Diana Jenkins | VIRGINIA WRIGHT, Author

The Writing Process Blog Tour

Diana R. Jenkins invited me to participate in the Writing Process Blog Tour, her bio is impressive, and definitely a writer’s inspiration. Thank you Diana, for that! Be sure to check out her responses to the writing process questions on her blog.

Diana R. Jenkins is the author of more than four hundred stories, articles, and comic strips for kids’ magazines as well as a number of books. Her newest book is Tackling Tough Topics with Faith and Fiction, (www.pauline.org), a resource book for parents and teachers who want to help middle school and junior high students deal with moral challenges using faith. Her other books include Goodness Graces! Ten Short Stories about the Sacraments, Saints of Note – The Comic Collection, The Stepping Stones Journals, and Spotlight on Saints! A Year of Funny Readers Theatre for Today’s Catholic Kids.

Diana lives in Montgomery, Ohio with her husband, a medical physicist. Visit her on the web at www.dianarjenkins.bravehost.com, read her blog at http://djsthoughts-dj.blogspot.com, and find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dianajenkins.

And here are mine:

What am I currently working on?

My current WIP is a children’s book for toddlers titled: Wild Animal Sounds. The story has simple, repetitive text, that gets the child and the person reading it to them involved with the various sounds that wild animals make. Wild Animal Sounds is colorfully illustrated with bold, vibrant colors.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

This story differs in that, it is something that the child hearing it will like and enjoy trying to make a similar wild animal sound, as well as the person reading it with them.

Why do I write what I write?

I write what I write, to put a smile on the face of a child, or on the face of the person reading my work to the child. I write what I write, to give the person reading my text something to think about, and maybe to teach something to someone they didn’t know or hadn’t thought of. I write what I write, because it is what I love to do!

How does my individual writing process work?

My writing process–hmm, I do not have a specific process other than brainstorming to come up with a story idea. Often, it will start with the title, from the title, I come up with the story–and then illustrate it. On occasion, I have started the story from an illustration. I truly enjoy writing, and illustrating–and I hope you have enjoyed my answers in the blog tour.

To continue the Writing Process Blog Tour, I’m tagging writer and movie producer, Joe Pranaitis. (He is an interesting fellow. Read about him below!) Joe’s answers to the writing process questions will appear on his Facebook page on June 16.

The current WIP for Joe Pranaitis is the 4th book in his Infinite Possibilities Chronicles series. Besides writing, Joe is a movie producer. When questioned about what is next for him, he replied, “This is only the beginning of what’s to come next!”

Excited, Joe! This writer and movie producer is definitely one to keep our eyes on in the future!

You can connect with Joe on his Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/joe.pranaitis

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoePranaitis

And Joe Pranaitis’s Author page on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Pranaitis/e/B002R4MPUU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

July 15, 2013

Hi everyone! I was invited by my author friend, Diana Jenkins, to participate in a “blog hop interview.” In order to participate, I answer interview questions, and I tag three other authors. They post-interview questions on their blog pages 7/22. The folks they tag, will post their interview questions and answers on their blogs 7/29, and so forth. A lot of hopping!

You can find Diana’s interview questions and answers here: http://djsthoughts-dj.blogspot.com/ . Diana posted, July 8, 2013.

Here are my answers to the interview questions and answers:

1. What are you working on right now?

My WIP…hmm, it is quite different than the last five books that I have written–worlds apart from each other actually. I was born and raised in Maine. One of my works in progress is a cookbook titled, “Ayuh, Another Downeast Cookbook!” I’m so excited, as I love cooking, food photography, and food blogging. Ayuh, has been in the works for many years now with the cooperation of members from the Maine Guides Association, a forester, an outdoor editor, Fishermen, and housewives helping me bring great recipes from Maine to my cookbook. My hope is, that this interesting cookbook will be released in early 2014. Maybe sooner?

2. How does it differ from other works in its genre?

Ayuh, Another Downeast Cookbook is different in its genre in that ‘some’ of the recipes are different–not your usual recipes. :-) Ayuh, is a bit unique not only because of the recipes but because of a few of the people who gave me recipes for my book. One of which was a well-known outdoor editor in Maine, now deceased. I have some real treasures in my possession, and that will be in my cookbook!

3. Why do you write what you do?

My poem says it all…

Writers Write: Writers Write

4. How does your writing process work?

My writing process is not scientific by any means like my poem says…I write from my heart.

For ideas, I don’t brainstorm–I guess you could say, they just happen. It may be that I am washing the dishes, yes, some people still wash the dishes by hand and not with a dishwasher! Or, I might be driving in the car, or standing in line at the grocery store, and the ideas just pop in my head! Voila! Idea now ingrained in my brain–I grab a pen and paper from my purse and I write the basic idea down.

So, no, not a real process…

Thank you for the tag, Diana!

In addition, I am tagging the following authors. Make sure to check out their blog posts on the following date: July 22, 2013

Jodi Desautels – Children’s Author: http://authorjodidesautels.weebly.com/what-is-new-with-jodi-desautels.html

Dennis Higgins – YA Author: http://www.timepilgrims.com/blog.html

Joe Pranaitis – Author: https://www.facebook.com/joe.pranaitis

Tag! You’re It! I can’t wait to see who’s next!

Have a wonderful literary summer!

-Virginia Wright