Although I’m not a regular blogger, I’m thrilled to participate in this blog roll on writing process for a number of reasons. (In case you aren’t familiar with the idea – I wasn’t – a writer answers some questions on her blog, and then passes the questions on to another write t answer.) First, I was invited to participate by the amazing Jenna Blum (http://jennablum.com) , New York Times Bestselling Author of THOSE WHO SAVE US and THE STORMCHASERS. I have long been a fan of Jenna’s work and I’m so honored to be published alongside her in our forthcoming anthology: GRAND CENTRAL: POSTWAR STORIES OF LOVE AND REUNION.

Second, I love to talk about writing process. I suspect that most writers do – it somehow makes us feel less alone and like this crazy road we are traveling somehow makes sense.


1. WHAT AM I WORKING ON?

I’m spending a lot of time getting ready for the launch of GRAND CENTRAL this month, and the publication of my next novel, THE WINTER GUEST, this August. In terms of actual writing, I usually don’t talk about my work-in-process. But I’ll make an exception here: I’m working on my eighth novel, still untitled. Set during the Second World War, it’s the story of Adelia Montforte, a fourteen year-old Italian Jewish girl who comes to Philadelphia on her own and finds herself drawn into the large Irish family who summers next door in Atlantic City, the Connallys. Despite the religious and ethnic gulfs between their neighborhoods back in the city, Addie falls for the oldest of the four Connally boys, Charlie, just as America enters the war. But when the family is ripped apart by unspeakable tragedy, Addie flees, first to Washington and then war-torn London in an attempt to outrun her pain.

This book is very different front anything else I’ve written. For one thing, it is largely set on the home front, where most of my others have been set in Europe. It’s also more complex in terms of the number of characters and settings and such. Frankly, it’s killing me!

2. HOW DOES MY WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS OF ITS GENRE?

I’m not sure how to answer this, because I’m not sure what I consider my genre to be. With my first novel, I set out to just write a story set during World War II but then Publisher’s Weekly called it “historical romance at it’s finest.” My third and fourth novels were modern. I don’t know I write historical or romance or women’s or just plain fiction. I don’t write for a particular genre.

3. WHY DO I WRITE WHAT I DO?

I was sent to Krakow, Poland as a diplomat for the State Department several years and I become very immersed in the task of resolving issues related to the Holocaust and Polish-Jewish relations, such as property restitution, preservation of the concentration camp sites, and anti-Semitism. I also became very close to the Jewish community in Krakow. Those experiences define my writing to this day. I try to illuminate the time period with all its stark and dire choices and the complexities of the people who lived through it.

4. HOW DOES MY WRITING PROCESS WORK?

I start with an idea – usually an image or scene -- and I put down in a word document lots and lots of whatever comes out, in no particular order – throwing up on the page, as one blogger described it. This goes on for months until I have about 150 pages or so. Then the document starts to become unwieldy and I start making charts and chapters and such. It takes me about a year to write a book.

I write in about 2-3 hours sittings first thing in the morning. I prefer to write seven days a week. I also take notes in the evening from research or a book on writing. These notes serve as prompts so I’m never blocked and can start right out of the date the next morning.

I can write on almost any computer during the first stage of putting down words, but I need a big screen when I start to organize and revise. I use a notebook for brainstorming and problem solving. Toward the end of writing a book when I can print out a draft, I like to go away for a weekend to a little beachfront motel and beat the manuscript into submission. I don’t show my work to anyone except my agent and my editor. The first finished galley always goes to my mom.

5. AND THE OTHER PART OF THIS QUESTION, HOW DOES MY WRITING PROCESS NOT WORK?

Because my writing begins in such a raw state, it takes forever to edit. I wish there was a shorter way but for me there isn’t. Additionally, I tend to have a very bare bones writing style so I have to go back and fill in a lot. Also I frequently write most of the book before realizing that the voice or tense are not right. This requires a lot of rewriting.

PASSING THE TORCH, OR WHO’S NEXT

I’m thrilled to share two very talented writers. Heather Gudenkauf (www.heathergudenkauf.com) is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE and THESE THINGS HIDDEN. Her newest novel, LITTLE MERCIES, will be released on June 24, 2014. We are both published by Mira. We’ve been online friends for years and I was thrilled to have the chance to finally meet her at Book Expo this year.

Tiffani Burnett-Velez (http://tiffaniburnettvelez.wordpress.com), a very supportive fellow author, has been a freelance writer since 1996. She has published a number of short stories and her non-fiction work has appeared in Pennsylvania Magazine, Country Discoveries, Conde' Nast Portfolio, Yahoo! News, and many more online and print magazines and newspapers in the US and Europe. Her first novel, BUDAPEST (LFP 2007) was featured in the New York Book Festival and the 42nd Annual Conference of Jewish Librarians. Her latest novel, ALL THIS TIME, will be released by Booktrope in September 2014.