Writing Blog Hop: Jean Rabe talks writing

Following my post about my own writing process for the Writing Blog Hop, I invited several other authors to share their own thoughts.  I figure it's a good way to peek over the shoulders of other writers and learn from them. 

Today best-selling author Jean Rabe talks about her writing. 

Name: Jean Rabe
Author of: 31 fantasy and adventure novels, 70 short stories

Her recent book is The Cauldron  (It will be coming out in a new version soon.)

1. What am I working on?

• A short story set in a 1920s Chicago neighborhood on a moon base
• A fantasy short story with dwarves
• A science fiction novel with female impersonators and horrible weather
• A cozy murder mystery set in Indiana

2. How does my work differ from others in the genre?

Hmmmmmmm … I write in various genres, currently loving urban fantasy. Plan to write two more urban fantasy novels after I finish my current projects. I’d say my work differs ‘cause it’s my work, not another author’s. Actually, that’s a tough question, as I don’t read a lot of urban fantasy…even though it’s my current favorite genre to write in. So…in the end…I don’t know the answer. Ask me something else.

3. Why do I write what I do?

I get inspired by an idea, or a person I see on the street or at a public place, by a news story that I twist into a fantasy or sci fi aspect. Andre Norton and I used to chat once a month, talking about where ideas come from. She was always asking … what if … and what if after that … and what if then? So I’ll here about something like a water shortage in California, and I’ll think … what if the shortage is caused by demons living in the San Andreas fault and their sapping water from rivers and lakes and pulling it from the atmosphere. Or maybe I’ll look at a stack of Christmas cards I’ve received and say “how could I turn them into a story”…which is what I’m doing right now.

4. How does my writing process work?

I outline. For a short story, it’s a few random thoughts or points. For a novel, its pages and pages, a chapter-by-chapter outline, sometimes with dialogue thrown in. The more I outline, the easier it is for the book to write. I start work around 7:30 every morning, take a 10 a.m. break to toss tennis balls for my big dog, write, take a noon break to toss tennis balls, write, take a 2 p.m. break to toss tennis balls, write, then stop for the day about dinner time. I look at it as a regular full-time job…with tennis ball breaks added for good measure…nice to get out of the chair, ya know.