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My Writing Process - blog tour

2/10/2014

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PictureResearch at Amberley Airbase
Here's a blog tour that delves into the wacky (that may just be me) ... creative minds of authors, by asking 4 questions about their writing process.
Noelle Clark shared her process last week. Noelle is an Aussie author who weaves romance, suspense and adventure into colorful and exotic locations. 

I take my writing seriously but I feel blessed every day because my passion involves making stuff up. So here's where I share my writing process.

What am I working on?

I treat my writing like a second job and usually have a couple of projects on the go. At the moment  I have a first book in a Romantic Suspense series finished and I have just dived head first into submitting this to publishers. Hopefully Treasured Love will be accepted quicker than Lost in Kakadu took (3 years of subbing to land that one). I've also finished a crime mystery novel called Double Take - It's Quentin Tarantino meets Nora Roberts and my editor and I are putting the final touches to that one now.  Here's the link to the first chapter. So my next big project and the one I'm really looking forward to is the sequel to Treasured Love. Treasured Secrets is already mapped out so I'm ready to hit the ground running.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?
My publisher called my debut novel - Lost in Kakadu - meaty, challenging, and risky. This is a perfect description of how I like to write. I don't hold back when it comes to crunch time, so some of my characters go to hell and back. When I develop my characters, its important for me to really know them, to understand what makes them who they are, and rationalize why they behave the way they do. I want my readers to be sorry to say goodbye to the characters at the end of the story.
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Why do I write what I do?
I love adventure, I love mystery, and I love a good adrenalin rush. I'm also a hopeless romantic. And these are the ingredients I like to explore in my writing. I've travelled extensively, some 36 countries so far and I always have a holiday on the horizon. You never know what country or thrill will show up in my books. When I write my stories I want to take my readers on an adventure they won't forget. 
How does my writing process work?
Once I get an idea for a story in my head it seems to pop up all the time: driving, dreaming, reading - my brain just won't let it go. So I start a new scrap book for each idea, and when a significant thought for a character or plot comes up I write it down. By the time I begin to write the story I have all sorts of random scribbles, notes, pictures, magazine articles, trivia and drawings scattered through the scrapbook. 
My notes are completely random. But this is the framework to the story. I pretend the scrapbook is the actual book by pasting a picture on the front, blurb on the back and I even make up glowing reviews. I told you I was nuts. Once I start the story I usually plot out the first couple of chapters, but then I completely let go and ask the characters to take over. The ending usually comes to me well before I get there so I can direct the characters that way. One other thing I do is try to experience whatever it is my character is going through. Short of dying or experiencing a plane crash that is. You can read some of my insane research here.
So there it is. The crazy writing mind of Kendall Talbot exposed.  Feel free to ask me any questions or make a comment. Cheers
So who will share their writing process next week?
Jacquie Underdown: Jacquie writes fantasy romance that is emotionally driven and possesses unique themes beyond the constraints of the physical universe. She strives to offer romance, but with complexity; spirituality, but without the religion. Her novels express a purpose and offer subtle messages about life, the spirit and, of course, love. Jacquie resides in hot and steamy Gladstone
with her husband and two sons. Numbers and practicality are a way of life for Jacquie as she works as an accountant by day. So it’s no wonder, for sanity’s sake, she balances this banality with words, characters and imagination in all other possible moments.

Ros Baxter: Ros writes fresh, funny, genre-busting fiction. She digs feisty heroines, quirky families,
heroes to make you sigh and tingle, and a dash of fantasy from time to time.

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My Characters Are Mean

2/10/2014

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To honour my exciting three nominations in the ARRA Awards (Australian Romance Readers Association Awards) the characters of my book Lost In Kakadu are taking me to dinner. But I’m a little nervous. No that’s an understatement, I’m extremely nervous. I can be a little tough on my characters. Some would call me a sadist. 

But it’s for a good cause. A couple of good causes actually. Not only do my characters truly discover who they are, my readers also have a jolly good time following their journey.

So where would my character Abigail take me? It would be a highly pretentious, swanky joint with a
million dollar view, where they serve the best ingredients and most expensive wine. Just because I threw her into the jungle with nothing but a few cans of beans and sack or two of flour, doesn’t mean she’d forget the life of luxury she had before the plane crash. Right?
How about my character Mackenzie? He’d take me to his own restaurant, wouldn’t he? I know I gave him a troubled life, full of tragedy and triumph. I guess he also suffered near starvation and I tortured him with the chore of catching his own food with  nothing but a sling shot made from Abigail’s fancy lace bra. I admit I took him to hell and back in Lost In Kakadu, but he did get to tantalise his chef’s pallet with some good old fashioned Aussie tucker. Eating witchetty grubs, frogs and snails will make him appreciate perfectly cooked lobster.
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Surely they’ll remember that sensual waterfall scene? How about the breathtaking scenery? 
 
But when Mackenzie wraps a black tie around my eyes, the knot in my stomach turns into a giant slab of cement. I guess it’s his way of showing me how dark it can be in the jungle. I remember I wrote, “The blackness around him was like swimming in a tar pit.” I’m experiencing that now. But wait, where are they taking me? And why do I need to take my shoes off? The rocks under my feet are sharp and the branches snapping against my arms are rough, against my cheeks they are brutal. Was that a spider web? 
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Abigail instructs me to sit, the snigger in her voice is not good. I reach out expecting to feel a chair, but no, a craggy log will do. And given that I made my characters rough it out without any luxuries, I shouldn’t be surprised.
A plate is positioned on my lap. “Eat.” Abigail seems a little cranky. Doesn’t she remember her path of self-discovery? What about their unexpected romance?

“Do I get cutlery?” But I already know the answer.
Help me people. These characters are mean. Mean I tell you. If you're an ARRA member, I'd love you to vote for me, so my characters understand that sometimes crashing down to earth is exactly what people need.
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Lost In Kakadu is nominated for:
* Best Romantic Suspense 2013
* Best Book Cover 2013, 
and I've been nominated for:
* Best New Author 2013
Australian Romance Readers Awards. (ARRA)
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Here's a little snippet of the crazy research I did for Lost In Kakadu.  Maybe I am a bit crazy?
Or you may want to watch my book trailer. But I have to warn you, I write books better than I make movies.
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