My friend Tracy Higley asked me to join her in the Writing Process Blog Tour. What a fun way to learn how different writers work!

1)  What am I currently working on?

I’m currently working on page proofs for my novella in Where Treetops Glisten. It’s a WWII Christmas novella collection that Tricia Goyer, Sarah Sundin and I wrote together. I’m so excited about this book that releases in September. I’m also dreaming up a legal suspense idea. It’s been fun and quite a change from the WWII books.

2)  How does my work differ from others of its genre?

For my WWII Historicals, my work differs because I love to find the unexplored stories. That means I stay away from known events and battles and instead focus on either what happened on the home front or a story of a group of people like the Monuments Men. Usually I stumble on some event or activity and the rest of the story builds around it. That’s what happened with Shadowed by Grace, a story of Monuments Men. I discovered their role in WWII, and then backed it up to Italy where they were first involved. Add in a heroine who was a photojournalist right behind the frontlines and a mystery to solve, and it was a fun book to write.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I write what I do because I love to tell stories. I love to delve deeper into the question of where is God in life. How can I find Him when life looks bleak or uncertain. I write WWII novels because I want to honor the men and women of the Greatest Generation and their all encompassing roles in WWII. They are often unsung heroes and think they did nothing out of the ordinary. Attending a reunion in 2010 with a group of them was awe-inspiring because they were so humble and down to earth. Yet they freed concentration camps, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, lived heroism. I want to capture that and transmit it to a new generation through the lens of story.

4)  How does my writing process work?

My writing process is ever-changing. I write around life. Most often that’s in the wee hours of the evening and morning. Other times, it’s camped at my local Panera for several hours. But I write and create because I love the process. I love creating characters, dreaming up their story, understanding why they are the way they are and more. There are days it is hard work, but I love the end result.

Tune in next week for Cindy Thomson’s answers!