RJ Scott - Author: Ask RJ

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Ask Rj - Co-writing

Thursday, 12 May 2016

I'd like to know more about how you work with co-authors. Who does what, how do you make decisions, etc.
Co writing is both the easiest and hardest thing I have ever done. When I co-author, the other author and I will take it in turns to create a chapter each. This sounds very straight forward but actually it isn’t. The flow of the novel is something like this:

The two of us will planning using a google doc, with some kind of idea where the story came from and where it is going. We agree on character names and descriptions. Then, for example, say I am writing first… I will write chapter one and send it to them. They will beta it, edit anything obvious, then the two of us talk via the doc about whether the chap is right and where it should go next.

When they send me chapter 2 I will do the same process, beta, comment, and then we will chat again.

Using this method means the chapters move seamlessly from one to another and characterisation stays in focus. So all decisions are joint, and from this a unique co-authored book can be created.

Excerpt from The Case Of The Cupid Curse, written with Amber Kell

The vampire smiled. “My name is Bob.”

A snort of laughter burst out of Sam. “Your name isn’t Bob.”

The vampire tilted his head, and his eyes glowed with amusement. “How do you know?”

“Because I just had a witch tell me not to share my name with a paranormal so I doubt you would be telling me your real name.”

Bob grabbed Sam’s wrist. His grip was firm, and instinctively Sam yanked his arm to try to break the vampire’s hold. “There was a witch here?” Bob snapped urgently. “What did she look like?”

“A witch.” What did it matter what she looked like? “She was old, crony, and witchy. You know—” He gestured expansively with his free hand— “A witch.”

“What did she want?” Bob still hadn’t let go of his wrist. The vampire didn’t know his own strength. One last tug and Bob finally let him loose. Idly, Sam rubbed at the sore skin burn.

“From what she said, werewolf bones.”

Bob scanned the room as if he expected the witch to jump out of the wall or something. “Never trust a witch and never, ever, tell a witch your real name.”

“Okay, um… Bob.” Sam could barely hold back the laughter building inside him.

“My real name is Roberto, but I go by Bob,” Bob finally said. “Vampires don’t have last names outside a coven. Your last name reveals the group you belong to. I am an independent.”

Sam couldn’t hold back the laugh inside him. Dire warnings about witches aside, he couldn’t wrap his head around a badass vampire calling himself Bob. Hell, a vampire named Bob. That was wrong on so many levels.

“Vampires are supposed to be sexy. There’s nothing sexy about a Bob,” Sam finally managed to say without laughing. Why he cared what the vampire called himself, he didn’t know, but there was no way he was going to call a vampire Bob.

Bob seemed to forget his need to warn Sam about witches and names and instead pulled Sam into his arms. Evidently he had returned to his first agenda. “I’m sure I can convince you I’m sexy,” he drawled. What was it about this man—vampire, whatever—feeling like he could manhandle him at every turn?

Sam narrowed his eyes at the vampire. The man might be the sexiest thing Sam had ever seen, but he wasn’t going to admit it…

Damn. He had just thought that. And damn—Bob had heard him. Shit. Bob was definitely smirking.

“Do you have a multiple personality disorder or something? You bounce around more than anyone I’ve ever met. From scary vampire to smirking idiot in a second.”

Bob smiled and didn’t appear to take offense at Sam’s comment. “You’ll have plenty of time to examine my personality when I move in. How much is the rent?” The quick change of subject threw Sam, but it didn’t keep him from trying one last time to stop Bob from moving in. He mentioned an exorbitant amount for the monthly rent to attempt to deter the vampire.

Bob released Sam, and then walked through the living room and down the hall. There were two bedrooms and a small kitchen, though Sam doubted Bob would need a kitchen. Vampires didn’t eat real food. Right? But wouldn’t he need a fridge or something for all the blood? Or would he be one of those vampires with a live donor?

What did Sam know? He had thought vampires could only come out at night.

Sam pushed aside thoughts of blood.

Bob returned to Sam’s side in long, confident strides. “I’ll take it.”

Shit!

Ask Rj - Research

Thursday, 5 May 2016

What sort of research do you have to do to write about lawmen, military etc? Do you get people in those fields read the technical parts to make sure they are authentic?

My research is a daily thing. I literally read and watch everything I can. Of course, a lot of my details are based on what I have read on websites, or in books, but I also have various experts I call on for help as and when I want their help. For example when I drew my SEALs in the Sanctuary series, I had someone in the Navy who worked near the SEALs and gave them an authentic twist with real details. I have a reader who has a son who is a marine, I have a best friend who is an experienced nurse. Then I have my TV shows, and my own imagination.

For example, take the scene in Ellery 6 with the attack in the park. I wrote it and then I asked my nurse friend – how can someone be nearly dead and then saved by a passer by who uses his initiative? She told me about credit cards and holes in lungs and suddenly everything made sense.

I also subscribe to a couple of writing places where they have workshops on various things, like guns, or crime.

Exceprt from Ellery Mountain book 5, The Paramedic and the Writer
“What was that?” Ian stopped walking and tilted his head.

“What?”

“You don’t hear that? It sounds like someone shouting.”

Jamie listened carefully. Then he heard it. “Loser!” The faint sound of distant shouting. “Fag!” It didn’t sound like an argument, more like someone screaming hatred and the noise of a fight. Jamie released his support of Ian and waited a second to check Ian could stand. When he was happy Ian was steady, Jamie sprinted into the park towards the thick bushes that formed a natural fencing-in of the grassed area. He stopped when he wasn’t sure where the noise had come from, then—there—he realised where he needed to head. He caught the back of someone running away, but he couldn’t be sure of who it was. Plunging into the undergrowth, he slid to a halt, horrified at what he saw. A body lying broken on the ground, an arm over their face. It was too dark in here to see much else. After falling to his knees, he pulled out his cell to give some light.

“Oh fuck,” Ian said from behind him.

Jamie tossed his phone at Ian. “Get 911 on,” he said quickly. The area where the body lay was thick with tangled bushes and Jamie could smell gasoline. Someone had pushed this victim into the darkness to hide their work and tipped gasoline over them. Fuck, were they trying to burn the evidence? Was the person dead? He felt for a pulse. There was one although it was faint. Assessing the area, he quickly got an idea of what the first responders would face. There was limited access. A split-second decision and he dragged the form out from the dark and into the light of the street lamp on the sidewalk. Ian held the phone to Jamie’s ear. He was calm and focused and Jamie needed that at this moment.

Focusing on what was in front of him in the small area of light, he began to check the injured person. When his hands came away sticky with blood and the figure rolled slightly, Jamie finally got a good look at the features of the person bleeding in the park.

At first it was difficult to see, but then it hit him like a fist to the gut.

Norma-Jean’s grandson, Mikey.

“Mikey?” Shit. “Can you hear me?” Jamie shook his shoulders. The kid was breathing with difficulty and Jamie immediately checked his airway. Nothing. Which meant there was a problem elsewhere. There was a laceration to Mikey’s left temple—head injury with potential internal haemorrhage. The white shirt he wore had blood on it. Jamie pulled it away and exposed a puncture wound. A knife? The left-hand side of Mikey’s chest was failing to rise and fall. Tension pneumothorax. Jamie explored the area and felt the bones grating. Not good. Crepitus indicates broken ribs. The kid probably had a punctured lung, his pulse rate was racing and his respiration laboured and difficult. Mikey would die if he didn’t get help urgently.

“Here,” Ian said quickly. “On loudspeaker.”

“Priority one call,” Jamie started. “Hill Road, at Broadfields Park. Patient unconscious and breathing with difficulty, unresponsive to all stimuli. A stab wound to the left chest, we have a sucking chest wound with tension pneumothorax, fractured ribs and head injury with a contusion on the left temple. Pulse one forty, resp rate ten. Little blood externally. Drenched in gasoline. No burns.”

“On their way,” the dispatcher replied. Jamie waved the phone away and went straight into autopilot.

“What do I do?” Ian asked calmly from next to him.

“Stand on the road, wait for the lights, let them know where we are.”

Ian disappeared through the bushes and Jamie concentrated on tilting Mikey’s chin up and head back. He needed to close the wound. The air was being sucked in and filling the space. If it weren't closed soon, one or both of the kid’s lungs would totally collapse. The compression in the lung cavity would slow or even stop the return of blood to the heart from the veins. Blood pressure would drop and Jamie would lose control of this situation quicker than lightning. He felt in his pockets. He had nothing to close the hole causing the pneumothorax. Shit, what he wouldn’t give for his full kit. If all else fails, use your hand. He judged the next exhalation then placed his palm flat on the hole, leaving a small gap. It was all he could do.

Who would do this to Mikey? He was a good kid who lived with his Nan and worked hard at school. He was funny, feisty, and the type of teenager that Jamie wished he could have been—confident in his own skin. This kind of thing didn’t happen in Ellery. This was more like the kind of stuff he’d come across during his time in the city.

Read more about The Paramedic and the Writer (Ellery Mountain 5)

Ask RJ - Ideas and where they come from

Thursday, 21 April 2016

Where do your ideas come from for your characters? News stories? Friends? Men you have heard about? Or do you just completely make them up?

All of my men are ‘made up’. Literally. It may be that I have inspiration from a news story (All The Kings Men, earthquake, forest fire), or from real life (Bodyguards Inc 1), but when I come to creating my men I don’t base them on anyone in real life.

However, my men are all flawed in some way and they mirror the kinds of things that are happen in this world. They may have PTSD, they may be frozen with fear, they may solve crime, or be victims of crime. How my heroes deal with it can ultimately be seen in heroes in real life.

I have no idea where the ideas for my men or my stories come from, they just happen without me consciously thinking about it. It might be a song, or a news story, or just a place I visit. I love to have my cover art ready for when I write, and with all my self published work I can do that. So the cover models we have chosen between us (Meredith and I) are my inspiration for how my heroes look.

As to the characters of the men, they tend to evolve as I write. I may start by writing someone as being an angry person, then as I write him and show why he is angry, I may actually go back and amend my starting point because I simply understand that character more.

Excerpt from Crooked Tree Ranch

Nate snorted a laugh. “Know her? I still have bruises on my ass.”

Jay lifted a single eyebrow in question.

“Hell, not like that. She kept pinching my ass, and her husband was damn well watching. She propositioned me and Gabe. Turns out they liked threesomes and would we join them for a foursome. Husband was hot, but she scared me.”

That damn eyebrow didn’t drop, and Nate belatedly realized what he had said. Not that it bothered him, but he suspected Jay was interested in him and blatantly saying he found men hot to Jay’s face left Nate very exposed.

Jay stood from his chair and walked around his desk to lean on it opposite Nate.

“I knew it. Ashley told me she’d ask Gabe, but I knew it anyway. Didn’t use to think cowboys could be anything but hetero. Are you gay? Or bi?”

Nate looked down at the highly polished boots he kept for best. If he said he was gay, was Jay going to stalk the rest of the way over to him? “You first,” he said softly.

“Oh, gay,” Jay admitted with a smile. “All the way gay.”

“Gay,” Nate offered in return.

Jay nodded. “So the gay porn with the cowboys I’ve seen on the Net wasn’t a lie.” He stepped away from the desk and Nate tensed. Was this it? Was this where Jay told him that he wanted to fuck, and Nate had to find a way to turn him down because he never mixed business with pleasure? Would Jay listen? Would Nate actually listen to himself? Jay was damn sexy and pretty and all smooth and polished, and Nate longed to get his hands on him. Jay came to a stop in front of Nate, and no more than two or three feet separated them. This was it. This was do or die.

Jay leaned in and whispered, “So, between you and me, can you tell me where the nearest gay bar is?”

Nate reared back. That wasn’t what he’d been expecting. “Uhm,” he began, “through town, Carter’s. It’s a biker bar for want of another description. You can’t miss it.”

Jay rocked on the soles of his feet. “Mmm, bikers,” he said with heat.

Nate left before he made a fool of himself, his stupid brain imagining all kinds of things that weren’t going to happen. Just because they were both gay didn’t mean they had to assume the position and fuck each other into the floor. Not that Nate wanted to do that. No fucking. On the floor. Or in the office. None.

As he left Jay’s office and stalked up the hill to home, his freaking erection caught in a twist of underwear and denim and he rearranged it forcefully. Nope. Fucking Jay was a big no-no. A definite no. If only his damn cock would get the message.

Gabe met him, coming down the hill with Luke trailing behind.

“Thought we were meeting at Marcus’s,” Gabe said.

“We were,” Nate snapped. “I changed the plans. You were late, so I came to find you.”

Luke jogged to catch Gabe, and the three walked back down past Marcus’s house, Jay’s office, and the restaurant, to the parking area for ranch vehicles. Nate threw the keys to Gabe.

“Designated driver,” he snapped.

Gabe gave him the raised-eyebrow look that Jay seemed to have perfected as well. “You don’t drink on weeknights.”

“I have to sit through a parent-teacher conference, I need a beer.” Too late Nate realized what he’d said. Damn it, he was fucking everything up tonight.

“You don’t have to go,” Luke snapped. “Gabe can be the parent tonight if you like.” His little brother yanked open the door and clambered inside, then slammed it shut behind him.

“Not cool, bro,” Gabe drawled.

“Fuck it,” Nate kicked the tire then knocked on the window where Luke sat. For a few seconds, Luke ignored the tapping, but in the end he gave in and opened the door again.

“What the hell, Nate?” Luke’s voice showed he wasn’t pissed so much as hurt. Nate never resented being the parent figure, and he didn’t know why it had happened today that he thought to say something that would hurt Luke.

“I’m sorry,” Nate said. He opened the door and pulled Luke out of the car into a hug. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I’m just in a bad mood.”

“Okay.” Nate’s shoulder muffled Luke’s answer. Luke always was quick to forgive Nate for any lack in parenting skills. “Did you see what I drew for Jay?”

“Juno… and it was beautiful. Proves to me you could make a living from art.”

Luke shrugged, then pulled back. “See what the teachers say tonight.”

They climbed into the car, and Nate took the keys back. He didn’t want a beer, really; he wanted the heat of a confrontation with Gabe. Instead, he got nothing but an upset with his baby brother. Damn hormones.

Read more about Crooked Tree Ranch (Montana book 1)

Ask RJ - the connection between Sanctuary and Heroes

Friday, 15 April 2016

Ask RJ - How does the Heroes series tie into the Sanctuary series?

When I wrote Worlds Collide, book 7 in the Sanctuary series, I created a team of SEALs that backed up Joseph. One of those marines was a guy called Viktor, an explosives expert who literally fell out of the closet as Bi half way through Worlds Collide.

I painted him as a guy who was all SEAL and who basically sought sex wherever he could. He was irreverent, a bit scary, but he was loyal. He helped the Sanctuary team, and his part in my books was done.

Except, suddenly he wasn’t. He niggled at me. He interested me. He demanded his own book. BUT, not a Sanctuary book. That arc was done, and as far as I was concerned at that time there were going to be no more Sanctuary books.

But… I did have an idea for a series of loosely linked books looking at heroes. Not just SEALS (book 1), or Marines (book 2), but cops, doctors, paramedics, teachers. And suddenly, I had a place for my hero to appear. The man who I created for the final Sanctuary book abruptly became a character in his own book.

I wanted to explain who he was and I needed to write him. I created an ex, a back story, and Heroes #1, A Reason To Stay, was born.

So although the Heroes series mentions Sanctuary in odd moments, it is not a Sanctuary book as such. But it is an adventure, with heroes and villains, and all kinds of hot love :)

Excerpt

Sam continued, “She’s a clever one, going to be in government one day like Dad. I’m just an artist, and I’m a man, I need to do that stuff, don’t I?”

Mac hesitated. He seemed to be doing a lot of that. His normally quick reactions to situations were lost in the need to say exactly the right thing to Sam.

“You’re important as well,” he said. “And no one is just an artist. What do you like drawing?”

“People. And trees and things, nature, y’know?” Sam offered quickly. He looked shy and had the most intense sincerity in his eyes. When he grew up, when he was legal, he’d be a looker. He was all soft smiles and gorgeous dark green eyes, almost forest green and brown in this light, framed with long sooty lashes.

“How do you think they knew?” Sam half whispered. He was staring down at the parking lot again.

Mac wasn’t following the question. “Knew what?” He turned when the door opened. A nurse hovered on the threshold, but Mac held up a hand indicating five. She frowned and he smiled reassuringly. The last thing Sam needed now was someone fussing over his IV. Mac belatedly wondered if she had psychology experience and he should be asking her to stay, but she had held up three fingers, left, and shut the door after her.

“How did they know I was gay? No one knows. Not even Jo.”

Mac tensed. He suddenly realized where this was going. Sam thought his captors had abused him in the way they did because he was gay?

“It wouldn’t have mattered—”

“They hated me, and they hurt me. I don’t want that with any man I’m with.” Sam was broken, his voice harsh and his tears tracking down his cheeks.

Mac laid a hand on his shoulder and tugged him a little to pull him close. “It doesn’t have to hurt, kid.”

Sam leaned into him. “I can’t be gay.”

Read more about: Sanctuary Series | A Reason To Stay (Heroes 1)

Ask RJ: Why do I self publish

Tuesday, 5 April 2016

Why did you decide to self publish?
When Silver imploded I had twenty or so books with no home, including Sanctuary and Texas, and I already had Love Lane books set up as a name to get my YA short stories out. I was stuck in that peculiar place - should I go with a publisher for my books? Or should I just try and get my books out there through LLB. I was nervous about both options but decided to give self-publishing a try.

What do you like about self-publishing?
After getting the first few books out *independently published* I was hooked. I had complete creative control over cover art, editing, release dates, and price... I also worked hard on my own approaches to marketing and found they worked better for me. I have nearly all of my books self-published and apart from a couple of books with a few publishers that is the way I will continue to make my books available. In fact I am actively taking back some books with publishers because I can do more for myself than they can. When you get to the point that you say *what can a publisher do for me that I can’t do for myself* then that is the time to self publish.

Ask Rj: How do I know which ideas will work and which ones won't?

Tuesday, 29 March 2016

Tracy on my closed FB group asked me how I knew what ideas would work and what wouldn’t. She said my books are very easy to read, so did I know what made them work and how did I get them to fit together?

I wish I had an easy answer. I know what I like to read, which makes it easy to know what I want to write. BUT…

Then it can all fall apart. I know what I want to write, the story is in my head, the characters are live, I’ve even commissioned Meredith to do the cover and suddenly I am faced with a blank page.

Now what?

So I start writing, and sometimes I will amend a story if I think I am going off track for a commercial audience, but in the main I just write what I do because that is my writing style. And yes, I get that doesn’t make a lot of sense. I love that Tracy said my books were easy to read. Does that mean I don’t write complicated stories, or the way I tell my stories just works? I don’t know. I get enough 1s and 2s and disparaging comments to know I don’t please everyone. Hell, it would be a sad world if I, or any author, did.

So again I say I wish I had a formula for writing a successful book – I mean, what made Texas successful? Or Sanctuary? What stopped people reading Oracle? Or One Night?

And gah, I wish I could write a recipe so that I could write a million Christmas Throwaways. Then I could retire… rofl…

So, authors, do you have a magic recipe for writing? Do you let your story take you where it needs to go like I do? Do you consciously change direction for commercial reasons like I have done at some points in a couple of stories?

Readers, do authors have a style. Are their styles simple? Complicated? Angsty? What is your favorite?

Purple eyes and orange hair... Ask RJ

Wednesday, 23 March 2016

Kendra Asked - When you write a sequel after several years, do you need to read the previous book(s) to keep information straight?

I have several things I use/do when I begin to write a sequel.

Re-reading the books in the series

The first, and most important, is to re-read the previous book. In the case of Kissing Alex (BG6) I re-read all five of the previous books! Re-reading isn't about the eye colours and the hair styles, it's about the feel of the book, about the rhythm of the story, the shape of it, and the style of writing. It's about re-learning the world that the book is set in, and making sure you get a handle on the rules of that world (BGs, UK, no guns, Montana, horses & ranch etc)

Notes and Maps

The first thing I do when I start a series is draw a map of the town/offices or a family tree, or i collect pictures that inspire. Then I make a storyboard of sorts. The one for the Texas series started off really neat and then disintegrated into scribbled notes everywhere!

I also like to give everyone a birth date, a height, eye colour and hair colour. This was always a tricky one for me. If you want to use a throwaway line like *He leaned down* or *his blue gaze held so many secrets* then you need to make sure that the actions and description matches through the books. In Texas Riley has hazel eyes and blond hair, Jack has dark hair and piercing blue eyes... and yes, that is possibly what people wouldn't expect (normally blond hair, blue eyes etc), so it's important to keep notes I can refer to.

Software

So, I mentioned about dates etc. I found a piece of software called Aeon Timeline, which I use to track ages, dates of events, etc. This is vital because I was the WORST at recalling when things had happened, and how long passed between events, because I was so caught up in the narrative itself.

I blogged a bit about this software on another post here: Aeon Timeline

In conclusion

So, the answer to Kendra's question, is that I use a lot of tools to make sure the next book in the series is correctly timed, with cohesive characters...

You should have seen the notes I wrote for Montana 2!!!!!

Ask RJ: Writing a lead character with autism

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Tim Crowhurst asks: would you ever write a lead character with an autistic spectrum condition?

For anyone who might be reading this and not understand why Tim might ask this question then I should briefly explain. My son, Matthew has autism.

I have actually written an autistic child into my Texas series. Max is little, only 4 when we first meet him. I write from experience with a difficult, challenging, issue.

As to writing a lead character on the spectrum? I don't know, and that is my honest answer. The thought of what difficulties Matthew may face when he is older is enough to worry me. To write an adult with ASD may well make me think too much about these difficulties. While I would always write a happy ever after for any one of my characters, I am not yet ready to immerse myself into a story about an adult with ASD.

I hope that doesn't disappoint people :(

Ask RJ: Writing as Rozenn Scott

Tuesday, 15 March 2016

BJW asked: Okay... RJ, what was your motivation for your venture into the world of MF ? Any further plans to continue after book 2?

Hi BJ, thank you for the question.

Up until I found Supernatural and the world of MM I had always read and written MF romance (heterosexual, whatever you want to label it as!). I didn't even know that such a thing as MM existed.

Then 90 books later I thought I'd maybe give an MF a try. There are a few reasons why.

Can I actually write in another, completely different, sub genre of romance?
Female characters in my MM writing always have a purpose. I like to think the females in my books are written strongly. They are confident women who know their sons/brothers. So, I thought, lets give it a go!
Opening into the MF market means more exposure for my MM writing as well (if I manage to sell any of my MF book... LOL..

So, off I went, and over Christmas and into January I wrote a 60,000 word romance. Think Ellery Mountain / Montana type stories with strong women, close family, suspense, drama.... add in the fact the hero of book one is a member of a boy band and you have my first ever MF.

Book 1 is called Notes and Roses - Cody and Megan's story. Book 2 is Coffee and Hope - Danny and Rachel's story.

I plan on four books in the series as it stands. There will also be books for Sheriff Justin, and for Kyle.

I also have plans for a book 5, Garrett's story, which will be an MM. It might end up being book 3, or something, we'll have to see how that pans out.

I am RJ Scott, writing as Rozenn Scott, and I have loved it so far, but don't worry, my first love is MM :)

Hugs, RJ XXXX

Notes and Roses (Stanford Creek, book 1)

With his stalker behind bars, former boy band singer CJ Taylor is starting a new life. He’s bought a house in a small Vermont town, and taken back the name he was born with. Two years have passed since he was last in the public eye and as Cody Brennan, he’s finally feeling safe. Desperate to find some peace, all he wants is to connect to the music in his head, write new lyrics and forget the tragedy in his past.

What he doesn’t count on is meeting Megan. From her amber eyes to her tempting smile, she is everything he thought he could do without, the very thing he promised himself to avoid. But he’s thrown into her family and her life, and suddenly he’s found a place he wants to stay.

Megan Campbell is horrified when a stranger, covered in blood, collapses in her shop. When that same stranger, wild and angry, abruptly becomes someone very different, it’s not her safety she is worrying about, it’s her heart.

Megan’s first instinct is to tame the powerful attraction she has to this stranger, but very soon desire becomes something more. Between them can they find the words to make things right? And can they stay safe long enough to fall in love?

Read more at my Rozenn Scott Website

Notes and Roses is also available for pre-order. You can find it here: Amazon (UK) | Amazon (US)

Ask RJ: Is there an RJ Clone?

Tuesday, 8 March 2016

My favorite MEME

Jay Northcote asked: How do you have time to blog, and answer questions and find cute memes of Ryan and bears, and still write a book a month? WHAT IS YOUR SECRET? I think you've worked out how to clone yourself. It's the only possible solution. Exactly how many Rj Scotts are there, hmmmm?

LOL Jay, there is only one of me. I do have a PA now to help me out with some of the admin stuff, but new writing, new blogs etc, is all me.

I don't know that I have a secret. It just happens.

That is a boring answer right?

Hmmm... so... I love what I do. I love writing, i am motivated by my writing, and some people like my writing. Enough people that means I can now be a full time writer. So there is that. I am working sometimes 10-12 hours a day, but not all in one go. I may do an hour before Matt gets up for school, 6 hours when he as school... a couple hours when he is home if I can, and then I will do things like answer emails etc in the evening when watching TV.

Luckily hubby is incredibly supportive.

And finding memes? I just type in *cute bear meme* and press enter into Google... LOL... that is the EASY bit!

Ask RJ: Have I always wanted to be a writer?

Tuesday, 1 March 2016

Kendra Patterson asked: Have you always wanted to be a writer or did you choose it because you do it well?

First of, aww, thanks Kendra, what a nice thing to say.

Secondly, the answer to this is two parts I suppose.

I have loved writing stories since I was old enough to write, and before that I was the best *liar* in school. My tall tales were very extravagant. LOL.

I wrote a lot long hand, but it was only when computers were widespread that I started to consign stories to files, and then discovering fan fiction and actually having people read my stories meant I was hooked.

When I write it's like a natural high, a buzz to get the words down on paper. Of course, the more positive responses I got, the more I wanted to write. I'm a full time writer now, and I love every minute of it!