Blog Ring of Power Presents: Cornelia Amiri


Yes, we come to another Blog Ring of Power Friday, please welcome Cornelia. 

Don't forget to check out the other parts of this interview
Part 1 with Terri
Part 2 with T.W.
Part 3 guess who
Part 4 with Sandra
Part 5 with Dean

Cornelia Amiri is the author of 16 romance books, including the Steampunk/romance she writes under the name Maeve Alpin. She lives in Houston, TX with her wonderful son and granddaughter. 


Section #3: The Creative Process

BRoP: Where do you get your story ideas?
CA: The ideas come from everywhere, a historical event, a dream, or something someone said. Once I have my idea (my premise), I pick a plot to go with it. Then I work up character charts on the hero and heroine, which include information on their family history and their likes and dislikes. Then, with a fairly good idea about the beginning and ending in my head, I begin the rough draft. Once I have a strong image in my head of the characters the dialogue starts flowing. Once my characters start talking there is no shutting them up.

BRoP: Do you have a specific writing style?
CA: So far in my StemapunkRomances my love of history comes through as at least one of my main characters, hero or heroine, is from ancient times. My Celtic/romances draw from history as they are all set in the dark ages, iron ages, or bronze ages. I draw strongly from Celtic mythology. I want to make the druid teachings of the times come alive to the readers. So in my books, people can shapeshift, there are selkies, dead ancestors cross over to speak with you and help you out, gods fall in love with humans, and, from time to time, dragons visit from their alternate dimension and Celitc/fey/vampires roam the modern world looking for men to seduce.

3.   BRoP: Are you a “plotter” or a “pantser” (do you plan/outline the story ahead of time or write “by the seat of your pants”)?

CA:  I’m a bit in between a plotter and a panster. Once I have my idea (my premise), I pick a plot to go with it. Then I work up character charts on the hero and heroine, which include information on their family history and their likes and dislikes. Then, with a fairly good idea about the beginning and ending in my head, I begin the rough draft.

4.      BRoP:  Do you use critique partners or beta readers? Why or why not?

CA:  I’ve never used a beta reader, I would like to though if any beta readers are out there who would be interested. I had two fantastic critique partners, for a long time when I lost them I was on my own for a while but I have a great critique partner now.  I find the critiquing process absolutely invaluable to me. The things I learned from my critique partners and even more from critiquing their work are incredible.

BRoP: How much time do you spend on research? What type of research do you do?
CA: I have researched the ancient Celts for over 15 years. I’ve read a lot of non-fiction books about them  as well as a lot of archeology reports, and through the internet, mainly Megalithic Portal,(  http://www.megalithic.co.uk/ ) I keep up to date on the latest finds. I love history as much as I love writing. I love the research process. Since I have a good base in that history I mainly just look things up as needed now, I don’t have to spend that much time on it anymore. 


Please let us know where your readers can stalk you:
Website: http://CelticromanceQueen.com
Blog: I’m one of the Steamed writers - http://ageofsteam.wordpress.com/
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CelticRomanceQueen
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/475961.Cornelia_Amiri?auto_login_attempted=true
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaeveAlpin
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cornelia-Amiri/e/B002BLFENY


What format is your book(s) available in (print, e-book, audio book, etc.) print and eBook

Comments

  1. Laura S.September 18, 2012 at 7:35 PM

    Hello! Thanks for following me on Twitter. :) Great interview with Cornelia! I'm fascinated by how other writers approach their stories and how they got started. This was a great read. Thanks for the interview, and I hope you're having a terrific week!

    ReplyDelete
  2. E. M. LaBonteSeptember 19, 2012 at 5:53 PM

    Thanks for stopping by. The Blog Ring of Power section of my blog is all about other writers and how they tick. I do love giving the interviews. :D

    I hope your week is treating you well.

    ReplyDelete

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