for those readers just starting in on the Madeleine series, although it’s a historical romance (the five book series covers the period between 1789 – 1806), and includes fantasy along with action and adventure, its really just a love story between Madeleine and Ryder and in the end that’s all that matters because everything I think is just about the love.

Authors talk about this in every author group I belong to – a plotter is someone who plots the outline of a story, knows the characters and where they’re going and even knows the ending, whereas a pantser “writes by the seat of their pants”, sits at their computer each day and waits for the magic to happen.

I’ve thought on this often and have decided that I’m a bit of both.  I do have vivid ideas for a story, I know where I want it to go and how it will end.  All of which makes me a plotter.

But!  When I sit at my laptop my characters are inclined to take over and often the story goes in a completely different direction to where I thought it was going. This happened to me a lot during the writing of the Madeleine series and I often sat back in surprise when something happened that I wasn’t expecting.  Some scenes I ended up deleting, most I kept.

So yes, I am a bit of both, although maybe more of a pantser.  I can finish several hours work then walk away from my laptop with no idea what happened nor where I go next, my carefully thought out plot now useless.  Although I think that makes writing all the more fun!