New York Times Best-selling author Gena Showalter is my guest Over Coffee. Gena writes Urban Fantasy, Paranormal and Contemporary Romance.I’ve read and enjoyed her Atlantis series and am looking forward to reading Alien Huntress series next. She has written four series and assorted novels. I think what impress me most about Gena’s writing, aside from her vivid imagination and prolific writing, is the way she builds her worlds. They’re worlds that are so complete that the reader feels as if they could book a flight to them. I also love her strong characters and the research she’s done to make the characters and her worlds believable.
Gena also is a warm and genuinely funny person. I love her sense of humor. She also has a sometimes-mean Muse, who has its work cut out to keep her from being distracted, and thankfully, best friends who work their magic to get her over the 'stupid moment' humps.
Today, she shares with us a typical writing day…
I’m always asked how I write so quickly. So, I thought I’d share a typical writing day for me to better explain my . . . process.
- 7:00 am – Wake up. Wish I could sleep a little more, but drag myself out of bed anyway, threatening to kill all the characters in my book to make myself feel better.
- 7:10 – Drink coffee. It’s either that or send a family member to the hospital to patch abrasions caused by a flying . . . anything I can get my hands on. Respond to emails.
- 8:00 – Close email. Drink more coffee. It’s either that or yell at every member of my family for an imagined infraction. Open current Work In Progress document, realize that killing all the characters does not fit the current plotline, grumble about it, accept it, and start writing. Goal: write an entire chapter.
- 8:30 – Become distracted by thoughts of new emails. Check emails. Respond. Panic that I won’t reach my writing goal. Start writing again.
- 9:00 – Hit brick wall in plot. Start cutting spilt ends from hair to “think about the plot problem.”
- 9:35 – Realize the brick wall can be used in plot. Call best friend and fellow author Jill Monroe to tell her how brilliant I am.
10:00 – Check email. Respond. Take picture of myself making a face and email it to other best friend and fellow author Kresley Cole. Panic that I won’t reach my goal. Start writing again.- 11:30 – Aching back convinces me to take a break. Go for a walk and – on the special days -- rescue some type of animal who jumps out from behind a tree and scares the crap out of me.
- 12:30 – Get home. Eat lunch – always the leftovers from dinner -- and check email.
- 1:00 – Decide I can’t write while I am a sweaty pig, so take shower. Come up with another brilliant idea and leap out of bathroom.
- 1:10 -- Start writing while dripping wet from shower because I am in a rush to write down this new, brilliant idea.
- 2:00 – Hit another brick wall. Call Jill Monroe again, this time to tell her how stupid I am.
- 2:15 – Laugh. Monroe has worked her magic. Check email. Respond. Panic that I won’t reach goal. Start writing again.
- 3:30 – Finish writing chapter, thereby reaching goal. Luxuriate in feelings of happiness, knowing I can relax for the rest of day.
- 3:35 -- Answer door. See that a manuscript has arrived for edits. Cry a little.
- 3:40 – Pick myself up and start editing.
- 4:30 -- Really feel like I am in a zone. Nothing can distract me.
- 4:35 – Check email. Respond. Feel guilty for slacking while a stack of papers that literally has my name on every page beckons. Panic that I won’t reach tomorrow’s Work in Progress goal because I didn’t edit enough on this second manuscript. Get back to editing.
- 5:30 – Wrists and back start to ache, along with brain. Decide to take break and eat a snack. Vacillate between Cheetos Puffs and Wheat Thins. Puffs win.
- 6:00 – Panic kicks in, demanding (loudly) that I return to work. Get back to work.
- 7:00 – Decide enough has been done for one workday because, well, the brain has been tapped dry. Collapse on couch. Wish the Puffs had not been devoured earlier.
- 7:10 – Panic kicks in again, demanding (even more loudly) that I return to work to get a jump-start on tomorrow’s goal. Resist. Or not.
And there you have it. A typical workday for me. I do get distracted easily, and I do panic often. But as strange as this sounds, I really do love the process. I love creating. I love watching a story take shape and the characters grow and change. I love twisting the plot so that even I’m surprised. But most of all, I love holding the finish product in my hands, as it’s a culmination of the blood, sweat and tears I poured into it. I hope you enjoy the results!
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Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of breathtaking paranormal and contemporary romances, cutting edge young adult novels, and stunning urban fantasy. Her novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan and Seventeen Magazine, and on MTV. The critics have called her books "sizzling page-turners" and "utterly spellbinding stories", while Showalter herself has been called “a star on the rise."
