Writer's Process Blog Hop!

 

Hey guys! I was tagged in this pretty cool blog hop that's been making it's rounds through all the writer's blogs (I've read a dozen of these already.) So I feel pretty cool to have been tagged by my friend J.M. Bray author of Tearing The Shroud, a fantastic NA fantasy romance. The sequel Mending The Shroud comes out July 1st (and man do I love that cover. mmm ;) so check it out!!http://www.jmbray.com/

Onto the questions:

      1)What am I working on?

Right now, I’m working on my YA contemporary NAKED which is contracted with Entangled Teen. I’m finishing up the massive revision I planned out with my editor before the offer. I just typed “The end” on the new version and now I’m working on going back and revise a few things. I’ll be sending it off soon.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

 Naked deals with an issue rarely seen in YA—teenage prostitution. I’ve seen three books that deal with something similar. 

                              1. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins which is a novel in verse about a few kids who find their way into prostitution.

 

                              2. My Book Of Life By Angel which is also in verse (sigh) about a girl already stuck in prostitution and trying to get out

                              3. Sold which is about a little girl who’s sold by her family for food. This one is isn’t in verse but has such a young voice it doesn’t sound anything like most YA books, plus its not based in the U.S. which is part of what makes the issue interesting to me. Normal kids are pushed into prostitution at young ages in the cities all around us.

Naked's nothing like any of those novels. Infact, it's more similar to other YA contemporaries that deal with issues like rape and murder, where the girl is trying to go back to a normal life after something that messed her up. Examples: Faking Normal, All The Truth That's In Me, Where You’ll Find Me. Except instead of hiding something that only makes her a victim, she’s hiding something people will never understand if they know. She slept with men for money, which to a lot of people makes her almost villainous. Part of Anna’s struggle is proving that she is really a victim (even to herself)

  3) Why do I write what I do?

 I write whatever I feel like writing. Naked is very different from most of my other stories. It appealed to me because of the emotions. It’s a story I’d never heard before, something deep and dark and needed some serious digging to get right. I truly felt that this was a story that needed to be told. So I told it.

4) How does my writing process work?

I actually wrote a long post about this a while back so if you want more detail, feel free to hop over there: http://www.staceytrombley.com/2014/01/my-writing-process.html

In short: I come up with an idea (I’ve got a long list right now) and usually write a chapter or two right away while the passion is still fresh. Then while I work on some other things but let that story stick in my head. I tend to plan a little by day dreaming about the story (I write very few things down, though I do like to write a pitch and a query early on). Then, at some point I pick it back up and write (seriously, I’ve got a waiting list of novels to be written) I try to write quickly because I have a procrastination problem and will put it off if I let myself. Then I revise, revise, revise! The amount of revision passes totally depends on the book.

I've tagged two awesome writers to keep this hop going. They will post next Monday so remember to hop over and check out what they're working on!

Fiona McLaren spends her life torn between the sun-drenched island of Cyprus where she lives, and the windswept hills of Scotland where she grew up.  Despite the numerous beaches, pina coladas and water sports close to her home (jealous yet?!), Fiona still manages to squirrel herself away into a dark corner in order to write and read a ridiculous quantity of YA books. She is represented by Jamie Bodnar Drowley of Inklings Literary.
Check out her site here: http://yabookcase.blogspot.co.uk/

Wife and mother first, and everything else later. Katie Teller is an Aussie living in the USA and just enjoying life as it comes! She's the Amazon best selling author of Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh. She also works as an acquisitions Editor with Curiosity Quills.
Check out her site here:  http://kjhstories.blogspot.com/