My Writing Process - Blog Tour

by Marion Ueckermann

I’m excited to be part of this worldwide blog tour, thanks to fellow ACFW Beyond The Borders member, Autumn Maccarthur. An Australian writer living near London, Autumn’s heartwarming small town inspirational love stories are filled with faith and hope. 

www.autumnmacarthur.com

So now, a little about me, what I’m currently working on, how my work differs from others of its genre (I guess in the advertising world, that would be my USP—Unique Selling Proposition), why I write what I write, and how my writing process works.

I first had an interest in writing a book in the mid 1990’s, however, I only took my writing more seriously around the turn of the century. It wasn’t until about two years ago that I can honestly say I really applied myself, and the hard work and hours invested has paid off. I landed that first contract at the end of last year. Helsinki Sunrise was accepted by White Rose Publishing, a division of Pelican Book Group as part of their Passport to Romance series of novelettes. It’s been exciting to finally be part of a publishing family. Pelican Book Group has done a stunning job of the cover of Helsinki Sunrise (as they have with the rest of the series.) The galley edits were submitted in February this year. While I've anxiously waited for news of a publication date, which I was advised this week will be 21 August 2014, I’ve been working on more submissions for the Passport to Romance series. I’ll expand a little on these in the next few paragraphs.

http://pelicanbookgroup.com

In March I completed and submitted a story set in Oslo, Norway. On Tuesday this week I got the email from Pelican requesting the full manuscript. So excited!

Eager to keep up the momentum of writing these great Passport to Romance novelettes, I’m working on another submission, this time set in Glasgow, Scotland and toying with the next story idea already.

Writing a 35,000 word novelette is quite a challenge. The writing has to be extremely tight and focused, so you need to keep the number of characters minimal, and there’s no room for sub-plots.

What has been unique, interesting and fun about the Passport to Romance submissions is that the stories are set in specific cities around the world (a great project for us ICFW writers). These exotic locations include Sydney, Rio, Beijing, Cairo, London, Paris, Athens, Mumbai, Milan, Rome, Casablanca, Moscow, Barcelona and the Vatican, to mention but a few.

In a Passport to Romance story, either the hero or heroine (or both) has to travel to the country using a passport to enter (no shipwreck stories here or illegal entries), and each story has three objects that must form part of the story in some way. For Helsinki Sunrise, set in Finland, I needed to have an abandoned boat, a dirty shoelace, and a laptop computer in the story. For Norway it was a Christmas ornament, a favorite book, and the tallest tree in a field. And Scotland requires the story to have an old yearbook, a box of chocolates, and a lit candle. It’s been fun to see how to add these objects in unique ways, thinking out of the box. For instance, ‘The tallest tree in a field’ in my Oslo stories, is not a physical tree. The story is about wingsuiters who are doing a formation challenge. The formation is in the shape of a tree, and so in the story I refer to this as ‘the tallest tree in a field of blue.’

I love writing unique characters with interesting lives. Award winning author, Nancy Kimball, (and one of my critiquers) had this to say after reading my Norway story: “I always learn something exotic and cool when I read your romances, Marion.” I guess that’s my USP. Nancy, I learn something cool with every story, too. And so, I’d like to introduce you to my Passport to Romance characters:

In Helsinki Sunrise, Eveliina Mikkola is a Finnish Visual Effects Artist with an intense dislike of missionaries. When Eveliina arrives at her grandparents’ summer cottage set on an island on a lake just outside Helsinki, the last thing she expects to find in her sauna is Adam Carter...a missionary from South Africa. Neither Adam nor Eveliina are prepared to leave. It’s a fun story with a modern flair to a tale that’s as old as time.

My Oslo story, working title Oslo Overtures, has my Kiwi hero and Norwegian heroine—Kyle Sheppard and Anjelica Joergensen—as wingsuit pilots attempting another Guinness World Record formation high up in the Oslo skies. One of the secondary characters, and best friend to the hero, was so liked by my crit partners that there’s been a request to have him as the hero in another story. Hmm, there are two story requirements for New Zealand—tempting, very tempting. Luke Maskill, where should I have your heroine hail from? I know you have a thing for leggy blondes, but maybe I’ll make you fall for someone totally opposite to your norm.

One of the highlights in writing Oslo Overtures, and totally a God-thing, was having the opportunity to meet and have coffee with possibly the best woman wingsuit pilot in the world, Taya Weiss, when she visited South Africa in March this year. Taya was the organizer of the 2012 Wingsuit Guinness World Book of Records. This challenge, comprising of one hundred wingsuiters, was held in Perris, California. What an interesting and inspiring lady Taya is (and a fellow writer, too).

Another cool thing about Oslo Overtures is that I managed to weave Adam and Eveliina from Helsinki Sunrise into the story in a small way. It was great to have them reappear for a scene or two.

Finally, Callum McGuire and Skye Hunter are gracing the pages of Glasgow Grace as childhood sweethearts torn apart through circumstance and reunited fifteen years later when Skye returns to Glasgow as an opera star. Skye has no idea that Callum’s no longer merely a singer in his parents’ tavern but a brilliant surgeon.

Besides the above, I have far too many WIP projects. I’m busy with another Pelican submission due in August for their Easter Lilies collection. That story is set in Belfast, Ireland, and is about 10,000 words shy of complete. In addition to that, I have two finished manuscripts that require editing, and another four that are between fifty to eighty percent complete. What can I say?—I love to multitask. Once I’ve exhausted the Passport to Romance opportunities, I plan to get back to these unfinished stories. I have beta-readers begging for their completion.

As an inspirational contemporary romance writer, it’s important for me to weave a spiritual theme through my stories. Most times, the theme is about God being in control of our lives. My hero and/or heroine will either be on a journey back to God, or on one that brings them into a closer relationship with Him. My prayer is that through my writing, readers would be encouraged to seek a deeper relationship with the One who created them.

And, of course, falling head over heels in love with each other is paramount to my stories. I love creating that powerful emotional experience in readers that they feel like they’re the ones falling in love again. I experience that with each new story I write, and hope the readers feel the same way, too.

My writing process… Uh, yes, next question.

One of the first things I do in my writing process (at least within the first few pages) is to create a book cover. It keeps me inspired and focused on the story I know is waiting to come alive on the blank pages. However, I’m a 'seat of the pants' writer, more fondly referred to as a Pantser, so when I begin writing a new story, I only have a basic idea of what must happen, as well as the three crises that must occur within the pages. But that’s not all bad, after all, Stephen King’s a Pantser, too. With Helsinki Sunrise, I had no idea what my heroine would be when I started writing. A friend encouraged me to just write, that the character would soon develop…and she did. On all my stories, I sit back often, amazed at how the characters, the story, and the story world develop, and I know that only a creative God could do that. He’s the One who puts the ideas in my head, and He’s the One who makes me meet daredevil ladies who love jumping out of airplanes clad in flying squirrel suits (http://tayaweiss.com). He’s the only One who can give my stories wings and make them fly.

I trust that you've enjoyed learning a little more about me, my writing, and my writing process. Now I’m sending this awesome tour in the direction of three wonderful authors who will share their writing processes on their respective blogs on May 12th.

Over to you ladies…

SHIRLEY CORDER is a registered nurse and a breast cancer survivor who has a passion for helping others as they go through their treatment. In addition to being author of Strength Renewed, Meditations for Your Journey through Breast Cancer, she is a contributing author to eleven books to date including four Guideposts anthologies and has published many articles and devotions in the US, UK, and SA. She lives in South Africa.

http://shirleycorder.com/

Shirley will also be posting this tour here on ICFW on May 10th.

 http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com/

HEIDI McCAHAN’s formative years in Alaska, coupled with the country's breathtaking scenery, fueled her active imagination and loosely inspired her debut novel, Unraveled. With a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Medicine and a Master’s Degree in Athletic Training, Heidi enjoyed a brief career as a Certified Athletic Trainer before she married her husband, Steve. They live in North Carolina with their three active little boys. When Heidi isn’t stepping on Legos, chauffeuring the boys around suburbia or folding laundry, she loves to write heartwarming romance set in unique locales.

http://heidimccahan.com

DIANE TATUM started writing her own stories in 6th grade. After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Business Administration and later a Masters in Teaching Language Arts—raising her boys in between—she began writing again. She did freelance writing for magazines and church Sunday school curriculum. Her novel, Gold Earrings, was published in 2011. She’s completed a second and third novel, A Time to Choose and Colonial Dream. Diane loves creating characters that become deeper and fuller as the story evolves.

www.dianeetatumwriter.com

http://tatumlight-tatumsthoughts4today.blogspot.com/

To follow the tour backward, click on the link for Autumn’s blog, and follow her nominations as well as the writer, Edith, who tagged Autumn.

http://inaroomofmyown.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/my-writing-process-ruminations-on-the-writing-process-of-a-writer-mama/

Marion Ueckermann’s passion for writing was sparked in 2001 when she moved to Ireland with her husband and two sons. Since then she has published devotional articles and stories in Winners, The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter (Tyndale House Publishers) and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miraculous Messages from Heaven. Her debut novelette, Helsinki Sunrise, releases 22 August 2014 by Pelican Book Group (White Rose Publishing) - Passport to Romance series. Marion blogs for International Christian Fiction Writers and Beauty for Ashes. She belongs to Christian Writers of South Africa and American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives in Pretoria East, South Africa in an empty nest with her husband and their crazy black Scottie, Wally.