Welcome welcome welcome! I'm so excited to talk about characters and new projects today. If you're popping over here from the talented and creative Fiona Riplee's blog, so glad to see you. :) I just love her posts. I like that you've come here from Fiona because that's the name of one of my characters I'm talking about below.
Now, because I have lots of writing to do today, let's get into the questions, shall we?
1. How did you go about choosing the names for your characters?
Naming characters is hard work. Sometimes, if you're lucky, a name comes to you from the beginning and you just know that's it. Cam and Elsie. Daphne and Jack. Asher/Ted. But Fiona had many names. When I first wrote her back in 2002 she was Brenna. And then when I started reworking the book, she was everything from Anna to Grace. I wanted a name that sounded good with Dillon, and yet fit her personality. In the end, I put myself in the position of her parents. What would people who named their second and third daughters Grace and Hannah name their first. Fiona made sense to me then. Right now I'm struggling to name the hero in my Forever Geek trilogy. He started off as Evan. Right now he's Grant. Stay tuned when the book goes live cause his name could be anything yet. I even asked my friends on my Facebook page to suggest names. Nothing has stuck yet.
2. Where did the inspiration for your current book come from?
Ahhhh. Geek God. How excited I am to be talking about this WIP. If you've been following this blog for months you'll notice how frequently my WIP has changed. About two weeks ago, as I worked to finish the Ida novella, or start a novella about Asher and Grace, I realized that I needed a little break from Heart's Ease. I was lying in bed with my geeky hubby and baby and I thought about what it was like to fall in love with a geek. The trilogy came to life in that moment. I was awake until 3 am writing lines of dialogue, little insights, etc. Since that night I've almost got the book finished (maybe by today!), have worked with my cover designer and did a photo shoot and designed all three covers, have named the books, and am basically in love with this fun, sweet contemporary series. I can't wait to share it with you!
3. What methods do you use to ensure you have no plot holes (journal, storyboard, outline, editor, etc.)?
Here's my fine-tuning process, in this order: Crit partner, editor, alpha readers, beta readers, read out loud.
Now get busy and head over to J.J. Devine's blog to see how she answered these questions. AND be sure to pop back here tomorrow because I'll be sharing the blog with J.J. as she dishes about her new release, Into the Darkness. Meow! This is gonna be fun.
OH! And since it's July, that means our six month Romance Weekly anniversary is swiftly approaching. We're having a big party on July 29th and giving away so many great books and prizes! Check out this rafflecopter below for your chance to enter!