In control of characters, or characters in control?

What kind of writer are you? Do you plot everything out or do you "wing it?" Are you in control of the characters or do they control what you write?

Oh, they are totally in control. I never assume anything when I begin a book, which is why I am definitely a pantser and not a plotter. I let each scene and outcome be dictated by the characters. Sometimes I don't know what they're going to say until they say it, or how they'll react until we're 'there'.

I find that fact both fun and exciting. I live it just like a reader would, in the moment. Sentence for sentence and paragraph for paragraph.

So we know about your science fiction or speculative fiction, but you have also published romance. Tell us about that.

If you're a contemporary romance fan, then I say Something Better (mainly because of all my contemporary novels, David Bishop -- the hero in Something Better -- is my favorite). It's funny because Something Better was the book I said I'd never write. I said I'd never write a book with a main character who is a writer -- Andi Parker, the heroine, is not only a writer but a writer of sci fi romance. I said I'd never write a book with a character who had some type of 'famous' profession (actor, musician, etc).

David Bishop is an A-List actor. I said I'd never write a 'Hollywood' novel. Well, as you can imagine with David being an actor... it's set in Hollywood. I said I'd never write a book where the Hero and Heroine are kissing in the first chapter because it always feels rushed. Well, I did it here... but not the way you'd expect. J And yet, despite all that, it's my favorite book.

http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-66/Something-Better/Detail.bok

http://www.gaildelaney.com I have a blog there... when I post. J
I have two Facebook pages, one for writing in general...
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorGailRDelaney
and one specifically for the Phoenix series
http://www.facebook.com/PhoenixGailRDelaney