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.
