Romance Writers Weekly Blog Hop

It's time again for the Romance Writers Weekly blog hop from romance writers from all over the globe. Each week, many of us answer the same three questions so you can get a fun peek into a writer's mind. I submitted this week's questions. Here they are:

1.What’s your favorite aspect of novel writing? Dialogue? Setting? Conflict? Narration? Explain.

By far, my favorite aspect of novel writing is dialogue. I write character-driven and dialogue-driven novels. I especially love creating nasty characters and have a lot of fun writing from a male point of view. I get bored when a novel is too flowery, has a lot of backstory, and narration. I like to get right to the action. I want readers to feel like they are in the scene and to have a hard time putting my book down. That said, I also adore throwing conflict at my characters. I say the more plot twists the better!

 2.How do you choose the setting for your plot? Are they always similar settings or does it vary? (i.e., small town, big city, castle, etc.)

I write contemporary novels--women's fiction, romantic suspense and contemporary romance. My debut novel, THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS, is set in a fictional town, Crystal City, and is modeled after a mid-sized town in Missouri where I grew up. However, my sequel will have several chapters devoted to small-town life. I've never written about a small town before, but my grandmother lived in one and my parents do now. Life is a much slower pace in my yet-to-be-named tiny town, and some of my characters need that, believe me. Others are going to hate it, however. Fair warning!

3.I’m a big six-word memoir fan. (Hemingway even wrote one.) Describe your writing day using just six words.

Coffee. Facebook. Email. Coffee. Facebook. Write.

What it should be:

Trudge to coffee pot. Start writing.

If you haven't tried six-word memoirs, you should! My memoirs are in three six-word memoir collections--two books and one calendar. It's great fun. Celebrities and famous authors get involved. Warning: They're highly addictive. http://smithmag.net

So what is your favorite aspect of novel writing? Which settings do you prefer? Tell me and then be sure to visit other RWW bloggers, Leslie Hachtel http://lesliehachtelwriter.wordpress.com and Eden Ashe http://edenashe.com.