’s lounge was eerily quiet. Hope rubbed her eyes and poured a cup of much-needed coffee. She wrinkled her nose. Hilltop High School was known for award-winning sports teams but was no Starbucks. She glanced at the gray clock against the old brick wall. It was 7:45 a.m.  She could hear students clanging their locker doors, chatting and laughing as they waited for the first bell. Hope walked to the refrigerator to see if yesterday’s peach yogurt was intact as the school bell sounded a long, loud alert. Hope groaned. Damn it. I love spring but hate these twisters. She grabbed her purse as her phone rang. She didn’t answer, closed the lounge door per school procedure, and rushed to the cafeteria while herding students.

“Hurry. Move. Let’s go to the cafeteria. This might not be a drill.”

MJ: Love the title! Very catchy. How can people purchase your current release, Thursdays at Coconuts?

BC: It’s available on Amazon at tinyurl.com/l9m26ht

MJ: And can readers follow you on social media?

BC: Absolutely.  My website is http://www.bethcarter.com

My blog is http://banterwithbeth.blogspot.com

I’m also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/authorbethcarter for my contemporary romance, women’s fiction and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Beth-Carter/211352788931282 for my children’s picture books.

I’m on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bethcarter007, Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/bethcarterbooks/ and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=274972815&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile_pic

MJ: Thanks again for joining me today, and good luck with sales!