A Stop in the Sidelined Blog Tour: Kyra's Writing Process

I'm thrilled to welcome Kyra Lennon to my blog today for one of her many stops on the Sidelined blog tour. I'm always fascinated with the writing processes of other authors, so I've asked Kyra to share hers. Be sure to enter the giveaway below and pick up your copy of Sidelined! Thank you, Kyra, for stopping by, and now my blog is yours...

When Michael asked me about my writing process, my immediate thought was to panic! Because, while I think most other writers do have a real, defined writing process, I am more a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of writer.

I have a confession. I loathe writing the first draft of a new story. People often give me strange looks when I admit this – which is why I don’t usually do it, but now you all know! The first draft, for many people, is when the ideas are flowing and the words just pour out onto the page, waiting to be tidied up. For me, every single word fights me in the first draft. It’s like the ideas are so used to waiting inside my head to be written, they refuse to be dragged out of their cocoon. I like to think of it as being similar to giving birth to a really stubborn baby!

A first draft for me will usually take at least two months, if not more. I am envious of people who can fling out a first draft in a couple of weeks – I’d get a lot more done if I was one of those people.

What I love most about the writing process is the editing. I love to polish, and make the sloppy words all nice and shiny, and ready for people to read. For unknown reasons, this part happens a lot faster than the first draft. I suspect this is because I can’t help editing as I write – so there is less to do at the end. I do TRY to just write the first draft without stopping but the only time I’ve managed it is during NaNoWriMo. Maybe I need to do more of that!

What is YOUR writing process like? Are you a fast first-drafter? 

Blurb: At the age of twenty-one, Bree Collinson has more than she ever dreamed of. A handsome husband, a fancy house, and more shoes than Carrie Bradshaw and Imelda Marcos combined. But having everything handed to her isn’t the way Bree wants to live the rest of her life. When an idea to better herself pops into her head, she doesn’t expect her husband to question her, and keep her tied by her apron strings to the kitchen.

Isolated and unsure who to turn to, Bree finds herself falling back into a dangerous friendship, and developing feelings for the only person who really listens to her. Torn between her loyalty to her husband and her attraction to a man who has the perfect family she always wanted, she has some tough choices to make.

While Bree tries to figure out what she wants, a tragedy rocks the Westberg Warriors, triggering some dark memories, and pushing her to take a look at what’s really important.

Buy Links: Amazon UK/ Amazon US/B&N/iBookstore

About the Author:

Kyra is a self-confessed book-a-holic, and has been since she first learned to read. When she's not reading, you'll usually find her hanging out in coffee shops with her trusty laptop and/or her friends, or girling it up at the nearest shopping mall.

Kyra grew up on the South Coast of England and refuses to move away from the seaside which provides massive inspiration for her novels. Her debut novel, Game On (New Adult Contemporary Romance), was released in July 2012, and she scored her first Amazon Top 20 listing with her New Adult novella, If I Let You Go.

Find Kyra online: Website/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Goodreads/Join My Mailing List

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: How to be Manly by Maureen O'Leary Wanket

 

We're excited to be among the first to see, and to share, the brand new book How to Be Manly by Maureen O'Leary Wanket coming September 2014 from Giant Squid Books. How to Be Manly is a Young Adult Contemporary novel. The cover art is by Jillian Blazek at JillianBlazek.com. 

"When you start this program, your whole life will change."

When Fatty Matty Sullivan finds a self-help book by former football great Tad Manly at a yard sale, he secretly starts following the old pro’s advice to turn himself into the kind of guy super hot Cassie Bale will love.

But between taking care of his grandfather, trying to pass remedial Algebra, and getting caught up in his friend Jester’s half-bakedweed-dealing schemes, Matt’s summer isn’t quite the game-changer he’d planned. And when on top of it all his dad moves back in with his own plans to get rich quick, Matt suddenly has much bigger things to worry about. It turns out that there might be more to being manly than he thought.With the humor and insight of YA favorites Judy Blume and Louis Sachar Maureen O’Leary Wanket’s debut is a sharp, comic novel about trying to do the right thing...even when you’re not sure what that is.

Goodreads | Giant Squid Books & How to Be Manly

About the Author:

Maureen O’Leary Wanket is a writer and teacher living in Sacramento, California with her husband and two daughters. How To Be Manly is inspired by the humor and courage of the students she’s met in her classrooms over the past twenty years.

Maureen's short stories have appeared in Esopus, Xenith,Fiction at Work, Blood and Thunder, Musings on the Art of Medicine and Prick of the Spindle. How To Be Manly is her first novel. Follow her on Twitter @maureenow.

Giveaway:

Giveaway of one paperback Advanced Reading Copy of How to Be Manly (US)
and 3 eARCs of How to Be Manly (INT)

Giveaway courtesy of Giant Squid Books.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

IWSG Wednesday: Doria Falls is Done!

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thank you again to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the creator of the group. The first Wednesday of every month is dedicated to this group of supportive writers. If it's something you're not familiar with, then please click on Alex's link above for more information and to sign up!

It’s been a long time coming, but I finally have a completed manuscript of my third novel, Doria Falls, Book 3 in the Lorne Family Vault. I wrote the final words on Wednesday of last week, and over the weekend finished my first round of editing. My beta readers will dive into it over the next few weeks as I begin the next round of editing. Hopefully, I can hand it over to my editor by the end of the month.

Even though this book took me a few months longer than I had hoped, I’m proud with how it turned out. I don’t want to kick myself too much for my sporadic daily word counts and celebrate the steady progress of one more novel under my belt. Doria Falls is a big change from the two previous books, especially SUSY Asylum. Clocking in at a slim 75,000 words (slim by comparison), Doria Falls is a very streamlined novel. The story within Provex City took place over several months, SUSY Asylum over several weeks, and Doria Falls over several days. It picks up exactly where SUSY Asylum left off—to the minute. Now I need to write a blurb for it, which is not something I’m looking forward to.

Along with editing and formatting, I am beginning to plan for the fourth and final book in the series. This will be my first experiment with a thorough, scene-by-scene outline. Hopefully, this will help my productivity during the writing process and maximize the limited time I can devote to my novel each day. My plan is to begin writing by the beginning of September and have a finished first draft by the end of the year. This series will always mean a lot to me, but I’ve reached the point where I just want to get it done and begin something completely new. It’s time to finish up and move on, allowing a whole new chapter in my writing career to begin.