World Wide Blog Hop and High Stakes WIP

I'm pleased to follow Cherie Burbach in a 

World Wide Blog Hop.

Cherie posted here last week: 

http://workingwritersandbloggers.com/2014/10/17/world-wide-blog-hop

What am I working on?

I'm currently at work on a project that follows my 2010 award-winning novel, Meander Scar. 

The story takes place in that year, and I wish I had been taking better notes about what was going on then! Ann's sister, Rachel, has some huge surprises in store when she decides that now her daughter Maeve is grown and moved out, she can restart her life. Her chosen target, Scott, who works in IT, isn't the mild-mannered computer geek she thinks he is, and to top if off, she finds herself holding the fate of modern Europe in her hands when a former lover shows up out of the blue. Pretty high stakes.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I'm supposed to write genre romance, but I tend  to follow the rules haphazardly -- about the same way I cook. You might get that happily-ever-after ending. Or you might not.

Why do I write/create what I do?

I'll just say it - I love history, but I don't write it on principle because I am terribly picky about making sure the facts are right. Now that doesn't mean I won't bend them a bit, but they have to be correct. This way, I get to do all the nerdy research, use the facts in my work, but not have to worry about being so precise. That's why we call it fiction.

How does my writing/creating process work?

I'm mostly a plotter. I have to get some of the business out of the way, like character development, main plot lines, scene and setting, a sort of an outline or synopsis to work with first. That's a lot of "pre-writing." Then I'm free to write at will. I have my character, scene and setting windows open while I work in the document window. I can quick research a fact or a name that's escaped me on the Internet, and also write in a later chapter if a scene occurs to me out of order. I have a great writing partner to keep me motivated and some fantastic critiquers out there to make me mind the p's and q's.

And now I'm pleased to introduce Nicolette Pierce, who will post next week at
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7091039.Nicolette_Pierce/blog