Monday Blog - Dellani Oakes

I was asked by the amazing and talented Marta Moran Bishop to participate in the My Writing Process Blog Tour. I have also shared this opportunity with a few friends. Their answers will appear on their blogs Monday, June 30th.

What are you working on?

Right now, I am concentrating on finishing up some older novels before moving on to something new. I have so many unfinished works that hover on the edge of being finished, I'd like to complete a few. So far, I've finished two and I feel pretty good about that.

How does your work differ from those in your genre?

I write predominantly romance. I have historical romance - Indian Summer, as well as futuristic (sci-fi) romance Lone Wolf and Shakazhan. I also write romantic suspense and have one contemporary - The Ninja Tattoo and one retro - Under the Western Sky.

That being said, how am I different? I don't write to a formula. You won't see my characters fight throughout the book, only to make up and declare their love moments before the story ends. I like my characters to work together against a common, outside foe, and not have the major conflict be between them.

Why do you write what you do?

I like having people fall in love. I like happy endings. I enjoy bringing couples together and watching them grow closer as they battle the enemy.

How does your writing process work?

I'm not sure I could really call what I do a process, though it does yield results. I have described my process as well oiled chaos. I think I could I think I could also describe it as loosely tamed insanity, though I'm not sure that full describes my process.

I don't have a set schedule. Depending upon my other commitments for the day, I try to work from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM before breaking for lunch. During that time, I try to catch up with blogging commitments, do some marketing, and a variety of other chores that I'll put off unless I do them right away.

After an hour break for lunch, I go back to my current work in progress and read through the prior writing session. If it's been a day or more since I worked on it, I'll read through more so I am up to speed.

If it's been months since I read through something, I re-read it all, making corrections and notes as I go. I never leave editing until later, unless it's a major renovation. I correct things as I find them or leave notes to draw my attention to it the next time I read the story.