Day: October 15, 2014

WIP Wednesday: Sarah Hegger

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Welcome to WIP Wednesday! My guest today is Sarah Hegger. Welcome, Sarah. Can you tell us one thing most people don’t know about you?

SH: I have a thing for beautiful evening gowns and would wear one every day if I could.

MJ: What is your secret talent?

SH: I know the words to more show tunes than is healthy.

MJ: If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?

SH: Acting, I started off as an actress and a part of me always wants to go back.

MJ: If you had a theme song, what would it be?

SH: “Respect” (Otis Redding/Aretha Franklin).

MJ: Name one thing you won’t leave home without.

SH: My toothbrush, and my mascara.

MJ: Describe your ideal/dream writing space.

SH: I am lucky enough to have my writing space. I have a study that’s all mine. Best of all, it has a door that I can shut when I want to work. Although my children view this as a challenge to be overcome.

MJ: Briefly describe your writing day/process.

SH: I start with getting social media set up for the day. Then, I write my new words first. Once I’ve met my daily word count target I get to editing, sorted into a delivery date order.

MJ: Name one writing-related website you use a lot.

SH: I recently signed on to Autocrit. An amazing site where you can load your book and it spots all those common traps I fall into as a writer. It weeds out the dreaded adverbs, POV filters and overused words, and so much more. I also keep my membership to the Oxford Online Dictionary very close.

MJ: Name 3 things on your desk right now.

SH: San Pellegrino, nail polish, a potted hydrangea.

MJ: Do you listen to music when you write? Explain.

SH: I can’t listen to music, I get distracted and start singing the lyrics.

MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?

SH: His kindness, although I’m still trying to persuade him to let it shine through.

MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?

SH: She believes she’s a one-woman army, battling through life all on her own.

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

SH: Contemporary romance.

MJ: What is your favorite genre to read?

SH: I’ll read any genre, just tell me a good story about characters I care about.

MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?

SH: I like old-fashioned, more traditional names and tend to default to that. Then, I just go with my gut. I can’t say why a name fits or doesn’t, it either feels right or I change it.

MJ: Do you ever base characters on people you know?

SH: Elements of people I know always creep into my characters somehow.

MJ: How did you choose the setting for your current WIP?

SH: Especially when writing contemporary, I try and keep it to an environment I know well enough to know the taste, smell and feel of the setting.

MJ: Now it’s time for the lightning round. Addams Family or The Munsters?

SH: Addams Family.

MJ: Wine-red or white?

SH: Red

MJ: I Dream of Jeannie or Bewitched?

SH: Bewitched.

MJ: Beer-can or bottle?

SH: Bottle

MJ: Stephanie Plum or Eve Dallas?

SH: Stephanie Plum

MJ: Cinco de Mayo or St Patrick’s Day?

SH: St. Patrick’s Day.

MJ: Last movie you saw in a theater:

SH: Captain America: The Winter Warrior 

MJ: Favorite TV Show?

SH: Master Chef.

MJ: Flintstones or Jetsons?

SH: Flintstones.

MJ: Favorite band when you were in high school? (Marching band doesn’t count.)

SH: Depeche Mode

MJ: Coke or Pepsi?

SH: Coke.

MJ: Introvert or extrovert?

SH: Introvert.

MJ: Favorite ethnic food?

SH: Thai

MJ: Now, for the meat of the interview. Will you share the first few lines of your current work in progress?

SH: Of course. This is from Handle With Care, which is a working title only.

Chloe took a deep breath. Money. Even the air of Michael Knightley’s apartment smelled rich.

The front door slid shut behind her with a dull thud.

“Darling, I’m home.”

The sun split through the horizontal blinds and painted the oak floor in rich chocolate stripes.

She would mop today and keep that deep, wooden glow to the wood.

“How was your day?” She dropped her purse and backpack on the travertine countertop that separated the kitchen from the den. “Mine totally sucked.”

MJ: Sounds like a great read! You have a current release now–Sweet Bea. This is an amazing cover. Where can we buy it?

Sweet Bea

 

SH: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kensington.

MJ: And how can readers stay in touch with you?

SH: I have a website, a blog, and a Facebook page. I’m on Twitter, Pinterest, Linkdin, Google+, and Goodreads.

MJ: Thanks again for joining me, and good luck with your books!

Things I Don’t Get

I am a writer.

I am also an introvert.

I have never learned the art of small talk. I don’t “get” it. Either you have something to say or you don’t.

But as an author in the early part of the 21st century, I am expected to self-promote. OK. I get it. I just don’t get how. I think if I post in all the Facebook book promo groups, it’s spam and it’s reaching only other authors.

Experts say to “engage” on social media. That’s asking introverts to do something they don’t understand.

Small talk is only one of many things in life that baffle me. Here are some others:

Camping: a lot of my friends and family love camping. Why can’t you do the same thing at home? It would be cheaper, warmer, and there is indoor plumbing.

Cars as more than transportation: as a former co-worker once said: “I’m driving it, I’m not living in it.”

Going out to bars/clubs: I did this for a couple of years when I was very young. I was never comfortable. It’s loud, overcrowded, and the action doesn’t start until past my bed time.

The need for noise: I know a lot of people who have to have the television or radio going for background noise. I don’t understand the need for that. Silence is golden.

Movies as a first date (thank goodness this is behind me): Why? You can’t get to know someone sitting in a movie theater. A first date should involve the ability to converse. Unless you don’t understand the art of small talk. Then you have a problem.

Not “getting” something is not the same as not liking it. I hate football but I get it. I loathe eggs, mushrooms, and green peppers, but understand why people eat them.

How about you? Is there something in our society that you just don’t understand?

 

 

 

A Snowy Friday Afternoon

Adventure 1 – The Lunch of the White Vans

I left my physical therapist’s office and drove to a nearby shopping center to go to the bank for some weekend mad money.

  • A white van tried to back out of a parking spot, into my car.
  • I then drove home on unplowed streets. Someone had abandoned a white van in the middle of the street on which my garage/driveway is located.
  • I managed to get to a main thoroughfare, where I got stuck behind yet another white van, driving 20 mph on a bare street.
  • We diverged at a major intersection. But as I drove closer to my day job, a white van backed out of the bakery right in front of me.

Was it a white van conspiracy?

winter

Adventure 2 – Someday, This Could Be Me

I went to the bank (see Adventure 1). A very old man, stooped over his walker and accompanied by a somewhat younger woman using a cane, slogged through the slush-filled parking lot toward the door. I patiently followed, hoping they were going inside the lobby and not to the ATM machine in the vestibule.

No such luck. The man gingerly made his way to the ATM and announced his pants were falling down. Well, yes. They were. I looked away. His companion replied, “Then pull them up.” So he did, very slowly, very carefully, and muttering all the while that he needed another button.

Eventually, he began is transaction. The woman announced his pin number to the world and the amount of money he was withdrawing. He muttered about that being an awful lot of money. (And it just occurred to me maybe the woman was in some way ripping him off!)

In the meantime, several other people came to use the ATM. Some left, others got in line behind me.

When he was finished, he turned and saw all of us waiting, and apologized for being so slow.

You know what? Someday, with any kind of luck, we’ll all be that old. I replied, “Not a problem at all. You have a real nice day.”