The Write Spot: Rebecca Kertz

Welcome once again to The Write Spot, a bi-weekly author series spotlighting the many and varied places where writers write. For this eleventh edition – and the last Write Spot of 2015 – I'm delighted to welcome Rebecca Kertz, author of the Lancaster County Wedding series of Amish romances for Harlequin LOVE INSPIRED®.

Rebecca has lived in rural Delaware since she was a young newlywed. First introduced into the Amish world when her husband took a job with an Amish construction crew, she took joy in watching the Amish job foreman's children at play and in swapping recipes with his wife. Rebecca resides happily with her husband and dog. She has a strong faith in God and feels blessed to have family nearby. She enjoys visiting Lancaster County, the setting for her Amish stories. When not writing or vacationing with her extended family, she enjoys reading and doing crafts.

Rebecca's Write Spot

Now that looks like a comfortable place to work. What makes it the Write Spot for you?

When it's warm outside, I love to work on my back-screened porch. We have woods behind our property so it's quiet, private and conducive to writing.  A warm breeze blows through the screen against my face. My dog Jameson lies close by. Working outside makes my writing time peaceful and calm with little distractions or thoughts of impending deadlines. I have a desk in my office, where I ultimately work on the manuscript, but my best and most enjoyable creative time is found outside on my back porch. It's the one thing I miss the most when the cooler temperatures roll in.

Jameson is a handsome fellow. You're lucky to have him keeping you company. :-) Other than your computer or laptop, what's the one thing you couldn't be without in your Write Spot?

My Alphasmart is one thing I'd be lost without.  It's light and easy to use.  You may wonder what an Alphasmart is—it's a small lightweight word processor made for children.  I learned about it years ago from other authors who were using them. I had one before I had a laptop. You can't buy them new anymore.  I love mine so much that I went on E-bay and bought a couple more.  I gave one to my granddaughter who likes to write and kept the second one for myself.  I enjoy using it that much.  I write on my Alphasmart not only in my favorite "Write Spot" but anywhere on the go, such as while riding as a passenger in the car during trips. Once I've written several pages or a chapter, I plug the Alphasmart into my iMac or my laptop then send what I've written into Microsoft Word.

I used to write on an Alphasmart, too. They're great for avoiding all the distractions of a web-connected computer. (Hmm. Maybe I should get mine down off the shelf and fire it up again.)

What are you working on now?

I'm working on book 5 of my Lancaster County Wedding series for Harlequin LOVE INSPIRED®.  This book is an Amish romance about Isaac, Samuel and Katie Lapp's fifth out of seven sons.  I've tentatively titled the novel Saving Isaac.  His love interest?  Ellen Mast, cousin to Sarah Mast from book 2, Jedidiah's Bride. Book 4 isn't released yet. Elijah and the Widow will be released in April 2016.

Where can readers find out more?

You can learn more about me and my books by visiting my website, rebeccakertz.com, my Facebook page at facebook.com/RebeccaKertz or on Twitter at @RebeccaKertz.

Rebecca's latest release, The Amish Mother, is book 2 in a multi-author series, Lancaster Courtships: Life and Love in Amish country. 

Unexpected Love... 

Amish Widow Lizzie Fisher loves her seven stepchildren as though they were her own. But her brother-in-law's unexpected arrival on the farm has her worried. After all, Zachariah Fisher is the true heir of the property. And he could decide to send her away from her family and her home of two years. Lizzie is determined to show the handsome farmer that her physical challenges don't prevent her from being a hard worker or a loving mother. For she finds herself losing her heart to Zack and hopes he'll see they're meant to be a family forever.

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About The Write Spot:

I've always been fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes. Whether it's backstage photos from my favourite play, a peek into the kitchen where a chef is working her culinary magic, or simply a glimpse through an uncurtained window into a stranger's private world, there's an undeniable thrill of discovery, a sense of secrets shared. It's no surprise, then, that I'm immensely curious about where other writers do their work. I've blogged about it before in this post about my own 'write spot'  and so enjoyed the comments, I was inspired to launch a regular feature here at stillpoint. Watch for The Write Spot every other Wednesday and join me as I discover the many and varied places where writers write.

stillpoint is the blog of Canadian author Cheryl Cooke Harrington

all that and more...

I recently had the pleasure of doing an in-depth interview about my life and travels, how my writing journey began, and, of course, books, books, books. 

Please join me over at Clean Romance Reviews for everything you (n)ever wanted to know about Cheryl Cooke Harrington. 


And, once you've discovered all my secrets, I hope you'll stay to browse the Clean Romance Reviews site. If you enjoy reading "romances that curl your toes but won't make you blush", it's a great place to discover your next favourite book.

Cheers!

    

The (co)Writing Life

"How do you write with a co-author?" Readers and writers alike seem curious about the co-authoring experience. It certainly tops my most-asked list, right up there with, "where do you get your ideas?"

Writing tends to be a solitary pursuit and we writers are often perceived as anti-social or, at the very least, somewhat peculiar of habit, so it's not surprising that the idea of collaboration between two such odd creatures is met with some fascination.

Those who know the two of us well won't argue with the "odd creatures" or "peculiar of habit" labels. Anne and I wear them proudly. A shared sense of humour helps, as does a willingness to listen and negotiate. Ego becomes (w)ego in the story-building process. You might think proximity is important, too, but when Anne and I were writing together full-time we lived in different cities, hours apart. This made logistics, shall we say, interesting. Here's how it worked for us.

Like most writers, our stories began with the germ of an idea – sometimes a character, sometimes a situation – and the Big Question: what if…?

At our first in-person meeting, we would brainstorm the possibilities, develop a cast of characters, outline a very rough plot, and together write the first few pages of chapter one. This process involved the better part of a weekend, a borrowed office in a town mid-way between our homes, at least one bottle of wine (maybe it was a bottle each, my memory is foggy on that point), and a lot of laughter. By the end of that initial meeting, we knew our characters and our setting and had a good idea of where the story would take us.

From that point on, we alternated chapters. One of us would finish the rough first draft of chapter one and send it on its way to the other. She would read and comment on that draft and pick up the story at chapter two. We were never strict about the switchover and would often carry on into the next chapter if the featured character was one with whom we felt a particular affinity. In the end the division of work was surprisingly equal.

We'd meet again after the half-way point to thrash out tricky plot problems, smooth out transitions, refine our synopsis and, yes, do a little more drinking and laughing before getting back to our long distance writing relationship. We became each other's most trusted critics and by the time we wrote "the end" our story had been thoroughly edited, proofed and polished.

There are always surprises in writing – characters do and say the most unexpected things – but the co-writing process is particularly dynamic. The anticipation of that next, unknown chapter kept the story fresh and exciting for us. Our combined author voice is distinctly different from our individual voices and many readers have said they can't identify who wrote what. For a writing team, that's the best of all compliments.

Last week our new publisher, Montlake Romance, re-released two books by Anne Norman and Cheryl Cooke Harrington for Kindle:

ROCK SOLID – small town landscape architect meets her match in an abandoned quarry.

FAST FOCUS – photographer tangles with kidnappers in a lively New York City caper.

As the song goes, we're a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n roll. We hope you'll give our stories a try.