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 Mira Lyn Kelly is in the spotlight!
Mira is the USA Today bestselling author of sexy contemporaries for Harlequin Presents Extra. A wife, homemaker non-extraordinaire and write-at-home mom of four, Mira can most often be found dishing up mediocre casseroles and sizzling self-made billionaires (along with the occasional Erotic Romance,written as Moira McTark). So let me get out of the way and cede the stage, stool and microphone to Mira. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win an autographed copy of one of her backlist books. Now, here’s Mira:
1. Have you always written stories?
I’ve been writing on and off since high school. I’d always been a huge reader, but it wasn’t until Mr. Lieberman’s creative writing class that I actually gave in to my own ideas. I placed in a few contests but never saw myself as having the potential to make a career of writing…after all, my English grades stank!
2. When did you decide to write professionally?
When I sold my first story. To that point, I’d written mostly as a sanity savor for myself, but working with a few CPs online, I got caught up in their excitement over submissions and scoring feedback from actual editors. I ended up submitting a short story of my own and it sold. My first thought was along the lines of, “OMG, I can actually make money at this??!! I’ll write more!” It seemed like a brilliant plan, considering I had four very little children at home and was looking at, at least a few years before I headed back into the traditional workforce.
3. What made you decide to go the route you chose (eg. traditional, e-pub, indie)?
As I mentioned above, I’d sold a few short stories (Samhain Publishing, writing erotic romance as Moira McTark). I loved what I was doing, but wanted to branch out further. At the same time, Harlequin was introducing a sister line to Presents…Presents Extra intended to have a more flirtatious, lighter tone. I loved the idea of being in print, reaching this new, expanded audience, and teaming with a line that was recognized for helping to develop their authors. So I worked my butt off for the next year to convince Harlequin to give me a chance. Five books later, here we are!
4. What is your writing process (hrs/day, days/wk)?
I work pretty much every day. School days probably six hours a day, non-school days are more like two to four. When I have a deadline I’ll do more by getting up early. I put in a lot of hours, but the truth is I’m a very slow writer so I kind of need to! LOL
5. How do you write (crappy first draft then revise or revise as you go)?
I start with a serious hand written brainstorm. Write out an opening scene I can launch from. Put together a synopsis with the major conflict points, dirty draft, and then revise. Mostly. I’m pretty flexible about the process in that if something FEELS right, I tend to do it, even if it’s not how I normally work.
6. Do you get writer’s block? If so, how do you handle it?
Not in the staring at a blank screen, unable to get a word down way. But definitely in the NOTHING IS WORKING way. I call it the “wheel spinning” stage and it is not fun! Anyone who has had to drive during a Chicago winter probably knows what I’m talking about with the wheel spinning. You drift off track and get stuck in the snow. You can hit the gas and give it everything you’ve got, but all that happens is the wheels spin, the car doesn’t go, and a bunch of nasty sludge gets thrown out behind you. Blech.
I get out of it by stepping away from the computer and picking up my spiral and pen. I go somewhere in the house where I normally don’t work and sit down to write out the problem. What is it that is holding me up? What is my current path and why isn’t it working? Usually if I start brainstorming ideas like this I figure things out within a day or so. Sometimes, I have to back up a plot point and try again from there. Or skip to the next plot point and work backwards from there. LOL. Okay, so I do whatever it takes to get past it… and eventually I do!
7. What’s your favorite part of the writing process?
I love when the idea for a new story catches and I’m suddenly overflowing with bits of dialogue, scene set ups, AND THENs, OOH AND WHAT ABOUT THISs and scribbling as fast as I can to get the ideas down before I lose them.
8. Where were you when you got “The Call?”
At home, trying to herd four squealing, wild and crazy kiddies. It was about 8:30am when I picked up the phone to the so soft and polite voice of my now editor. The kids were going nuts and I couldn’t hear a word she was saying. So, super mom that I am, I ripped open a bag of marshmallow and ran for my office down the hall! 30 minutes later I had a two book contract and two hours of clean-up ahead of me. LOL! Totally worth it!
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)?
I’d go back to high school and tell myself not to believe that I couldn’t be a success in writing just because I had a hard time with English class!
FUN TOPICS:
10. Wine, liquor or beer? What’s your favorite of the spirit you chose?
Blue Moon beer with Pizza, Cupcake Merlot with pasta, Ketel One vodka martini (up, dirty and bruised) for celebrating the sale of a book!
11. What author(s) are on your automatic buy list?
Suzanne Brockmann, Kresley Cole, Toni Blake, and Victoria Dahl– so freaking good! *Cries a little to be totally caught up with their backlists*
12. What TV shows are you watching?
True Blood, The League, Game of Thrones (Honestly, I don’t watch a lot TV anymore. I mostly read while DH watches Swamp People and Hoarders in the background LOL)
13. Who is your celebrity crush and why?
Hmm, okay, I have two–or, I’ll limit myself to two for today’s purposes! First, Chris Evans for obvious eye-candy appeal. I want him to be my hot next door neighbor who works out in the back yard daily. He, of course, has a terrible crush on me, and comes over all the time to flirt and make me laugh, fix broken anythings around the house (shirtless), and offer to babysit my four kids (he’s really good with them, it’s okay) whenever I need a break or to run errands. {Tracey’s Note: That is hilarious! I wonder how DH would feel about hunky neighbor coming around and being good with the kids? LOL}
Second, Will Ferrell, but only as a backup husband should my beloved ever run off with his celebrity crush (Jaime Pressly–I live in fear). Honestly, the two men are nearly interchangeable in looks and delivering on the funny, so it wouldn’t be much of a transition for me and the kids, LOL!
Thank you, Mira, for your great answers. They were hilarious. I LOVE that you threw a bag of marshmallow at the kids while you took The Call. I’m absolutely positive I would have done the same thing! 
Please check out Mira’s latest, Never Stay Past Midnight for Harlequin Presents Extra, available as an e-book direct from Harlequin now (http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=26367&cid=) and hitting shelves next Tuesday, August 14. Drop by her website at www.miralynkelly.com or find her on Twitter @miralynkelly. Remember, leave a comment and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win an autographed copy of one of her backlist books, Wild Fling or a Wedding Ring, Front Page Affair, or The S Before Ex (US only).
Never Stay Past Midnight — Available in e-book Now!!!
“You are so wrong for me.”
Levi had to agree–he was. He was leaving Chicago in a few short weeks. He didn’t do commitment–ever. But everything about this night, this girl, was so good. So right. Until at 11:59 p.m. she got out of his bed, got dressed and left!
What had he done? Things had hardly started and she was off! Yet he was bored with simpering women he couldn’t get rid of. Elise was a breath of fresh air. How was he going to find her…and get her back in his bed–for the whole night this time? It seemed Mr. Levi-and-Leave-Them might have found the one woman to leave him begging for more…
Isn’t that an awesome teaser? Who’s your celebrity crush? Tell us what you think and make sure you check back next week to see who’s hanging out at the T-Spot.
Thanks so much for having me Tracey! Lots of fun:-)