WIP Wednesday: Erin Bevan

June 3, 2015May 16, 20152 Comments

Today I’m delighted to welcome author Erin Bevan to Work In Progress Wednesday.

MJ: Erin, June 3 is National Repeat Day. What life experience would you like to repeat?

EB: Oh, that’s a tough one. Well, I will say labor is out. I’ve repeated that three times, and I’m good there. I don’t feel the need to experience that again. My wedding day may be a fun one. I think I would tell myself to relax and not worry so much. Or my honeymoon because I really need a vacation!

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

EB: Umm. . . is shopping considered creative?

MJ: LOL! Other than writing, what would be your dream job and why?

EB: Trophy wife? Haha! No seriously, I’ve always thought working in a flower shop might be kind of fun. But dream job, I don’t really have one. Unless, you want to take that Trophy Wife thing seriously. Just sayin’!

MJ: Okay, you’re cracking me up here. Describe your ideal/dream writing space.

EB: Eww!! Something out of a Pottery Barn Magazine. Soft colors–pale blues and creams with punches of color here and there. Very organized and not a space I share with my giant smelly dog or my husband’s engineering books and guitars!! Maybe a large window overlooking beautiful foliage, not the current dead bushes adorning my back yard at the moment! Or a beach. Gazing at a beach everyday would be nice 🙂

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

EB: He’s real. He’s a guy’s guy. He’s hurt and broken but sucks up his sadness and goes on with his life for his kids. He’s got that little bit of cockiness that is just plain sexy.

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

EB: Least? Hmmm, that’s hard to say. I really like her, too. She’s funny and cute. If I had to pick something, it would be her eagerness to rely on a man, even when she tries not to.

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

EB: Contemporary.

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

EB: So, everyone has there own formula for coming up with names. Honestly, I just think of people in my past or my family members and use their names. I don’t get too scientific with it.

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

EB: Well, I wanted it to be in the South and hot. I also needed the town to be close to railroad tracks for the plot of the story. South, hot, and railroad tracks doesn’t really narrow it down too much since many towns in the south are hot and have railroad tracks, so I just made up a name for a town and based it outside of Atlanta, Georgia. That felt right and from what I have researched I believe the location will fit well with the story line. I hope anyway! I hope I didn’t royally mess up.

MJ: Please share the first five to ten sentences of your current work in progress.

EB: The working title is The Night Train

Prologue

I have to hide the pages of this journal in a place Papa will never think to look. For if he sees this, then I know he will kill me.

-M

Chapter 1

Everything was turning out to be perfect. Just perfect. There wasn’t one detail Lesley had forgotten. There was only one problem. The guest of honor was running late. Really late.

MJ: Great hook! And I understand you have a new release available . . . today!

EB: Yes, I have two books out now–The Ranch Hand and my latest release, Cupid’s Angels, which came out today.

MJ: Great cover! How can readers keep up with you?

EB: I have a website, a blog, and a Facebook page. I’m also on Twitter and Goodreads.

MJ: Thanks for stopping by and best of luck with your new release!

National Speak in Complete Sentences Day

May 31, 2015May 25, 2015

Today we observe National Speak in Complete Sentences Day.

In this age of Twitter, chat, and other forms of instant communication, proper grammar–whether in speaking or writing–is a vanishing skill.

Example: A recent conversation I had went something like this:

“Oh, my sister’s all toody.”

I thought, Too much information. Your sister’s intestinal problems aren’t of interest to me.

“I said leave the baby sleep, and she just got this tude and went toody and I was like, you know–.”

Ah. Attitude. Right.

But who am I to talk? When I work on guest blogs, I have to be very careful to answer the questions in complete sentences.

Example: An upcoming blog asked, “What aspects of the writing process do you find most difficult?”

My initial response was: “Getting back into the flow of the story after a break.”

The editor in me took one look at that and donned her Grammar Police hat.

The response now reads, “Getting back into the flow of the story after a break is probably the most difficult part of writing for me.”

See the difference?

WIP Wednesday: The Plotting Game

May 27, 2015May 25, 2015

“I thought you said you were working.”

I get that a lot when people peer over my shoulder to my computer screen. There might be words there, or there might be a game of Free Cell or Spider Solitaire in progress. And yes, that means I’m working.

I do my best plotting over a game of solitaire. When I was a teenager–long before the age of personal computers–I would sit on my bed for hours and play solitaire.

I would also tell myself stories as I played. Whether I was writing “Monkee Stories” (fanfic about the TV show/pop band) or my own “gothic” mystery (a la Mary Stewart), my best ideas came as I manipulated a deck of playing cards.

Old habits die hard, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Getting Caught

May 24, 2015May 15, 2015

May is National Get Caught Reading Month.

If I’m going to get caught doing anything, reading would be right there at the top of my list.

Other things I wouldn’t mind getting caught doing:

random acts of kindness
laughing
cuddling a cat
enjoying a meal
listening to music
being with my friends

What would you like to get caught doing?

Writing Wednesday: My 1st Book Signing

May 20, 2015May 17, 20152 Comments

I had my first book signing this past Saturday.

When I received the author copies of my first book, Moonlight Serenade, I dashed to my local library branch and donated a copy. The Adult Services Librarian asked me if I’d be interested in doing an Author Spotlight and Book Signing. Well, duh! That was a no brainer. We settled on a date.

The library set up a lot promotion. I was on the front page of the county library system website. My appearance was announced in the local newspaper’s events section. The front page of the branch newsletter carried a feature about the book. And there were postcards available at the checkout desk.

Lovely posters were made up and hung.

(Yes, this poster now adorns the door of my office.)

I had read a great blog about what an author should have at a book signing. That was a blessing. (Thank you Ryan Jo Summers!)I purchased clear plastic stands for signage, a business card holder, a postcard/brochure holder, and individually wrapped berry-flavored candies for a heart-shaped glass dish I have. I packed business cards for my local RWA Chapter, as well as membership brochures. I made stickers about my new release, Summer Fling, for the back of my werewolf book postcards. I had a bottle of water and a pack of tissue. I had my books.

I had a nice turn out. One of my critique partners showed up with a small vase of lilacs and “Local Author” stickers for me. The audience asked great questions.