Hi everyone! I’m thrilled to be participating in my third blog hop! (The two previous ones were under the tag “Blog Jog Day” but they are essentially the same.) Thanks to A.K. Andrew for inviting me to participate in this highly-focused writing process blog hop that gives you insight into the motivation, drive, and focus involved in doing what we do as writers.
A.K. Andrew was born in England, where she worked as a schoolteacher before becoming a Community Arts photographer and screen-printer in London. In the ensuing twenty years, San Francisco became her home, and in its atmosphere of breaking boundaries and creative expression, A.K. became a painter and ultimately a writer. During a spell of living back in the UK, she completed a Creative Writing Certificate at the University of Sussex, Brighton in 2010. Her current novel, in its final draft stage, is Under The Bed. Set during the Vietnam era in NYC, two women, a generation apart, each burdened by guilt regarding the death of a sibling, find their own lives in danger, when the older woman’s brush with McCarthyism emerges during their collaboration on her autobiography. A.K.Andrew now lives in Northern California. Connect with her via these sites: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest.
I’m now to answer these 4 questions to give you insight into my own writing process.:
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
3) Why do I write what I do?
4) How does my writing process work?
1. I’m currently working on two things. I’m marketing volume I of Chocolatour: A Quest for the World’s Best Chocolate while I research volume II. That’s part of the new reality of being a hybrid author– someone who has been previously been traditionally published, but has now ventured into the world of independent publishing (more commonly referred to as self-publishing.) We must not only write our books, but handle the public relations and marketing components to getting our books into the hands and eyes of readers. Marketing my book takes far more time and energy that I ever dreamed it would. I think we all hope and dream that our books will become an immediate success and that readers will flock to our site to buy our book. The usual case is that it doesn’t happen that way. We’ve got to invite them, encourage them, and enlist the help of everyone we know to help bring new readers to us. The researching and writing is far easier. I’m currently travelling to as many places as I can in North, South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean, to meet chocolate makers, attend chocolate events, and become immersed in the local chocolate scene as research for the second volume of Chocolatour. Be sure to let me know of a fantastic chocolate event you may be aware of. And stay tuned to https://chocolatour.net for updates on the book and events I will be attending, and to my chocolate travel blog at https://chocolatour.net for a diary of my chocolate travels as they occur.
2. There have been many books written and published about chocolate. How does Chocolatour differ from those? My book focuses on chocolate travel. It is my goal to educate, entertain, and encourage chocolate lovers to plan future travel with chocolate in mind. As most artisanal chocolate is fresh, preservative free, and doesn’t travel well, chocolate lovers must go to it in order to taste the chocolate at its optimum. I help chocolate lovers find the finest chocolate makers and best chocolate events in locations that they want to visit. I encourage them to visit chocolate destinations they may not otherwise have considered. And for those who can’t travel, I take the reader to cocoa plantations around the world, introduce them to passionate chocolate makers, and share experiences at chocolate events so that they feel they have experienced them firsthand. I also make chocolate recommendations based on some of the fantastic products I have had the privilege of enjoying.
3. Why do I write what I do? In Chocolatour, I have been able to combine my passions for travel, culinary delights (including fine chocolate), and intriguing people. I began my career as a professional freelance writer in 1993, and have focused on travel writing for the past 15 years. During those years, I’ve always enjoyed writing profiles about the innovative and inspiring people I have met. And about the fascinating places I have been. I am a born storyteller, and love sharing tales about my adventures, whether it’s informally via my blogs or in conversation, or more formally through presentations and in my books.
4. How does my writing process work? I post to my writer’s blog (which is this blog) on the first and third weeks of every month. I post to my travel blog on the second and fourth weeks of every month. For my writer’s blog, I use life’s events and my writing challenges and triumphs to spur me. I like to post about what I am experiencing and feeling. For the travel blog, I use my research trips as the basis for the posts. And then, when I’m writing the book(s), I use the blog posts as the basis for the chapters, and expand, augment, and complete them as necessary. As I like to keep my books as informal as I can, the writing style is similar to the tone I use in blogging and so I am pre-writing the next volume of Chocolatour as I write the blog posts. This process also gives me insight into the topics and posts my readers find most fascinating, and I’m sure to expand and feature those when I’m writing my book(s).
I hope this information has been interesting to you. I’d now like to introduce you to three writers who I know and admire.
I met
Judie (Judith) Fein at a Travel Classics conference years ago in upstate New York. Judith Fein is an award-winning travel journalist who has contributed to 105 publications, and the author of
LIFE IS A TRIP: The Transformative Magic of Travel and the new book,
THE SPOON FROM MINKOWITZ. She is the executive editor of the popular group blog site:
www.YourLifeisaTrip.com, and she recently gave a fabulous
TEDx talk in Mexico about Deep Travel. Judith is also an expert on
Emotional Genealogy. Visit her
website or the
facebook page for her new book to connect with Judie.
I know Montreal-based poet and author
Heather Grace Stewart via my membership in the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC). You can read a full bio and find links to her various sites at
http://morningrainpublishing.com/project/strangely-incredibly-good/. Heather has written poetry, children’s books, non-fiction titles, a screenplay, and will soon be releasing her first novel. Talk about a multi-faceted creative mind!
Suzanne Boles is a close friend and also a member of PWAC who lives in London, Ontario. I’ve had the pleasure of travelling with Suzanne for two legs of my
Chocolatour.
Suzanne Boles has always loved to write. She won an award in high school for her poetry, received her honours English degree then worked at many jobs with writing components as a small part of her work responsibilities. She moved closer to full-time after completing a contract job as assistant editor for a Lifestyle magazine. Prior to that she was editor of a weekly newspaper. She took a leap of faith in 1996 and launched her freelance writing business, Suzanne Boles, Write Connection. Suzanne’s articles have appeared in
Reader’s Digest, Maclean’s, Profit Magazine, Today’s Parent, Western Alumni Magazine and numerous trade magazines. Her client roster includes Western University, The City of London (Ontario Canada), Pillar Non-profit Network, The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada and other clients as well as small business owners. Suzanne specializes in writing profiles and case studies. She is currently writing about her personal journey through grief on her
blog.
I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting these writers and will check out their sites. Do drop in and see what they’re up to. And please join us back the week of March 31st for our next new post.
This is wonderful. Passion really keeps a writer going.
Hi Debra and thanks for the positive comment. I really try hard to maintain a positive attitude. I must admit that I found it difficult during this relentless winter – which doesn’t seem to be over YET.
Doreen aside from the sheer volume of hard work involved in marketing and writing at the same time, you also have to reflect an upbeat mood. It must be challenging to be consistently sunny, yet you always seem so positive. That’s a tremendous asset, how do you manage it?
What a neat idea! It’s always great to read about the process of other writers. Wishing you continued success, Doreen!
Thanks, Latrisha. And yes, I really love participating in the “writer’s process blog hop.” I’ve learned much from reading everyone’s posts. Cheers!
Hi all! I’ve posted about my writing process over at http://heathergracestewart.com today, featuring Doreen and authors Elisa Lorello, Joe Hesch and Arianna Merritt. Hop on over when you can!
Thanks for letting us know that your blog hop post is now up, Heather. I really enjoyed reading it, and recommend to all that they check it out, too.
And thanks to Cacinda for the visit as well. Glad you are as interested in chocolate as I am! 🙂
Thanks for this, I love that you write about chocolate and seeing others writing process
Interesting book and process, Doreen. Thanks for sharing. Wishing you all the best!
Thanks, Marie! I hope you’ll check out the blogs of the other featured writers as well. We’ve got a good variety of genres featured between them. Cheers, and all the best in promoting your own work. A never ending task, isn’t it?
Wow! What a tough life! Traveling to visit the best chocolate can’t be any fun at all!
Is that your tongue I see protruding out of your cheek, Beth? All kidding aside, it is indeed a wonderful life (and niche) I have created for myself. As I said to others, if I have to work for a living (and I do), I’d certainly prefer to do something I love vs sitting at a corporate desk job. Thx for dropping into the blog. Hope to see you again soon.
Chocolate!!! Such a yummy subject to research and write about. Nice introduction to fellow writers 🙂
Thanks again Doreen for asking me to participate in this blog hop. It’s so well organized and helping introduce me to so many new writers. I’ll be featuring you next week, of course, and bestselling Kindle author Elisa Lorello @elisalorello, poet and blogger @JAHesch Joe Hesch and blogger, author and motivator @Arianna_Merritt I can’t wait! Best of luck with the next volume of Chocolatour!
Thx so much, Heather, for agreeing to participate in the hop, and for finding 3 interesting bloggers for us to check out. It really is a fascinating process. 🙂
Thanks for sharing, Doreen. It was fun to read about your writing process. Best wishes to you on your two current projects.
Thanks for dropping by the blog, Evelyn, and for the good wishes. I hope your writing is going well and bringing you pleasure.
So much enjoyed reading more about you and your writing projects – your boundless energy and passion for what you do are so inspirational! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for your comment, Melissa, and welcome back to the blog. I hope to hear from you again soon, and am glad you enjoyed the blog hop post.
You are fortunate you are able to combine your passions in your work, although I know it is still a lot of work. Good luck with the marketing.
Thanks so much, Donna. Blending passion into our work is the only way to go!
Doreen — So you’re back on your whirlwind tour of the world seeking the best chocolates. How I envy you. What a great topic for a travel/chocolate lover. Satisfy your craving for chocolate and travel all in one book.
Hi Jeannette: I never got off the chocolate trail! I suspect this project will take me at least another 5 years to complete the research and writing of volumes II & III of Chocolatour, and then I plan to combine them all into an updated mega volume! So as I said to Susan in my last comment, I’m in this for the long haul, and oh, what a tasty journey it will be. 🙂
I so love how you’ve found a way to combine your passions into something you enjoy. It gives me hope that I might be able to do the same someday. The fact that I love the end result, your book on Chocolate, makes it even more fun. 🙂 Now, I’m off to check out the other bloggers you’ve tagged. 🙂
Thanks, Susan. It took me well into my 50’s to get to this point, but I’m thrilled that I’ve found a project that is likely to take up the rest of my productive life as a writer. It really IS great when your work feels like play. 🙂
Books are produced and promoted in so many ways these days, though it would be nice if marketing didn’t have to take up so much time. Still though, being able to blog your book is such a great boon. Getting started is always the hardest part of the any process for me, and being able to blog material keeps the process in a constant flow since it’s public and can’t be swept under the rug in favor of working on other “stuff.”
Hi Jeri: You’re so right. We do have an amazing advantage these days because of the internet and our blogs. Imagine how difficult it must have been for independent authors to find readers in the ‘old days.’
I am a recent purchaser/reader of Doreen’s fist volume of Chocolatour. If you like to travel and have any interest in chocolate (and who doesn’t!), get thee to Amazon and purchase a copy. I also had the chance to meet Doreen (and Suzanne Boles) on their recent trip to Honolulu, Hawaii for a chocolate festival where Doreen was the guest speaker. So, I attended my first chocolate festival. I admit I was a little apprehensive about anyone being able to keep me engaged during an hour long talk about chocolate, but Doreen quickly disabused me of the notion that that wasn’t possible. She literally enthusiastically shares her experiences with chocolate so that you think you can actually taste it. I thought I had eaten my fill of chocolate samples before Doreen’s talk, but right after listening to her, I was so inspired, I made room for another one!
Thanks so much for your enthusiastic assessment of my book, talk, and chocolate knowledge, Suzanne. It was lovely meeting you in Hawaii. I hope we’ll have the opportunity to do it again soon.
I’m on a quest to find the world’s best Margarita, but chocolate would run a close second. 🙂 Fun post! You are one busy woman!
Hi Patti and welcome to the blog! It’s great to see so many of my new friends over at the Travel Boomers page on FB visiting here. Let me know when you find that awesome Margarita! I’ll try and find the chocolate to pair with it!
That sounds like a great plan, Doreen! So far, the best margarita I’ve had is at the little hole in the wall where it was invented — Hussong’s in Ensenada, Mexico. It’s not fancy, but oh, it is so good!
Hi Doreen, thanks for sharing this, I love reading about other’s writing processes. I found it interesting how you schedule your posts for each blog, it’s made me feel like I should maybe cut back a little with my two blogs, as it can get a little hectic trying to post in both a couple of times a week.
Also, as always, I’m so envious of your chocolate research, it sounds like such fun, and so interesting!
Hi Christine and welcome to the blog. I can’t imagine posting to my blogs any more often than I do. It’s a lot of work! I know that it is said that if you post more often it is better for your SEO and the ranking of your blog, but I’m afraid I am willing to sacrifice that for my sanity. Cheers!
Wonderful way to make the world so much more intimate. I’m fascinated by your varying interests and how you keep them all categorized yet are able to combine and write specifically (wonderfully) about them all. I guess because I have to walk through a door (it seems like it) to write fiction, that this baffles me. You have earned my admiration…I find your process inspirational!
Hi Jacquie and thanks so very much for your wonderful comment. I have never tried my hand at fiction and don’t expect I ever will, as it’s not a genre that I read. But I love storytelling, and so I find that blogging is a great way to keep my writing skills sharp in between formal writing projects.
Doreen, how fascinating. I attended the Chocolate Festival in Seattle and afterwards joked that I would retire to Costa Rica and grow cocoa trees 🙂
http://www.followchristinascamera.com/photo-tips/wine-and-dine-your-camera-manual-5-tips-to-get-to-know-your-manual3162014
Hi Christina and welcome to the blog! I actually hope to get to Costa Rica this year to investigate chocolate. I’ve been there previously, that was before I was on the chocolate trail!
Doreen, You are an inspiration in so many ways. It was you who encouraged me to try blogging, and you’ve supported me every step of the way.
You’ve introduced me to the joys and benefits of eating really good dark chocolate. I will never go back to eating “candy” again. Dark chocolate is food. Who knew there would be so much to learn about chocolate and so many neat places to learn where it’s made.
Suzanne Boles has asked me to participate in this ‘blog hop” so my post on this will be up on March 31. I’ve found it a very good exercise and a great way to look at the writing I do, and why I do it.
Keep up your great work, and as you are always smiling, keep on doing that too!
Thanks so much for your comment, Christine, and for being a loyal supporter of my blogs. I really appreciate that you take time to share your reflections on nearly every post. Am looking forward to your Blog Hop post!
You are fortunate to have met such great writers. I have to say before I came to your blog I had never heard of n Chocolatour. You made it so interesting because you have combined traveling with chocolate. How do you keep your weight in tack? When you love chocolate t would be hard not to keeping eating it.
Hi Arleen, and thanks for visiting my blog. I published the first volume of Chocolatour last fall and am currently researching the second volume. It is indeed a tasty project! You can learn more about it on this page: https://chocolatour.net/about.
A lot of people ask me how I can keep from getting fat! Yes, I do have to eat chocolate often, but I generally only have a piece or two at a time, and as I am eating pure dark chocolate most of the time, the health benefits outweigh the small amount of fat and sugar it contains. I do take a green coffee bean extract to help improve my body’s ability to digest and process food. I think that helps keep the weight at a manageable level. Cheers!
I love that you write about chocolate- what better, We were privileged to hear food historian and chef, Maricel Presilla speak on chocolate at a Santa Fe food conference.
I know Judie Fein as we are both Santa Fe writers. She is amazing. We actually have a post on our blog about her new book, THE SPOON FROM MINKOWITZ. It certainly is a small world!
Hi Billie and welcome to my blog! Yes, it is indeed a small world. Aren’t we fortunate that we are getting to explore so much of it? 🙂
Thank you so much for participating in this blog hop Doreen! Selfish on my part, because I always love to read about the process of how friends work. It’s really interesting to hear just how much work you have put into your marketing, and everything else that made Chocolatour come to fruition. Everyone assumes the writing will be the hard part. As for the chocolate you introduce people to, it had never occurred to me how poorly handmade chocolate would travel, and that you’d only be able to sample it at the source. You are def. a natural storyteller, so it bodes well for your book being a success. Thanks so much for the post Doreen:-)
Thanks so much for your comment, A.K., and for inviting me on the blog hop! It’s been a pleasure, and is great to share my own thoughts on the writing process, as well as learn about how my friends write. We all do our work in a rather distinct fashion, and the process is as equally diverse as the end product or work itself.
So nice that AK invited you!! You work with what you love which is something that eludes most people. Chapeau. Good luck with Chocolatetour!! Chocolate travel, seriously Doreen, I could walk on a street and in two minutes find a long list of people who would love to do what you are doing:-)
Thanks so much, Catarina! I do indeed love what I do, and am grateful that I am slowly building an audience for my work. I wish that process was quicker and easier (I’m being extremely honest here!) But hopefully, Chocolatour will soon be seen/found by the right person who can help me take it to the next level. Cheers!
I am enjoying getting to know you better via the blogosphere. Wish I’d have been in Honolulu when you were – it would have been fun to meet.
Hi Jackie: Thanks for your comment and welcome to the blog! Hopefully, we will have the chance to meet up at a future travel event, or at some point in time. I will be doing a lot of travel over the next few years, as I complete the research for volumes II & III of Chocolatour. Cheers!
Write On Doreen ! It is fascinating to hear about your writing process. Having multiple areas of interests seems a great way to keep things fresh, which is as important for writing as for chocolate. I am very new to blogging but already find that having several things simmering at the same time is helpful . Thank you for introducing some that you admire and I look forward to more smooth, rich and delicious treats !
Hi Paul and thanks for your comment. I’m glad you enjoyed the blog hop. I think it’s a great way to discover new voices and talent. Sometimes we get too caught up in the same blogs. It’s nice to see what else is out there!
Wow – anyone who can write a couple blogs, a couple books and consume chocolate and travel has my undying admiration! Are you coming to any chocolate events in Southwest Florida – maybe Naples? I’d love to meet if you’re in the area (although I’m heading to Bhutan in 2 weeks so don’t come while I’m away!).
Hi Kay, and thanks for your lovely comment — and invitation! I did do a chocolate trek to FLA a couple years ago and met Norman Love in Fort Myers. You’ll find the post about him on my travel blog at im-in-love-with-norman-love-chocolates/. Pls drop in there and let me know if you agree with my assessment of his chocolates!
P.S. Have fun in Bhutan!
Love reading all the bloggers and writers you have met! A local friend who has written a book wanted to know how to connect with what she called the women’s market. I told her so many talented bloggers are women; she could, for example, look at comments on my blog and follow them back to comment on their blogs.
I love your enthusiasm for chocolate and writing about chocolate and chocolate travel.
Hi Leora and thanks for your comment.
You are very correct in telling your friend that connecting with bloggers is a great way for her to meet some really talented writers. Please ask her to check out my blog hop post. She’ll meet 5 female writers right here!
Doreen — you find the coolest things to move you along in your writing life. I’m just so impressed with your boundless energy to keep the old stuff that has worked for you going, while you explore new places and venues to both improve and promote your work. You are an inspiration.
You also keep good writing company, a critical key to success that many of us fail to nurture (though it’s probably why I stick close to you 🙂 ). Thanks for sharing the writers with us. Fabulous models for all of us.
Thanks so much for those words of support, Wendy. I seriously wouldn’t be able to persevere and continue navigating this tumultuous landscape of self publishing and book marketing without your friendship and support. And it is indeed my pleasure to be able to help promote others whom I like and respect.
Doreen, I love to read about you and what you are doing.
Next week it’s my turn at the blog hop, and thanks for inviting me to hop with you.
Thanks, Judie! It’s nice to have you join the community on my writer’s blog. I hope you’ll subscribe. We have some amazing discussions on books, music, virtues, and the writing life in general.
Looking forward to reading your post next week.
Thanks for inviting me to take part in this. I’m looking forward to posting my blog and introducing my bloggers.
Thanks for agreeing to participate, Suzanne, and for being a strong supporter of my writing and this blog. I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts on the various topics we have discussed here. I’ll look forward to your post next week (March 24th.)