Guest Star: Meet Jennifer Shirk

The Love-Hate Relationship of Writing

Hi, all, Jennifer here! I write sweet (and sometimes even funny!) romances for Entangled Publishing’s Bliss line. I just want to say a BIG thank you to the Butterscotch Martini Girls for allowing me to come blog today!

Writing—especially writing romance—is a lot like a love affair. There is an immediate love and then an eventual hate. LOL! But if it’s true love, you stick it out together for better or for worse.

You’re probably thinking, But writing seems so nice. What is there to put up with?

Well, allow me to share a little of my writing relationship highs and lows:

WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT WRITING

1-Plotting:  Yes! I love to plot. I think I love to plot more than actually write. LOL! Sometimes I have to make myself stop plotting so I can begin writing. But I can’t help it. It’s like love at first sight.  Plotting is where everything about your story is new and shiny. Even your characters names! Putting down a bunch of ideas down on paper gets me excited to write about them.

2—Writing “The End”: Most authors are sad to let their characters go. Not me. I’m thrilled. It’s like going to a wedding. The food was great, I bought an awesome dress to wear, I had a great time, but I can’t do the chicken dance all night. The couple needs to start their life together. Bye, bye. J

3—Editing: Yes, next to plotting, this is a favorite of mine. In fact, I could edit a book to DEATH. It’s getting it all out on paper the first time around that is the hard part for me.

WHAT I HATE MOST ABOUT WRITING

1- The Beginning: Ugh. I sometimes AGONIZE on where to start my stories and usually end up changing the first few pages a couple of times. Okay, more than a couple of times…

2—The Synopsis: Yeah. I know I’m alone in this. Nuff said.

3—The Waiting: It takes so much time to write the book, then you have to WAIT to edit the book before you submit, then you submit the book and have to WAIT to hear from your agent or editor, then WAIT again for it to go through the process of preparing it to be published and marketing it. UGH. Pure agony!!

But all in all, writing is worth the extreme highs and lows and although it’s a very draining process, I still wouldn’t break off this relationship for anything.

I guess it’s true love. J

What about you?

If you are a writer, what do you love most about writing? Hate most?

If you’re a reader, are you surprised writing can make an author so dizzy?

Jennifer Shirk has a bachelor degree in pharmacy-which has in NO WAY at all helped her with her writing career. But she likes to point it out, since it shows romantic-at-hearts come in all shapes, sizes, and mind-numbing educations.

She writes sweet (and sometimes even funny) romances for Samhain Publishing, Amazon/Montlake Romance, and now Entangled Publishing.

Lately she’s been on a serious exercise kick. But don’t hold that against her.

Feel free to follow her on Twitter or become a friend on Facebook

Website: jennifershirk.com

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JenniferShirk

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferShirkBooks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jennifershirk

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ocwriter_jen/

Newsletter:  eepurl.com/Q6TH1 

Jennifer’s next release, Wedding Date for Hire, is coming to a e-tailer near you October 12th!

Maddie McCarthy is single, between jobs, and (oh, the shame) lives with her mother. To make matters worse, she’s the maid of honor for her sister’s wedding, and desperately needs a date. Then she sees her salvation—Match Made Easy, a service for women in Maddie’s exact position. If she can’t find a boyfriend, she’ll do the next best thing…

Hire one.

Trent Montgomery isn’t actually part of Match Made Easy. He’s just doing a favor for his cousin, but one look at the blonde who hired him, and he’s totally hooked. Now Maddie thinks that the attraction sizzling between them is just “part of the package.” And Trent is running out of time to prove to her that her date-for-hire might just be her happily-ever-after…

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I’m giving away a print or ebook copy of any one of my backlist titles (their choice) to a random commenter.