Xpressions!

I enjoyed learning what makes author P.J. Fiala tick! She's a great writer and this is how she does it!

MEET Patti!

1. What inspired you to write this book?

a. I was and am inspired by life. Have you seen the news? Read the papers? Good grief, life is complicated, unusual, interesting and mind boggling. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t hear or read something and think, that is some crazy stuff. Keep in mind that my day job is as a paralegal, so I hear some crazy stuff. So, back to my inspiration. Because of the complexities and unusualness of life, I write stories that have a little angst (not too much, life gives us that), a little adventure and a lot of love (sometimes, life doesn’t give us enough of that).

2. If you had to co-author a book, who would be your ideal partner and why?

a. I love Sylvia Day. She is my inspiration and I would absolutely love to know how her mind works, what her writing process is and how she puts it all together.

3. Tell me a little bit about yourself.

a. I live in Wisconsin, just outside of Green Bay, though I was born in Missouri and spent my summers with my grandma’s family in Kentucky. I call Kentucky home more than Missouri. I still have family in Kentucky, and visit at least once a year to see them all. I have four children, all grown and three beautiful grandchildren. My husband and I ride motorcycles. We ride whenever we can. We’ve been on some fabulous trips and are looking forward to so many more. With retirement only about a year away, we are hoping to be on the road several months each year. I come from a long line of Veterans. My great grandfathers, grandfathers, father, brother and two of my sons. My two sons both have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and my youngest is still in the Army Reserves. I have a concealed carry permit and believe strongly in the right to keep and bear arms and do so proudly, but not without the understanding of the awesome responsibility of carrying. Our whole family will go to the gun range together, or as many of us who can, to practice. It’s a fabulous privilege. And, lastly, I love to write steamy romances.

4. What do you do for a living?

a. As I mentioned, I am a paralegal. The law office I work in deals mostly with business related law. I have my bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management with a minor in ParalegalThe law I work in is heavily geared to employment law, business law, and litigation.

5. What part of the world do you live in?

a. I live in the United States, just outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

6. How long have you been writing?

a. I have been writing for about three years now, though I have wanted to write my whole life. I let fear stand in the way for a very long time and finally decided I deserved to do what made me happy. My husband has been a huge supporter and encourages me to follow my dreams.

7. What is your writing process like? Are you a pantster, a plotter, or somewhere in between?

a. I’m totally a pantster. When I sit to write, I usually have my basic story in my mind, never on paper. When I have the basic story in my mind and sit down to write, I can go all day. The story just flows and usually takes me places I didn’t intend to go when I first started. My characters usually misbehave, but if I left them go, I’m usually happy with the direction. That’s not to say there aren’t major revisions along the way.

8. When and where do you write? a. I write when the mood strikes me, as long as the mood strikes me when I am not at work. When I have a story mostly puzzled out, I will set aside a weekend and let everyone know this is my writing weekend – Leave Me Alone. I have a dedicated office at home, but lately have found that I prefer to stand while writing, so I will often take my laptop into the kitchen and stand at the counter for long periods.

9. What sorts of conditions are most conducive to productivity?

a. I like having music on or the television, especially home DIY shows. I need noise or music. I find that when I need to, I can tune out things I don’t want or need to hear. When I need a break, I have the background noise to fall back on.

10. What's your favorite aspect of being a writer?

a. The creativity. I love being able to invent people that I would like to know or be related to. I love inventing scenarios and situations.

11. Your least favorite? a. Marketing. YUCK. It is so dang time consuming. There is so much out there and it’s so darn frustrating sometimes. And, it takes away from my writing time.

12. What are the biggest challenges you face as a writer?

a. Time, always time. Still working full time, I have to fit the writing, marketing, editing, cover design, teaser creation, formatting, uploading, swag creation, etc. into a few short hours a week. It never seems to be enough. My to-do list seems to grow rather than shrink.

13. Who are some of your favorite writers and why?

a. I mentioned Sylvia Day before. I love her books, her characters and her writing style. I like Jill Shalvis. She is so darn funny and her characters are light-hearted and fun. I like S.C. Stephens. Her writing style grabs hold and hangs on. Lauren Dane is fabulous. Gosh there are so many fabulous writers out there.

14. What are your favorite books?

a. I love steamy romances, not necessarily erotic, but I love being titillated and some steamy, panty melting scenes. But, I want there to be a story to go along with it. I love it when two people need to fight to stay together. Not always fight with each other, but there areusually outside forces to battle and win.

15. What writing tools do you use, if any?

a. My mind and my laptop. I suppose you could say Pinterest. I create boards for every book. Any inspirations I have for characters, clothing, places, foods, drinks, houses, bikes, anything, I locate and pin to my Pinterest boards and look at them often for additional inspiration. I also create music lists on Spotify to go with my books as well.

16. How long does it typically take for you to write your first draft?

a. It depends. My first book is 455 pages. That took me about a month to write. It went through many revisions and, even recently, another revision as I am republishing it this month. Dog Days of Summer took about that same about of time for the first draft. Rydin’ the Storm Out took about three weeks. I have others coming soon, that have taken about 2-3 weeks. I like to write them and then put them away for a little while. I’ll pull them back out and look them over in a few weeks and usually make some changes. Two weeks ago, I wrote a short story for inclusion in an anthology n a day. I started on Saturday morning and before six o’clock Saturday night, I was finished with it. That was a fun day.

17. Your final draft?

a. Oh, that can be a while. As I mentioned, I’ll put them away a bit and come back to them. I would say another month or two after the first draft.

18. Who's your favorite character from one of your books? Why?

a. Grayson Kinkaide from Second Chances is my favorite H. He was my first and he’s simply unforgettable.

19. If you could have one superpower what would it be.?

a. Ooooo, I would like to be Storm from X-Men. I could control the weather. I would like that. People I disliked would find themselves in perpetual thunder, lightning and just plan crappy weather all the darn time. While people that I cared about would enjoy all the warmth and sunshine they wanted.

Book Info:

Title: Rydin’ the Storm Out
Publication Date: January 9, 2015
Genre: Adult Contemporary RomancePages: 226
Publisher: Rolling Thunder Publishing
Format: eBook and Paperback
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RI9I4DQ
Universal Amazon Link: http://myBook.to/RydintheStormOut
Barnes & Noble: http://goo.gl/zpLuVr
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24146271-rydin-the-storm-out