Mimosas @ Midnight

Grab your beverage of choice (Mimosas for me, of course!), roll up to or flip open a screen and let some talented writers talk to you about their writing process.

This week: Linda Morris is in the spotlight!

Linda is a multipublished writer of contemporary and historical romance stories with heart and heat. When she’s not writing, working, or mommying, she’s doing yoga, reading, working in her flower garden, or baking delicious things she probably shouldn’t eat. She believes that there are two kinds of people: pie people and cake people, and she is definitely one of the former. {Tracey’s Note: I love both, although I would definitely put cake first.} Her years of Cubs fandom prove she has a soft spot for a lost cause. So let me get out of the way and cede the stage, stool and microphone to Linda:

1. Have you always written stories?

I’ve always made up stories, but I haven’t always written them down. Dolls were my favorite toy as a kid, not because I was all that interested in the fashion, but because I loved to make up stories for them to act out.  I first started writing them down as a teenager. I started my first draft of a (very bad) romance novel in college.

2. When did you decide to write professionally?

Hmmm, am I writing professionally yet? Some days, it’s hard to tell. I got serious about submitting about five years ago. I had somehow let my twenties and early thirties slip away in a whirl of career, marriage, and child-rearing, and that goal I’d always had of writing a romance wasn’t getting any closer. As soon as my son started preschool three times a week, I started writing every day.

3. What made you decide to go the route you chose (eg. traditional, e-pub, indie)?

I find that digital-first publishers allow more freedom as far as the kind of stories they’re interested in. My stories are quirky, funny, often tackle a serious issue, and they have flawed characters. I don’t usually follow the latest trends. Not every publisher is willing to give a writer that kind of freedom. My publishers, Entangled and The Wild Rose Press, have been, and I’m very fortunate.

4. What is your writing process (hrs/day, days/wk)?

I balance writing with my day job as a freelance editor, so I still don’t have a ton of time to write. When my son first went to preschool, I set myself a quota of 500 words a day because that was all I could manage back then. It’s gone up to 1000 words a day now that he’s in school full day. I write more when I can but 1,000 words a day is a minimum when I’m drafting. I try to get my writing done first thing in the morning and move on to my freelancing tasks later. You have to make writing a priority and take it as seriously as you do a day job, or nothing will get done.

5. How do you write (crappy first draft then revise or revise as you go)? Why?

My process is kind of crazy. I do revise as I go, fixing major problems that arise. When I first sit down to write, I reread and tinker with the previous day’s words as a way of getting back into my story. I have a manuscript at the publisher now that really only required two drafts. The first draft was clean and it just didn’t require that much work the second time around. I did delete the first chapter based on my CP’s advice (and my own hunch), but that required very little other revision. When you can cut a chapter and nothing in the story is really affected much, it’s a good sign you should cut that chapter! I’m working on a revision of another novel now, and it’s going to require more than two drafts, I’m certain of that. I’m optimistic that I’ll be happy with the final product, but it’s going to take a while to get there.

6. Do you get writer’s block? If so, how do you handle it?

Writer’s block for me is a sign that I have a plot hole somewhere I need to fix, so I go back and fix it. I can’t go on until I do. If I know my characters and have set up a decent arc for them, I don’t get writers block.

7. What’s your favorite part of the writing process?

I’m a reviser. First drafts are painful for me. I compare the first draft to childbirth and subsequent drafts to child-rearing. I don’t know about you, but I know which one I prefer!

8. Where were you when you got “The Call?”

I was home alone and got an email. I was determined that my husband would be the first person I told because he’s been so supportive, but he was out for the day and didn’t have a cell phone. I had to run some errands and the thought crossed my mind, “Please don’t let me die in an accident today, or no one will ever know I was published!”

9. If you could go back in time and tell your younger self one thing you have since learned about the business of writing, what would you tell them (you)?

Let’s see. I would tell myself to get a good critique partner who reads romance, and to sit my butt down and write every day. I would tell myself to not be so afraid of failure, because most writers suck at first and only get better with time. Okay, that’s more than one thing, but they’re all really important.

Fun Topics:

10. Wine, liquor or beer? What’s your favorite of the spirit you chose?

Wine! I’m not a snob. I’ll drink any kind of wine. Even the kind in a box. I don’t care. {Tracey’s Note: I’ll toast to that!}

11. What author(s) are on your automatic buy list?

Hmm, Erin McCarthy, Shannon McKenna, Julie Anne Long, Jeannie Lin. I’m not very patiently waiting for Laura Kinsale to put out another book, but she only publishes like once every five years. They’re always totally worth the wait, though.

12. What TV shows are you watching?

I don’t watch too many series, like sitcoms or reality shows. I have a nature-obsessed son, so I watch quite a bit of Animal Planet and National Geographic. I don’t mind. I would rather watch a python attack something than watch the Kardashians anyway, so it’s all good. {Tracey’s Note: Some would say six in one hand, half a dozen in the other. }

13. Who is your celebrity crush and why?

Robert Downey Jr. Ask me in 1993, the answer is Robert Downey Jr. Ask me in 2013, the answer is still Robert Downey Jr. Heck, I’ll still have a crush on him twenty years from now, probably. He’s talented, cute, funny, charming. What’s not to like? {Tracey’s Note: I agree with you, Linda. I can’t believe this is the first time he’s been mentioned.}

Thanks for the interview, Linda! You can find more info at her website: www.lindamorrisbooks.com and connect with her on Twitter @LMorrisWriter. Her latest book, By Hook or By Crook, is available NOW!!!