Monday, July 30, 2012

Revised, Edited, and Totally Out of This World Author, Catrina Taylor

Please let us for a brief moment travel through space and time; through the galaxy to the world of the creator of Xarrock. My guest for this week is author Catrina Taylor and she's part of the Tasha Turner Coaching Virtual Blog Tour. Please make sure you let her know what you think and ask your questions, and perhaps it won't be Scotty beaming you up but someone out of this world! 









Every writer has a routine, and the routine leads to the most prolific writing success the author is able to produce. It’s much like those who walk into an office building in the morning. They stop by the coffee maker, tuck their lunch away in a shared office refrigerator, say hello to the boss, a coworker and the neighboring cubical, before sliding into their chair to check messages and start their day. For an author it can vary by environment and opportunities. My day of writing is often split between shifts. I have a morning shift, a day time shift and if I have the energy, a night shift. Of course that’s not counting the shifts that include insomnia ridden writing sessions throughout the night.
Every author has a different process but mine typically starts at four in the morning and I write, edit or revise until six in the morning. Around then the kids wake up and get ready for school. At eight, after they are on the bus, and I’ve had a couple of cups of coffee, I return to writing and editing. By lunch I try to take a break. It’s often not a full break as I spend it eating and marketing but during that time I’m not writing. Afternoons are often spent reorganizing my thoughts, drawing together continuity data from within the manuscript and reworking scenes I like or didn’t like from earlier in the day to make them better. By the time the kids are home from school, I don’t have much time or ability to focus on work again until they are in bed asleep. That’s when, if my eyes are open, the night shift writing and editing begins.
As each book is edited, revised, edited again from the outside, revised, rewritten and redeveloped well enough for publication, formatting, cover art and the like is worked into the process during the day. Weekends are used to optimize websites, create content like this blog post and post to my own sites.
My day is often full of intensity, creativity, and children playing. I love every minute of it and I strive to continue to do so with every step forward. How does your day go? What kind of goals do you set for your day? How best do you achieve those goals?

About my guest:




Catrina Taylor is a single mom and a science fiction author with a love of words that draws her into fictional creations daily. Playing with her children, reading books and developing strong characters are passions that are unyielding in their day. Her fictional universe around Xarrok beckons her generation after generation, commencing with Birth of an Empire: The Beginning and continuing across five more generations.
Her currently available releases are Birth of an Empire: The Beginning, Below the Surface and Change by Design. Each crafted science fiction story is part of a greater universe, and series. Adding to both the short story series and the main introduction series later this year, Catrina has three more titles nearly ready for release. Consequences is the next book in the Birth of an Empire series. MindTricks and Through Anguish detail the stories of Keydra Tan and Zaren Rixx, and their recruitment into the Xenonian Psionic Corps. All three stories will be available by September first.
You can connect with Catrina on Twitter, Facebook or at the home of Xarrok, http://Xarrok.com



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