So with the shift in my life recently and the decision to focus solely on Gretchen going forward, I was thinking of starting a series here on the blog called ‘Ask the Author’. I want to try doing a monthly edition where you, my dear readers can ask whatever you want. Nothing is off limits. Want to get to know Gretchen more intimately? Or do you have a random question you want to throw her way? Please feel free to ask in the comment section below. You can also send me a dm over on my socials or email me using the contact form here.

For this first month, I have taken some random question people usually ask authors. If you are interested in getting to know me better, read on.

1. How did it all start?

My love for books, came at a very young age. I didn’t have many friends growing up and often found my best friends in the characters of the books I would read daily. In primary school, I was always found in the school library during break time. I became school librarian at the tender age of ten and became Librarian of the Year one year. As I are older, I spent hours in the town library after school. It was my way of escaping real life. In high school I wrote my first flash-fiction novel and it never saw the day of light. But I enjoyed writing it and rereading it months later. I knew then that I could create stories where people could escape in to. And my passion for that has not waned over the years.

2. Tell us about your favourite author.

Ooh, this is so tricky. I don’t want to be a cliché, but I am going to have to go with Stephen King on this one. There are others, but the list will be too long for this post. My first King book was Salem’s Lot. I must have been thirteen or fourteen years old when I picked this up at the town library. And I remember reading it in one weekend. The bug bit me and I was hooked! I have read 27 King books so far, having reread The Shining, Salem’s Lot, Dr. Sleep and Pet Sematary several times.

3. You’re generally a shy person, is that why you enjoy writing?

This is partly true. I wouldn’t say I am a straight up shy person. Introverted, yes. I enjoy writing because it really opens up so many possibilities to be creative. I can create characters I would never personally meet or spend time with. I can write about places I’ve been, and also places I’ve never visited. And knowing that there are people who will read my stories, is intimidating. But when they come back and give me feedback on what they have read, that is really cool.

4. How do you come up with names for your characters?

That is a very interesting question. I guess when an idea comes to me, I start building my characters in terms of looks and profession, then leading into their circle of friends and their family background. Once I have that down – or at least a general idea of who they are inside, I throw a few names out and see which one sticks.

5. Tell us about a day in the life of Gretchen

It’s never a typical day. After I drop my kid at school, I either do the grocery run or take my editor for a long walk – for more on my editor, check my Instagram. I generally need a good cup of coffee and by ten o’clock I am sitting behind my computer typing words. When my characters decide to give me the silent treatment however, I take a drive down to the beach and spend some quiet time reflecting. A typical full-on writing day is usually around six solid, uninterrupted hours – usually when my daughter is in school. The afternoons are often chaotic. Once dinner is over though, I do another walk with my editor and during this time I am listening to an audiobook. Reading other books (not necessarily in my genre) and listening to audiobooks is a really good way to learn and hone my skills as a writer. When I get back home after my walk, it’s a Rooibos tea and back to writing until the wee hours of the morning – if the creative flow is strong.

6. Why clean romance?

I’ve answered this particular question on my homepage of my website but I’ll expand on it a little more here. You know how sometimes a painting can evoke an emotion in one person, yet a completely different emotion in another? That is how I want my books to be read. If I tell you how a couple is steaming up the shower without the hot water running, that is all you are going to see. But I want you to paint your own picture of the couple. A bedroom scene can be written in such a way that makes the reader either cringe or get excited. Whereas, I want to leave that open to the imagination of the reader. Besides, there are thousands of books that belong in that genre. I prefer to keep mine a little more on the level of Hallmark movies.

7. What is your writing process?

This is another tricky question. There really is no standard format for my writing. I wrote Hearts in Edinburgh in a weekend. Yet, it has taken me four years to get to the final draft of one of my current works-in-progress. Most of the time, an idea for a book comes when I am most relaxed. Richard 2.0 for example, hit me when I was taking a shower one morning. Once an idea has formed in my head, I tend to allow words to just flow. I type as they come and very often they come jumbled up. When the words stop, or I need a break and I read what I’ve got, I’ll notice that I’m jumping back and forth between time periods and scenes. That is when I then have to reorganise the chapters as well as my thoughts. I’m not happy with first draft until I have a complete skeleton of my book: opening, conflict, solution, ending.
Red Carpets & Wellingtons was a little different. It is my first full-length novel and my process was to write the beginning and the ending. And once it was written, I locked it down. Meaning, I did not go back to edit either chapters. So when I started writing the actual book, I knew where I where my characters started and how they would end. And (spoiler alert) there were a few conflicts and resolutions that I needed to get through, so that they could end up the way I planned at the very beginning.
So, to answer the question: I start with an idea, then I try to do the bare bones of the book within seventy-two hours. Any longer and I lose the entire thought process that goes along with it. If I take longer than seventy-two hours to have the broad outline of a book, I know it’s never going to see the light of day. Once the skeleton is done and I am happy with the characters, places, and storyline, that is when I take a step back and allow the characters to unfold in my head. Sometimes they take their time, but mostly they start talking to me and I am able to build and flesh out my skeleton with organs and blood and muscle.

Gosh! I’m sorry. I had not intended for it to be this long. I thoroughly enjoyed answering these questions and I look forward to more questions from you, my dear readers. I will put them all together in one post for next month, so come back!

If you haven’t already done so, go on over to my socials where I do post a little more often than I do on my blog. Check out my Instagram to meet my editor as well. Feel free to share this and any other posts that you have found interesting. As you can see, I enjoy writing 🙂

Until next time,
Gretchen W.