I’m Back … Sharing Eight Things about My Writing and Me

When I started my blogging holiday, I intended to finish my book before I started blogging again. But the research and writing is taking longer than I’d hoped, and I miss connecting with my readers through my blog.

Helen Ginger at Straight from Hel tagged me to share eight things about my writing and myself that people may not know. So in this post I’ll share those eight things and let you know I’ll be blogging regularly (once a week or so) again.

1. Unlike many writers who started writing early in life, I had no desire to be a writer. But when I discovered the story of my family being among the first settlers in Waterloo (aka Austin, Texas) in 1836, I wanted to learn more. I researched my ancestors all the way back to the Revolutionary War and knew this was a story that needed to be told. When I couldn’t find anyone else to tell the family’s story, I decided to do it myself.
2. The characters in The Westward Sagas are real historical people. My ancestors weren’t rich or famous; they weren’t leaders, but they were great followers. They were just ordinary people, but they became heroes by the way they responded to their extraordinary circumstances.
3. I’m a slow writer – as you can see by how long it’s taking me to finish Adam’s Daughters. I spend so much time because of the meticulous research I do. I’m pleased that historians and genealogists who have reviewed Spring House have given me high marks for details and accuracy, and I continue to research to make sure the next books will be as detailed and accurate.
4. Now that I’ve caught the writing bug, I want to write pure fiction about the West. I have lots of stories running around in my head based on family stories that I haven’t been able to verify in research. I want to tell those stories, too – without the extensive research required for The Westward Sagas.
5. Like Helen Ginger, I can’t listen to music or have any distractions when I’m writing. In fact, my dog Lulubelle barking at the antics of the squirrel outside my studio window distracts me, and I start watching the squirrel instead of writing.
6. I do my best writing in my sleep. I’ll be thinking about a scene and trying to make it come together before I go to bed. When I relax and get into deep REM sleep, the ideas come. Then I get up and go to my computer before I lose my thoughts. It drives Lulubelle nuts, and she gets her days and nights mixed up.
7. I’m a binge writer. When I get started on a scene, I can’t stop until I finish it, even if I sit at the computer for 18 hours straight. Then when I’ve finished it, I catch up on my sleep and don’t want to write again for weeks. That’s when I do my research.
8. Writing has led to another new and exciting opportunity. I’ve started speaking to book clubs, schools, and other organizations about history, genealogy, and my books. I love telling my stories as much as I love writing them.

I’m going to tag two other writers: Grace Anne Schaefer at People of the Frozen Earth and Lillie Ammann at A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye.

Now that I’m blogging again, I’ll be back soon.

[tags]8 writing things, David Bowles[/tags]