A so-called-friend nominated me for more work.  Thanks, Cassie.

The rules are:  Answer the four questions below, link back to the person who invited you, and name the people who will be posting the following Monday.

What am I working on?

Outside the reach of the G Men, I’m working on a dystopian future story called Upgrade.  I’m trying to explore a little inside the concept of what makes us truly human, and how you might get back in touch with that from inside the machine.  If you were born into it, would you even know what you’d lost, and how would you know what it looked like if you found it again.

Also, there are guns and giant mechs.  You can relax, this isn’t some story about a woman dying of Alzheimer’s.  It’s an action story with energy weapons and motorcycles.

I have some sketches up about my next book, where I’m fiddling with the boundaries of church, state, and how oppression forms, title of Boundless.  It will be a bit more steampunk, but it’s too early to say more than that.  And!  I’m in the (very) early planning stages of a sequel to Night’s Favour, with the tentative title of Night’s Fall.  I won’t get onto that until, well, I get onto it — which will be after Upgrade.  Upgrade first, then Boundless, and then Night’s Fall.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I reckon this is some kind of trick question.  If by “genre” you mean “speculative fiction,” a ha!  I’m wise to your game: they’re all pretty different.

If by “genre” you mean “paranormal urban” stories like Night’s Favour, I’d guess the big difference is that it’s far less romance than most of those stories usually are.  There is kissing, right, but it’s not a teen bodice-ripper.  The female actors in it are powerful, independent — kind of like women you might know in real life. 

Upgrade is not a paranormal / urban story.  It’s science fiction / cyberpunk, not a werewolf in sight, which makes it really different.  The common thread is the author (that’s me) and thus! my style, which is well-paced, lots of action, and great dialogue.  I’d like to think my characters are “real” and do things for believable reasons.  I’d also like to think I can give you a bit of an underdog flavour, and show you that not all answers are black and white.

Why do I write what I write?

It’s the stuff I’d like to read.  I enjoy writing it, and these are stories that want to be told.  Even if I didn’t write ’em down, they’d be playing out inside my head, so I may as well make better use of my time and put them to paper.

I don’t really want to change the world — I’d like my readers to have a good time, enjoy the book.  It doesn’t need to alter their life’s course — it’s all about an escape, and having a little fun.  I suspect we all get a little bit too much asshole in our day, and if I can give you a good story that makes you forget that for a time, my work here is done.

How does your writing process work?

People.  It’s always the people in the stories first.

I start with the idea of a main character, or couple of characters, and then feel my way around the story that connects them.  I spend a little bit of time — not very much — on world building, and then write a sample chapter or two to see if it’s hanging together.  If it all looks like it’s holding water, I’ll spend more time with something like Scapple to wire-frame it together for a bit of structure.  Not too much, because my experience has shown that the story needs its own flex to feel right on the page.

Somewhere in there is some research, because science, ok?

Then, I write.  I keep writing, until I get to the end.  I don’t spend time editing on the first pass, making sure each word is right — I’m trying to get the story out, straight and true.  Once it’s out, that first draft is done?  Edit.  Edit some more.  This is where beta readers come in, and then it’s back to editing.

Finally…  Write just a smidge extra, until it’s at the point I need it to be.

Look for the blog hop to continue next week on these sites:

Single Sal & Married Mel [Lynda Price]

One Day I’ll Finish My … Everything [Frances Duncan]