Blog Hop--Fun Questions

My friend, fellow author, and all around fun person Patti J. Smith tagged me recently to participate in a blog hop. I'm supposed to post a short bio plus answer four questions. Since my bio is already on this page (upper right side), I'm choosing to put some things you might not know about me, keeping it on the light side.

So, the bio: I'm a love-to-laugh, hugger-bugger Christian. If I know you personally, you probably already know this, but who knows? Maybe someone didn't. If I haven't hugged you yet, maybe you need to introduce yourself to me.


I love my family to distraction. Literally. They probably would sometimes like to pretend they don't know me. For instance my older son, who at 30 was still unattached. I was pretty sure he needed a good wife to take care of him (he lived too far away for me to assure he was eating properly, getting enough sleep, etc). So--I had been known to offer to take applications from eligible young ladies. Wouldn't you know it, he found a perfectly delightful wife with no help from me.

 I love to write--which isn't to say I don't still fritter a lot of time away playing spider solitaire or something similar. When my mind goes blank, do I go for a walk or clean house--things that would actually be productive? Nope, not as a rule. I confess and repent. And probably will again tomorrow. *sigh*

Now, as for the four questions:

What are you working on?

At the moment? This blog. Today I'll also be working on putting finishing touches on the character list for a series I'm in with seven other authors about life in a small town. The current series is called Summer in Sweetland. The next series about the same small town with many of the same characters currently has a working title of A Sweetland Holiday Season. With a little luck, I'll also start on the next volume in my own series, Once Upon....

How does your work differ from others in its genre?

I have no idea. Since "my genre" is Christian fiction, the same similarity we all have is that we write to please God. I suppose, though, each writer has a different flavor. Mine is to provide the path for taking one step closer to the Lord.

Why do you write what you do?

I write with a couple of purposes in mind. The first is to honor my Lord and Savior, Jesus. The second is to provide entertainment and encouragement. I want people to know how much God loves each person, and sometimes the best method of providing information is through enjoyment. I hope my writings do both.

How does your writing process work?

I'm not entirely sure whether this means (1) how do I write? (2) how do I handle the entire writing, pitching, publishing, and marketing scene? or (3) how well does it work. So many answers fly through my head! I can't process them all! Therefore, I will choose the simplest answers.
How do I write? I'm lazy. I write by the seat of my pants, which puts me in the "panster" category. Although I basically know where it will start, a few things in the middle, and how it will end, I'm as clueless as the reader as to what's going to happen and how it will resolve. I like to think God determines the course.
Publishing process: Although I enjoy talking to people, I despise selling myself--so I avoid (to my own discredit) talking or writing to editors and agents (pitching). Marketing? Again, not good at this, but I'm learning. I'm having a new website designed by a pro who specializes in writers' websites (Michael K. Reynolds), and I try to tell folks about new releases both on my Facebook pages and on this blog. But frankly? I still suck at marketing.
How well it works: I guess I'm becoming better known, which is a good thing for authors. My readers are mostly family and friends--I'd guess, anyway. The short stories and full-length books are all still selling and catching good reviews--mostly. Every writer needs a bad review or two to keep them humble. I have one. And keeps me from thinking I've got it made, so I keep on working to hone my skills.

Since this is a blog hop, I need to give you the blog addresses of the people following mine on the hop.

Sue Badeau: http://suebadeau.webs.com/
Karen Gass: http://karengass.com/ and http://www.cottonspice.net/.
Diane Huff Pitts: http://dianehuffpitts.com/