It’s been awhile since I’ve posted something original here at Ye Olde Blog. I’d like to think that today’s post will be the creative kick-in-the-ass I sorely need to keep this blog going. I’d like to think that. We’ll see.

Because this was fun. My fellow Paper Rat and buddy, Kristen Tsetsi, invited me to participate in a Blog Hop. It’s kind of like a Sock Hop, but without the socks or music or poodle skirts. Or maybe it’s a writing exercise in which an author answers four question, then links to the blog of the author who invited her (or him) who has previously answered those same questions, as well as the blog of an author she (or he) has invited to answer the four questions. Hop, hop, hop!

 

You can find Kristen’s 4 Questions Answered post here. You can find her other places online as well:

I’ve invited my friend (and Friend Of The Blog) Danielle Bannister to participate, which she will do next week. I’ll edit this post to include her answers then. In the meantime, you can read more of her stuff here and here.

Here are my 4 Questions Answered:

1) What am I working on?

Currently I’m working on my third novel, temporarily called WINGING IT. It tells the story of a single mother, Kara, whose only child, a recent college graduate, has moved to New York to pursue an acting career, much to Kara’s dismay. It’s about what happens when what you thought was your raison d’etre suddenly and unexpectedly disappears.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My characters are unapologetically rural, without being stereotypical hicks, and I think that makes my stuff stand out from other women’s fiction. My fictional world is populated with cleaning ladies, carpenters, and cashiers who struggle to pay their bills. Professionals in suits and high heels who drive nice cars are the outsiders here.

3) Why do I write what I do?

Most of us will never be called upon to save the world or fall in love with a prince or fight political corruption, but we still each discover our own moments of courage and passion and triumph. Those are the stories that interest me, the stories I like to tell.

4) How does my writing process work?

I don’t outline, but I do make notes. A lot of notes. They’re all over the place; in notebooks, on my laptop, on scraps of paper, in my cell phone, sometimes scribbled on my arm. Eventually I gather them up (along with some wine or Nyquil), crank some music, and hide away in my office to try to piece them into something coherent.

 

As a bonus, here’s the first paragraph of my current work in progress:

If you know where to look, you can find me on Wikipedia.

Kevin Michaels (born Michael Joseph Chouinard, February 9, 1974) is an American actor from Portland, Maine, best known for his role as Henry Dempsey in the Broadway play Last Rights. Michaels currently lives in Manhattan with his wife, Victoria. He has an adult daughter from a previous relationship.

I am the previous relationship. What Wikipedia doesn’t tell you, in addition to my name (Kara Parker) and my adult daughter’s name (Gabriela), is that the relationship lasted a grand total of three minutes. Maybe three and a half, if you count the time it took to pull our pants off. It took place in our high school drama club’s wardrobe room after the spring play of 1990. We were caught pulling our pants back on by the Vice Principal (which, I suppose, would round the relationship up to four full minutes), ensuring that when I showed up to school the following fall with a very pregnant belly, everyone knew exactly where and when the deed had been done. And what the article gets flat out wrong is that Mike—or, rather, Kevin Michaels—isn’t actually from Portland. His parents moved him there from our considerably smaller hometown (New Mills, population 2200) when they found out he’d knocked me up, insulating him from the burden of responsibilities that come with having a baby and ensuring him a bright future on the stage and screen. That’s how you get your name in bold typeface on Wikipedia, instead of a generic mention at the end of someone else’s article.