Claire Hadleigh

When beginning to imagine my stories I find it helpful to have some kind of visual image to work with, be it the hero and/or the heroine. But let's face it, in romance novels, the male often drives the story, the passion, the love.  Obviously, because I am a female author, I suppose.   So who inspires you for a hero? Stop by my pinterest board ("Who's Your Hero?" ) and survey the candidates; I'm sure I'll be adding more!  Richard Armitrage Jonas Armstrong Julian Sands Alfred Molina Al Pacino So? Any one particularly strike you? I think all but, of course, that's too many heroes in one story!  I guess I'll just have to write more!    :-)

Wouldn't it be lovely? Where do you like to write?  Do you have a favorite place in your home or outdoors?  How important is this space to you? As a writer and painter, I tend to be very protective of my space.  It's not an ideal spot but it is mostly my space in the lower level of the house I share with my husband and son.  It's a very female space, too.  They can have their man caves, but my space is colorful and filled with objects I love -- yarns, paints, beads, sewing machines, journals, fabrics and, of course, my computer.  This space works well in the winter (it's the warmest spot in the house) and in the dead of summer (it's the coolest spot in the house).    But it's also part of the laundry area.  Ugh.  And the windows are small and let in very little natural light.  Double Ugh. Now this can sometimes be a good thing as no one truly wants to go down there except to throw in a load of laundry; thus, I have the space pretty much to myself, which i

The writing process.  What does that mean?  How does it work or what if it doesn't work?  Staring at a blank white page or computer screen or a blank canvas can be daunting.  Whether one is a writer or an artist or a composer or poet, the blankness can be the greatest hurdle. But once past the 'blankness' or 'whiteness' of the medium and words begin to appear, page after page, I think we sometimes fall into that zone where we actually believe, "Hey, this is easy!" Let me caution you (and myself) -- that is definitely a DUH moment.  Because sooner or later, we hit that "great swampy middle", as Jim Butcher described it , and the creativity comes to a screeching halt.  We slam into boredom, frustration and befuddlement. Over the years I have taught writing to college freshmen (talk about a challenge to creativity) and have coached several writing groups.  More often than not, the writing group kept my own level of creativity alive with their