Char Chaffin ~ Interview ~ Day 2

Today Char is answering questions, so please join in and leave a comment or if you have a question of your own for Char please ask.

 

What is your favourite colour, and why?
Purple. It’s vibrant, happy, soft, subtle, passionate, elegant, bold, serene, babyish, sweet. Every shade of purple is a delight to my senses.


Do you use colour in your book to emphasise a scene or plot?
Sometimes. It depends on what the scene needs. I don’t necessarily reveal a character’s favorite color unless I feel the reader’s experience will be enhanced by knowing.


How important is the sense of smell and sound in your writing?
I think it’s important. All the senses are necessary to infuse the plot with emotion. If my characters can’t express themselves through what they see, hear or taste, then how can my readers believe in them and consequently, in my story?


Do you find it more comfortable to place your characters in town/city or counrty or both?
I like small towns, so I use them often. I’ve never placed a story in a large city, and probably won’t. I do see a story set in Fairbanks, Alaska, in my future as I lived there for many years. Fairbanks is good-sized but still under forty thousand. My current manuscript is set in a small Native Alaskan village in Southwest Alaska which is proving to be a lot of fun to write.


Are you a plotter, and if so, what is your routine for setting up your plots?
I tend to plot first and write later. Outlines are a must even if I don’t follow them very closely. They definitely help get me started. I can figure out my H/H names, physical attributes, get a feel for main conflicts and even have a clear idea of how I want the final page to read. Sometimes I do a full outlines, pages of it, and other manuscripts only require a paragraph or two. But I do need something to break that initial fingers-to-keyboard ice.


Who drives your story? You, or your characters?
My characters are in control, always. I find if I try forcing them, none of us are happy.:-) So I let them guide me and unless where they take me is just not working out, they will always lead.


What is your heroine's favourite piece of music?
In Promises to Keep, Annie doesn’t really focus on music. Her entire center is Travis. I suppose you could say Travis’s love is the only music she can hear. In my latest manuscript, my heroine, Kendall, has a deep connection to music and favors Eighties tunes and metal bands.


What car would your hero most like to drive?
Travis drives a silver BMW 640 convertible, a graduation gift from his father. It’s sleek and classic and suits Travis right down to its leather interior.


What is the least likely setting you would choose to set you story in and why?
Probably a really big city such as Los Angeles or a foreign location wouldn’t be a choice for me. I seem to be firmly entrenched in small-town, American soil!


How much editing do you do? Do you edit as you go along or edit in different draft editions?
I’m an editing fiend, and I edit as I write which is the main reason I had a hard time participating in NaNoWriMo. NaNo expects their participants to complete fifty thousand words in a month, so hard editing is really impossible. I go over and over each chapter until they’re polished, and after I pass that chapter to my critique partner, I move on to the next. Once the entire manuscript is finished, I read through it at least twice and edit again. Then it goes to my critique partner for a final edit. After she’s finished digging into it, I do a final edit. By the time my publisher gets it, the manuscript is pretty clean. I might be a tad obsessive.:-)


What is the best piece of advice you have ever received, and why?
I have a wonderful group of friends who have been my sounding board and my cheerleaders for years. They’ve all told me, “Never stop writing, and never stop reading.” Writing and reading go hand in hand, and you can’t be a good writer unless you’re willing to read and by reading, expand your world and learn.


Who is/has been the biggest influence in your writing?
My family: husband Don, daughter Sue Ann and son-in-law John. They’ve buoyed me up when I thought I’d never sell a single word, pushed and prodded me toward publication. They’re wonderful promoters, too. And never once did any of them doubt I’d one day publish my novel.


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a - sweet or savoury? Sweet
b - tea or coffee? Coffee
c - flats shoes or heels? Flats
d - pants or skirts/dresses? Pants
e - morning or evening person Evening
f - do you write in silence or with music? Complete silence
g - big car or small? Small, preferably a convertible
h - cut flowers or plants in the house? Both, if I can get the cut flowers! But always, plants


Thanks so much for having me here again today!


My Website: http://char.chaffin.com
My Blog: http://charbchaffin.wordpress.com/


Soul Mate Publishing: http://www.soulmatepublishing.com/promises-to-keep/


Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Promises-to-Keep-ebook/dp/B00695RH4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326559313&sr=8-1


Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/promises-to-keep-char-chaffin/1107756848?ean=2940013543355&itm=1&usri=char+chaffin

You've read the first chapter and met the author, please come back to tomorrow and read the review for Promises to Keep