Friday, September 20, 2019

Sunspots by Karen S. Bell Genre: Romantic Suspense, Time Travel


Aurora Goldberg Stein is lost in grief. Her beloved husband, Jake Stein, has just died in a tragic car accident and her sorrow is overwhelming. But is this really the end? Perhaps, perhaps not. She hears his voice. She sees his ghostly presence. She travels back in time to another life with Jake. What is going on? What is the message?


Jake Stein, a dashing Texan, sweeps Aurora off her feet and changes her life. A Brooklyn born actress, she moved to NYC and does temporary work to pay her bills. On this particular assignment, she accidentally meets Jake Stein, who is her dance with destiny. Leaving everything she knows, she marries him and moves to Austin, Texas. No longer struggling to make ends meet, Aurora wiles away her time bored and lonely, and trying to recapture the excitement she once had with this man. And then suddenly, it's all over, her life, her future is gone. Vanished are all her hopes and dreams. 

But destiny comes in many forms, and when Aurora moves to a new house, she discovers that the previous owner has never left. The ghostly presence of Viola Parker looms large and becomes Aurora's guide through time revealing to her the mistakes she's made with Jake Stein through the centuries. This time, maybe this time, Aurora can get it right.






What is your writing process? For instance do you do an outline first? 
Do you do the chapters first?

Here is my process—I get up in the morning, have coffee and watch the news and get aggravated. Try and do some exercise (not really). Check my sales (none), surf the internet and buy some clothes online, find affordable marketing tools. But now, I’m on my computer, so I might as well write something. So as you can see, my main process is avoidance until I’m in the throes of a narrative. Then it’s on my mind even when I’m doing something else. Characters come to me, names of characters come to me, what happens to my characters come to me when I’m doing something other than writing.

But here’s the magic. When I’m finally writing, my characters lead the narrative. They tell me what’s next, point me in other directions, so I feel I’m on to something. I also have no set plan of the storyline but an overall idea. My latest book is set at a Bed and Breakfast hotel and while driving one day, I passed a road sign that said Possum Trot Lane—bingo—perfect address for the B&B but has to be someplace like Vermont—so Vermont is the setting.

My first three books are written in the first person present tense—supposed to be a big no-no—but it felt right. My latest work will be in the third person, just to mix up my writing style to see if I can do it. My technique is to write a few chapters and then comb back through and revise, revise, revise. I finish the work after doing this several times with all the chapters and then revise the final result. Then I send it out to beta readers and copy editor and revise again. The final go is painful and annoying but there is a feeling of accomplishment when it’s ready to be rejected by hundreds of agents and then ultimately published by myself on Amazon.  

I get so much satisfaction in the writing process. I take care to choose just the right word, to make sure each sentence has the right cadence. I appreciate other writers who respect the craft in this way, and I hope my readers do so with me. Writing is a need, a desire for expression, and springs from well within my subconscious mind. Thoughts rise up, scenes rise up and blend in with the over-arching story. These thoughts emerge whenever they want to and wherever I am and probably not when I am at the computer. The computer is for the craft, the technique. The thoughts come during walks, or while driving the car, or at the grocery store. I am the willing recipient of these thoughts and so they seek me out. It's a mystery this business and art of writing and it keeps me enthralled.




Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!







No comments:

Post a Comment

The Rainbow Diary

  Embracing Life's Final Colors: A Heartfelt Journey through Loss, Redemption, and the Unknown Drama Date Published:  ‎ February 20, 202...