Janna G. Noelle has requested I participate in her four-question quiz about my current work-in-progress, THE TWO, which will be published in a couple months. Like most of her blog, these questions require a degree of thought my poor brain might not be suited for right now after being abused by revisions for the past few months. But it’s worth a shot. Let’s hope what comes isn’t pure gibberish, or words crossed out and replaced by synonyms then crossed out and replaced by another synonym then crossed out and replaced by the original word. What? Yeah. Exactly.

1. What are you currently working on?

THE TWO, the second book in The Alignment Series. I wrote the first draft in 2009 and it’s had little attention since then. I knew it would be rough going in, but it’s proven me wrong. It’s not rough. It’s downright terrifying. Come-out-of-the-mirror-Carol-Anne terrifying. Someone please get me out of this mirror.

2. How does your work differ from others in its genre?

Well, for a fantasy, it’s very real. Approachable. Easy to digest. I think a lot of people stay away from fantasy because the entry into the world is jarring. Too many strange names, strange places…you won’t find anyone with an unpronounceable name in my books. Sometimes I think it falls closer to magical realism for this reason. And for a romance? It doesn’t follow the formula. I usually call it a love story to save my fragile human bones from sledgehammers wielded by hardcore romance readers. There’s no sugary sweet happily ever after here. Strap yourselves in, people. There are twists in this road and lots of bodies to roll over. And be sure to duck when the gunner takes aim.

3. Why do you write what you do?

I have no idea. It’s like taking in a stray animal. I didn’t choose this book. It chose me. And then it had kittens under my porch. (This happened to me with real kittens, too. Real kittens and metaphorical kittens seem to agree that my brain and my house are nice places to live.)

4. How does your writing process work?

I’m a pantser who has a hard time keeping up with the seat of her pants. So I take a lot of notes. Pages and pages of notes in files I review periodically to refresh them in my head. I email myself things when I can’t get to my manuscript. Lines of dialogue, scenes, ideas, anything. It’s all clear in my head but very unorganized outside of it. That dichotomy has me feeling a bit crazy sometimes. A bit unglued.

Many thanks to Janna, for prompting me to do this Q&A. Every time I do something like this I learn more about my books. She’s working on her own fantasy(ish) novel, set in 13th century England. You can read her Q&A here. I wish she’d hurry up and publish. I feel like I’ve been waiting for it since the Middle Ages.