Many thanks to my friend Dave Conifer for including me on this blog tour.  I met Dave many years ago when I first considering giving this writing thing a whirl, and I'm forever grateful for his support and encouragement.  Here's a bit of information about him for you.

Dave Conifer is a fitness fanatic living in South Jersey with his wife and three kids. When he's not coaching wrestling or soccer or working as a boy scout leader or girl scout leader, Dave likes to read non-fiction history. He also blogs about the 48 solar panels on his roof and how they generate nearly all the power needed by his family of five.

Dave loves to hear from his readers. He can be found at daveconiferfanpage on Facebook. Send an email to daveconifer@rocketmail.com to be added to the mailing list and find out when something new is coming, or just to say hi.

Or visit Dave's official web site to sign up for emailed updates about new releases.

Book three of the Cold Cases series is currently in the works!

If you're looking for a fun summer read, you can't beat Dave's book Snodgrass Vacation.  It's a hilarious look at one family's trip to Disney World, and I thoroughly enjoyed it reading it years ago.

An irreverent but hilarious spoof on Disney World and the people who love it.

Dave Jevik wasn’t too happy to hear that his wife had scheduled a family vacation to Snodgrass World Resort with the Zandanels. Loudmouth Vinnie is hard to put up with for an hour, let alone a week. But when Vinnie spots wheelchair-bound George Van Morrison in first class on the flight to Florida, the dreaded trip takes on a sense of purpose. Van Morrison claims he was injured at a restaurant owned by a friend back home and the lawsuit has already been filed.

Dave and Vinnie just know he’s faking it and they have a week at Snodgrass World to save the restaurant by proving it. They’ll have to dodge fleets of wheel chairs and scooters long enough to expose him.

Vinnie’s sharp-elbowed wife is indispensable as she leads the way past line-cutters, other people’s obnoxious children and the maniac driving the scooter with the on-board colostomy bag. When they befriend a crotchety bartender back at the hotel, Dave and Vinnie unexpectedly tap an inside source that just might help them get their man.

Anybody who’s ever taken a trip to Disney World will recognize the people and places in Snodgrass Vacation, a hilarious and irreverent satire of theme park life.

"This book was hilarious! I could relate to it on so many levels I felt the author was writing about me! From actually investigating worker's comp claims, to being stuck on vacations with obnoxious friends, to experiencing scouts and worms, I'm experienced it all first hand! It's hard to categorize this book as fiction! It was an absolute joy to read, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who has ever had the opportunity of being subjected to the antics of a theme park!" -- Smashwords review

And now, on to my portion of blog tour. Thanks for reading!

1. What am I working on?

At the moment (and for the immediate future) all of my fiction writing has been put on hold. For the past couple of months I've been working on constructing a curriculum for a game developer to be used alongside his game in classrooms around both the country and the globe.  It's a potentially huge project, so my plot outlines just have to wait.  When the time returns, I have two plot outlines waiting for me.  One is the story of a girl who helps the ghost of her deceased family member finish her work on earth so that she can move to the other side, and the other is the tale of one girl's struggle between the light and dark angles that surround her.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I really enjoy hearing all sides of the story.  I often wonder if maybe I was a judge or a lawyer in a past life! (Kidding -- I don't really believe in past lives, that's just my way of justifying my NOT being a judge or lawyer now!)  I feel like everyone has a right to be heard, to tell his or her side. Often things seem cut and dried until you take the time to see things from another point of view.  I'm a "put yourself in his shoes" kind of girl, and I always try to understand the thoughts, feelings, and motivations that drive people -- even imaginary ones.  That comes through in my writing -- it's one of the main inspirational points in Red -- that need to give another side to the story.

3. Why do I write what I do?

My freelance writing and my day job pay the bills, so I'm able to write what my heart desires when it comes to fiction.  That, to me, is a blessing, because it's very freeing.  I don't have to watch pop culture trends and churn out the next vampire or zombie or (insert upcoming trend here) love story. I can take inspiration from wherever I find it and let it influence my work naturally.  I write what speaks to me.

4. How does my writing process work?

I was so interested to hear Dave's process, because he's the first person I've met who writes like I do. Just as Dave mentioned, I first let the idea bounce around in my head for weeks, months, sometimes years.  I never pick up a pen until I have the complete plot line laid out in my head. Once that's there, I start drafting my outline.  I know, I know, outlines are loved by some and hated by many.  For a control freak like me, they're essential. I spend hours (sometimes days) constructing my plot lines, and then I put down the pen and think about the minor events surrounding my plot lines. Again, this can take days or it can take years - it varies wildly. Only after I feel like things have taken shape in my head do I finally sit down and start drafting.  Since I've spent so much time with these characters and events in my head, the drafting process ususally goes very quickly - I think two months has been my longest drafting period thus far (and please remember that I also have a full time job and three small children). Once I finally carve out the time to draft, it all just pretty much falls out onto the page.  Something else that people are always surprised to learn is that I draft with pencil and paper.  I usually start by drafting one or two chapters by hand, and then I immediately type them into my manuscript document, revising as I go. Once I have the full manuscript in, I've already completed at least one revision.  Of course, this is only the first of many.  I do another full readthrough on my own immediately after finishing. Then I let it sit for at least a week and do another full readthrough before passing it on to beta readers.  It's a long process, but it's a labor of love.  The end product is always, without a doubt, 100% worth all the time, effort, and attention to detail.