Laurie J. Edwards, a prolific author writing under various pen names and in numerous genres / formats, is also the owner of Leap Books and this publishing marvel invited me to join the Writing Process Blog Tour. If you're interested in how Laurie stays sane with all her fantastic projects, check out her writing process post on her blog. Laurie is in full promo mode for her upcoming YA fiction series set in the Wild West: WANTED (w/a Erin Johnson) After her family is slaughtered by outlaws, sixteen-year-old Grace Milton goes on a vendetta to capture the gang who did it. But once she meets a rugged range rider, she’s torn between revenge and love.

I hope you seek out other authors along the tour - it is far reaching and offers great insights into the process of creative types. Now for the questions I'm to answer for the tour:

 1.) What are you working on? 

I'm currently whipping through final revisions of My Soon-To-Be Sex Life which releases in June with Bloomsbury Spark. I'm also in the midst of several screenwriting projects: an edgy adult thriller and a
quirky teen adventure gone wrong, as well as a new adult fiction title I'm posting on Wattpad as I write the first draft, He Shoots, She Scores. So far it's been a fun experiment.

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

I'm not sure if it does, except that my characters tend to be prickly. They're flawed, quirky, abrasive, and perhaps not so likeable at first. They put up a front and are all about self-preservation. But when you get to know them...I hope their yearning-for-love, tender interiors shine through.

3.) Why do I write what I do? 

As a writer, screenwriter, and hack musician (I play a mean bass in an all-woman band) - music, words, and film have always been fascinations / obsessions. Each are forms of storytelling. I guess that's the hook for me, I write to tell stories and hopefully entertain. I read to discover new stories to fall in love with. Story is the key to everything.

4.) How does my writing (or writing with pictures/illustrating) process work? 

I write everyday, getting up at 5am - weekends I might sleep in until 6am. I know, sad that I consider 6am a sleep in, right? But I've always been a morning person, so it works for me. I write at my best until around 2pm and then fizzle out. If I continue after that point, it's usually a blend of revision and promotion / social media time. I work on multiple projects at once but on alternating days. This helps me avoid the "I'm stuck" feeling. I'll stick with a project until it starts to feel like work, then move onto the next one. By the time I swing back to first project, I'm refreshed and excited to get back into that particular world.

I’ve tagged three awesome writers who will share their processes on their blogs next Monday: Natasha Deen, a multi-published Alberta-based author with whom I have a series coming out with from Orca Book Publishers (under my Judith Graves pen name), as well as two Bloomsbury Spark sisters, Christine Duval and Ashley Poston - their new adult titles helped launch the Spark line in December and I'm thrilled to follow in their (impressive and cool!) footsteps.

NATASH DEEN

Natasha Deen: Watch for her latest novel, Guardian (October 2014), from Great Plains Publishing.  Natasha has written for adults, teens, and children, and is published in a variety of genres from inspirational to urban fantasy. She’s appeared in a variety of media as a literacy advocate and when she’s not writing, she wrestles her furry kids for the warm spot on the couch. Visit her at www.natashadeen.com

True Grime: Urban Fantasy-Sci Fi Suspense (A P&E Top Five Pick for 2011 YA Book)

Grime cop and teen fairy Pepper Powder lives for one thing: protecting the human species from magical zealots who seek to eradicate them with Violent Illness of Unusual Resistance and Strength (humans call them “viruses,” but their mistake is understandable. The very young often get their words wrong.).

When a terrorist leader releases a necrophage bomb, it not only decimates Grime headquarters, it turns Pepper into the magical world’s first fairy amputee—but she’s not going to let a little thing like a missing leg stop her. To catch her criminal, and prevent him from unleashing a V.I.U.R.S in one of the human world’s biggest shopping centers, West Edmonton Mall, she goes undercover as a human.

But once Pepper’s theories of humanity collide with the reality of bullies, cliques, and environmental destruction, will she still believe humanity’s worth saving?

CHRISTINE DUVAL

Christine lives in New Jersey with her guitar-playing husband and two awesome kids. Her first novel, POSITIVELY MINE (originally self-published under the title FRESHMAN FORTY), was signed with Bloomsbury Spark and is now available every where eBooks are sold. She loves hearing from readers on Goodreads and Twitter @christineduval1.



Positively Mine, Bloomsbury Spark. 2014

It is four weeks into her freshman year of college, and Laurel’s first test was unexpected. Discovering she’s pregnant isn’t exactly what she had planned for her first semester, and while she intends to tell her emotionally-distant father, being away at school makes it all too easy to hide.

An imperfect heroine plagued by bad choices and isolated during what should be the best time of her life, readers are sure to identify with Laurel as she confronts teen pregnancy, in secret.

ASHLEY POSTON

Ashley Poston is the author of THE SOUND OF US, a YA/NA Contemporary from Bloomsbury Spark. Graduating from the University of South Carolina, she interned at Random House Publishers with Kodansha USA, where she (helped) edit the Sailor Moon manga and that was really, really, really cool. She wrote a play that won some award, and can quote every Motion City Soundtrack lyric by heart. She currently lives in South Carolina with her cat (aka her soulmate) and a plethora of books. When she’s not writing, she’s going to the movies (her second favorite past time) or taking extravagant road trips (her third favorite past time). Oh, and she’s naturally redheaded, and she’s already stolen your soul so don’t ask.





The Sound of Us (Radio Hearts #1), Bloomsbury Spark. 2014