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Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.
Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.
Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.
Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.
12 Comments:
Oooh, good question, Di. I'm very visual, so I change my desktop photo to one of the story setting, and I have postcards from the setting that I look at often.
whoohoo,
good to see ya posting, hope ya feeling some better :)
ben listening to my Christmas music too! :)
I never do anything special. I just imagine I'm there and I start writing what I see happening.
I keep a notebook of images - people, places, cars, etc - that I flip through regularly. I tend to be a foodie, so at least one of my characters usually cooks something, so I'll cook what they cook. (Or do they cook what I cook?) If I send them to a restaurant, I'll try to go visit there myself.
For my latest book, my character is sort of quirky, and the hero is a chef. I wanted them to have a special kind of dinner out, so I hunted online for different kinds of restaurants around metro Atlanta and found an organic bistro that's not just vegetarian fare. That just intrigued me so much I used it in the story, and now I've got to visit them!
Fun question.
You're in our prayers.
Tracy, that Bistro sounds fun! I like that you make the same meal as your character. Too fun. Thanks for your prayers!
I used to make notebooks for my stories and I'd flip through the pages of those to look at characters, etc. I do it all on the computer these days.
I'm very visual, too, D, so those pictures really help me.
Thanks Jel!
Oh my goodness, that photo is so dang cute, I can't even think about writing, I just want to cuddle up to Xander.
I'm so happy to hear from you Diann! i always listen to christmas music because i find it soothing and relaxing at times (especially if frank sinatra sings it). but what i really do to concentrate, and i know this is probably cliche, is close my eyes. i can hear their voices, smell the hot coffee brewing (sometimes it helps to actually have it there,lol), feel the winds change... i'm very imaginative. sometimes i concentrate so much, i forget that im a real person in real life that my sisters get really annoyed. to me, my characters are people. sometimes i feel like beatrix potter (anyone watch miss potter before? i love that movie!). recently i had to show it to my mom so that she can understand what runs through my brain most times... she still didnt get it. LOL! love you Diann, and my thoughts and prayers are always with you.
Thank you so much, Ruby! What kind words! I know what you mean about the imagination. You just about have to be a writer to understand us, right? ;-)
And yes, I did see the movie Beatrix Potter! Great movie!
K, can you believe how little Xander is there? Hard to believe he's four now.
I usually have a scene from the area as my wallpaper on the computer. :)
I also play music that fits the time era and situation. One of my latest stories was more on the sobering side, and I found a band that fit the story perfectly-Balmorhea(I hope I spelled it correctly). I played their music through the entire writing process, and it just added that final emotional touch to the story. I also find myself having a special drink with each story, one I drank only Mountain Dew, another was Kiwi Strawberry LifeWater. When I wrote my story set in Ireland, I was addicted to hot tea.(I also played celtic music) These few things help me get myself in the place and time.
I love to make collages of people I want for my characters, then place them on the wall so I can see them as I write. I can more easily climb into their minds and create stories for them.
I spent yesterday doing a walking self-tour of the town I grew up in, Winnetka, IL. I love that place. It will be the setting of my novel. I took tons of pictures and will hang them all over my office.
Grateful for a family wedding that took us from Colorado to Illinois so I could do my research.
Hope the inspiration works. :)
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