Please Welcome My Guest...

Please welcome my guest, Romance Author Terri Rochenski. Terri started writing stories in the 8th grade, when a little gnome whispered in her brain. Gundi’s Great Adventure never hit the best seller list, but it started a long love affair with storytelling. 

Today she enjoys an escape to Middle Earth during the rare ‘me’ moments her three young children allow. When not playing toys, picking them back up, or kissing boo-boos, she can be found sprawled on the couch with a book or pencil in hand, and toothpicks propping her eyelids open. 

Interviewing your characters

I’m a true planner and couldn’t be a panster for any story but flash fiction. Every novel I write starts out as files, notebooks full of notes, and binders with sheet protectors. Notecards. Timelines. Outlines.

Yes. I’m extreme.

The best part of being so organized? The character interviews. With a premade sheet (three actually) of questions, I imagine myself in a comfy chair across from each of the main characters of a story.

I’ve been surprised more than once by a side of a character I never expected to see. Secrets that make them who they are. Often these instances bring about sub-plot ideas, conflict and tension beneath the surface of what would have otherwise been a shallow story. 

We banter back and forth, and along with their answers, I make sure to jot down every mannerism and reaction. Every telling twitch I can use to flesh them out on paper, and make them seem real for my readers.

I’m a firm believer in that if you’re going to commit to telling a character’s story and getting their arc right, then you need to know them like you do your best buds. Even if their favorite color or most embarrassing moment has no impact on the story, knowing such things brings a closeness between us and our characters. This makes it easier to hear their voice and be consistent.

Am I nuts, or do you interview the voices in your head?

Blurb:

Hired as a nanny for her cousin’s children, Anne Tearle finds security and a loving family. The children are a dream, but London society is a world of its own, one where a displaced farm girl has no business being. But, wealthy rake, Gavin MacKay, helps her to see associating with the upper class might not be as horrid as she first assumed.

Like all things worthwhile, love comes at a price, and the cost soon bestows more anguish than joy. Lost, but not undone, Anne must find the courage to begin life anew, or succumb to sorrow's unrelenting waves of grief.

Purchase Links:

 Print

Createspace (Best Option)
Amazon

eBook
Amazon
Bookstrand
Smashwords

Link for Love’s Sorrow on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21455386-love-s-sorrow

Ms. Rochenski’s Links:

Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

Follow Terri on the rest of her blog tour --

Please Welcome My Guest

Please welcome my guest, Romance Author Terri Rochenski. Terri started writing stories in the 8th grade, when a little gnome whispered in her brain. Gundi’s Great Adventure never hit the best seller list, but it started a long love affair with storytelling.

Today she enjoys an escape to Middle Earth during the rare ‘me’ moments her two young daughters allow. When not playing toys, picking them back up, or kissing boo-boos, she can be found sprawled on the couch with a book or pencil in hand, and toothpicks propping her eyelids open.

Tell us something about yourself both writing and not writing related.

I write my scenes with a pen & clipboard loaded with lined paper – strange, I know, but if I can’t hit ‘back space’ and ‘delete’ I tend to get more done in one sitting.

Gardening is my second passion – self-sustainability is the ultimate goal, but unfortunately I live on less than ¼ acre. I can only do so much!

Do you have a writing routine?  Where do you usually do your writing?

I have no writing routine to speak of. As a stay-at-home mom of 3, it’s write when I can, wherever I can. Napkin. Notebook. Coloring book edges.  :o) When I AM able to sit & write in silence (rare event right there!) it’s usually on the couch with that clipboard.

Why do you write in the genre/sub-genre that you do?  Any plans in the future to write in a different one?

I’ve adored fantasy since I was a child & first picked up Chronicles of Narnia. As for romance, what woman DOESN’T want to read about Prince Charming? For now, I’m sticking with those genres. Not sure I have the brain cells or time left for anything else!

How do you stay motivated when writer’s block hits or your muse won’t cooperate?

Motivated … ha! Some days it’s like pulling teeth for me to focus on the next scene that needs written. If I don’t write down those ideas and notes immediately, the mommy brain often gets distracted and that scene is doomed.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

Other than spend HOURS pouring over books in the library, nothing.

What’s the best writing advice you were ever given? 

Get a rejection? Sub again, and again. Don’t give up.

What do you like to do in your leisure time?

Leisure time? What’s that? When I DO have a quiet moment, it’s reading, cooking, gardening, or just breathing in the silence.

Tell us about your current release in a couple of sentences.

Cara’s story is born out of love badly placed, desperation, and the resulting lies that keep her from ruin. The truth could very well ruin her second chance at love.

Can you tell us a little about your next project?

I’m contemplating dusting off the first manuscript I ever wrote, an historical romance set in Victorian England and the wild wild west. We’ll see.

You can get in touch with Terri at any of these links:
Website  Blog  Facebook  Twitter  Goodreads

Blurb:  Dismissed from her job as a scullery maid and cast aside by her lover, pregnant Cara Morland has no choice but to return to her father’s farm. While lies of widowhood keep her from disgrace, Cara is faced with a local landowner’s unwanted attentions. Without the social status to do much more than avoid the vile man, she loses hope of ever finding happiness.

A friendship based on mutual loneliness blossoms between Cara and James Elliot, a young farm hand hired by her father. He offers his protection, and one shared kiss reveals his heart, but propriety and her feigned grieving period hinders what they both desire.

When Cara’s stalker learns the truth of her circumstances, he gives her an ultimatum—submit to his possession or he’ll ruin her second chance at love with James.

Buy Links:
Amazon  The Wild Rose Press