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: Laurin Wittig is in the spotlight!

Laurin’s first published book, The Devil of Kilmartin (published originally by Berkley Publishing), won the National Readers’ Choice Award for short historical romance, and was a finalist for best first book in that contest and in the Holt Medallion. Her books have appeared on the Amazon Kindle Top 100 Bestsellers list, the Amazon Top 100 Historical Romance list, and the Amazon Top 100 Historical Fiction lists. Clearly, she has some wisdom to impart. So let me get out of the way and cede the stage, stool and microphone to Laurin:

1. Have you always written stories?

I really haven’t. I started off as a voracious consumer of stories – movies, TV shows, and the best was my Dad reading Dr. Seuss to me at bedtime or my brother reading me Charlotte’s Web. That took me into the realm of voracious reader, a habit my parents happily enabled. From high school I was a prolific journaler, and I ended up in a career where I wrote user manuals, computer curriculum and end user computer articles, so no stories, but I was writing regularly.

But there was one night  when I’d been married for a couple of years where I must have been complaining about the quality of a book I was reading and my husband asked me if I’d ever thought about writing my own book. Imagine me smacking my head – V-8 style. That started my long journey to figure out how to write a story and eventually to sell my first book. I have always written stories since that night over twenty years ago.

I can’t remember when exactly I decided to write professionally, but I remember a couple of moments that led to the decision. I decided to invest in my career by attending my local chapter’s retreat. We were living pretty close to the bone since I’d quit my job to stay home with our children so it wasn’t a simple decision, but it felt important to me to commit money towards my writer’s education – sort of a put your money where your mouth is moment. The other happened because I’d been working on a contemporary romance that finaled in a contest Silhouette was running. My prize was a full manuscript critique by a Silhouette editor. In my head that cemented my idea that I could be a published author and so I decided then and there to start keeping track of my expenses and claiming them on my tax return. I’ve considered myself a professional writer since that moment even though it was several more years before I sold.

In a perfect world I work Monday through Friday a couple of hours in the morning at home, then I meet a writing buddy at a local coffee shop in the afternoon (my high distractability time!) and we write for another two to three hours there. I rarely work in a perfect world but on my worst days I at least meet my buddy to write in the afternoons insuring that I write every work day. More and more I find myself sneaking into my office for an hour or two on weekend days, too. I find it helps me keep my head in the story to write at least a little every day.

I don’t get what I’d call writer’s block but I do get stuck. I’ve learned to recognize that stuck feeling as a clue that I’m off track in the story or with the characters. Once I recognize that I’m stuck I’ll take a walk, or a long shower (as Pooh would say, that’s my “thoughtful spot”), or if I’m really stuck I call my critique partner and she’s usually great at pinpointing what’s got me stuck and helping me find out where I went off course. Then I’m back to writing. The important part is realizing I’m stuck and not just procrastinating.

Definitely revision. I hate first drafts – which is probably why they are so short and messy. Once I have something on the page I can work with it and, though it takes me awhile, craft it into something approximating the story in my head.

I was at home alone. I remember dancing in my kitchen as my agent gave me the amazing news. Then I tried to share the news with my friends and family. My husband was out of town, and not available by phone. My kids were in school. My critique partners weren’t answering their phones. My mother was out of the country. I think my daughter was the first to hear the news because she was the first one home that afternoon.

Wow, this is a tough question. I think, now that I have a broader experience of publishing, I would say “if you aren’t having fun, do something else.”  That’s certainly the mantra I live by today. Not that there aren’t tough days where I get bad reviews, or the writing isn’t going well, or any of a million other things happen that can put a kink in a writer’s bliss, but overall I’m having a blast publishing on my terms and that makes the writing fun again, almost like it was in the early days before I got jaded by the business of publishing. “Don’t let the publishing business ruin the joy of writing” is another way to put it.

Liquor. I love wine, too, but it triggers hot flashes these days so I’ve had to give it up. I’m a long time gin and tonic drinker (with extra lime) and I love Boodles gin, but it’s hard to find, which makes it that much more special when I do.

J.R. Ward, Nalini Singh, Pamela Palmer (except she’s my CP so I get to read all of hers for free), Suzanne Collins (loved the Hunger Games!). It’s weird. I write Scottish medievals but I read mostly paranormals.    Tracey: That’s what I was thinking. 

Big Bang Theory, Two Broke Girls, and Castle are my current favorites. Downton Abbey is fabulous but now I’m impatiently waiting for season three next winter. I don’t watch a lot of reality TV but I do watch Survivor and American Pickers.

It used to be Mel Gibson (think Braveheart, happy sigh) but he’s gotten a little crazy over the last few years. I think right now it’s a tie between Nathan Fillian (Castle and Firefly) and Michael Weatherly (NCIS, but I loved him in Dark Angel, too). I love a guy with a sense of humor.