Welcome Author Kira Sinclair-Guest Blogger

Please welcome my fellow Heart of Dixie writing friend, author Kira Sinclair.  


She's a Harlequin  BLAZE author with a heart of gold. I'm excited to share my Veranda with her today as she shares about one of her favorite topics: Writing. Today's topic? Setting. And she's got setting nailed in her fabulous new novel, What Might Have Been.  I hope you enjoy meeting Kira as much as I enjoy knowing her!! 

Setting – More Than Just a Place

One of my favorite topics to talk about is writing.  Ask me a question, get me rolling and I can talk your ear off.  I recently had a nice discussion with a friend about settings.  Part of it started because of my bio – if you’ve read it you know I’m a self proclaimed city girl who’s been plopped down in the middle of the country.  The transformation started when my daddy moved us from Michigan to Alabama (and I seriously asked him if we could still wear shoes.  Hey, I was only nine). And continued with my husband’s penchant for bringing home critters...but that’s another discussion for another time.

I’ve come to realize, during my talk of settings, that up until What Might Have Been I’ve focused my attention on fairly urban locations.  Maybe I was feeling homesick.  However, WMHB returned me back to my present existence.  It’s set on a commercial peach orchard.  Now, I don’t live on a working farm.  At the moment the most we raise are goats and baby hamsters, but I do enjoy looking out my kitchen window and seeing the clear stretch of our land instead of my neighbor’s dilapidated trampoline and overgrown flower beds. 

There are definitely advantages to living in the country.  I just miss my pizza delivery guy sometimes. 

I did love doing the research for WMHB though.  Building a fictional small town where everyone knows your business.  The kind where there’s only one funeral home and multiple Baptist churches.  I enjoyed pulling out my learned Southern heritage and finally getting to use it.

So, do you find you gravitate towards a certain kind of setting?  Do you read books where that feel familiar or do you like to change up the pace?  Are you a city girl who likes to read about cowboys or a country girl who likes to travel to the urban meccas?

Kira

Curbing My Enthusiasm

I've been a travel and hostess bunny for almost ten days. I've enjoyed seeing my best friend in White Rock, British Columbia. The second day that I was there I learned I had a major project to complete. However, I couldn't get started on it while I was out of the country. 

I curbed my enthusiasm to dive right in. Instead I mulled, I wrote more words in my current WIP, and I didn't stress too much about it all. The time I spent "playing" was actually just what my brain needed to get ready.

When I returned from Canada, I had to get ready for a visit with more friends who were traveling to see my  family. On Friday I took time away from the task to meet with a writing friend who walked me through how to approach my next big task. I learned a lot, I was ready to roll, but I had to curb enthusiasm again. I've spent three wonderful days with my friends, read a lot, made tons of notes when inspired, and continued to mull. 

I've learned something about myself this week. 

I tend to be a "dive in and do it" kind of gal. This time I was forced by circumstances to sit at  the edge of the pool and dip my toes into the water. I had to swirl it quietly. I had to watch how other people were swimming and handling the deep end. I had to think about how I would go into the water. I had to consider the strokes I would use to cut through the deep end and reach the other side. I had to review my earlier efforts at learning how to swim. 

Oh, I wanted to dive in. The urge was still there. The desire to get the job done was pulling at me. But I'm so glad I had my visits with my friends. They helped me generate new ideas and thoughts about how to approach the next heat of my race. 

When I dive into the water this week, I'll be ready. I know I will be fast. I know I will work hard to get to the other side of the pool. And I know I have lots of people who believe I can do it well.

How do you wait when you want to go forward and can't get started?