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 URL:
www.bekkilynn.com
Contact:
bekkilynn2006@yahoo.com
ABOUT BEKKI
Bekki is the proud
mother of four wonderful sons and a wife of a very patient
man. If there was a ‘tolerant’ award, her guys would win it
hands down. While they now reside in the Midwest, she dreams
of returning to Arizona. She loves the Chicago Cubs,
Minnesota Vikings, movies, music, and reading. Her favorite
description of herself is 'predictably unpredictable', but
she's very much a frustrated perfectionist.
As a youngster, when the library couldn’t acquire new
books fast enough to feed Bekki’s hunger for fresh and new
reads, she reread them all until she had them nearly
memorized. She soon became bored with forced marriages and
secret babies. She hungered for depth and complete
characters with relationships, where women weren’t afraid to
stand up for themselves both in and out of the bedroom. So,
she began writing her own stories.
INTERVIEW
Q: How much of your personality and life experiences are
in your writing?
A: I think, like actors who have a natural ability for acting or
may have been in the business for a while, much of who you
really are and what you've been through tend come out in your
characters. Sometimes this can be a downfall for your
characters, so you have to rein it in.
Q: In general, how long does it take you to write a book?
A: It all depends on how motivated I am. What emotional upheaval
rooted the story. I once, out of pure anger, wrote a 100,000
word story in seventy-two hours. Devastation brought on a 15,000
word story in a month. Pure excitement over a couple coming from
a previous story gave me a 60,000 word story in six weeks, and a
55,000 word story in a month. Now, keep in mind, these are first
drafts.
Q: What do you do to recharge your batteries?
A: I will fill the tub with a light scented bubble bath and
choose a book I've been dying to read. I will lay back and read
five or six chapters or the entire book while I prune up. This
is especially helpful if a scene is coming out like it does in
your mind.
Q: What are your thoughts on love scenes in romance
novels, do you find them difficult to write?
A: I love watching the characters struggle with their emotions
toward one another and when they finally test the waters - oh
yeah! Writing love scenes and sex are so much fun. The key, I
believe, is to block out everything but that character and
become her/him, get into their head and body. I can go on for
pages, then I worry, that after three or four pages, the reader
may have already achieved satisfaction and therefore ready to
move on. Or simply need a breather and next time I can take it
up a notch. I probably shouldn't worry about that, but sometimes
reality interferes.
Q: What kind of research do you do?
A: I seem to deal with real life issues of some sort in my
stories, so if I have no personal experience with where the
characters are at, I talk to someone I know who's been through
it, or hop on the net and look for those people who have
experienced it. Or, I contact agencies who handle them. Accuracy
in fiction is every bit as important as non-fiction. If you lose
one reader for the lack of research, they are going to talk to
others. Word of mouth is an important make it-break it in any
business.
Q: Which comes first, the story, the characters or the
setting?
A: I write character driven stories, so I say the characters
definitely come first. Without them, there is no story. I might
have an idea of the storyline, but I learned long ago that it's
pointless for me to may it out. The characters are going to
shake their fingers at me and take me along for the ride.
Q: What is the hardest part of writing/the easiest for
you?
A: For me, the hardest part of writing is proofing the story
before I send it out. I still miss so much as do those who have
also proofed it. The easiest part is writing the first draft.
The freshness of doing something new is such a motivator.
Q: Do you have a set schedule for your writing, or do you
struggle to fit it in with daily life?
A: The only schedule I adhere to is the one my boss gives me
which tells me when to show up for work. I'm on the computer
twelve to eighteen hours a day, the majority of that I'm working
on a new piece or revising another. I do other things as well. I
research, email, chat, critique, promote. If this isn't enough
to blow your mind, I also have music blaring from my laptop and
the television on. After raising four sons, I need the racket.
Q: What is the most rewarding thing about being a writer?
A: Feedback from those who bought my book and read it,
especially when they tell me how they related to the heroine,
and then want the address and phone number of the hero.
Q: Are there any words of encouragement for unpublished
writers?
A: If you really love to write and want to see it published,
don't give up when it seems you're never getting it right. Turn
those harsh critiques and rejections into motivation to
persevere and show them you do have what it takes. |