Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Voices in my Head

Today, I'm turning Terry's Place over to author Sarah Grimm. Hubster and I are off to Cripple Creek for a couple of days, but I know you're in good hands here today.

Sarah Grimm, writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance for The Wild Rose Press. As a young girl, Sarah always had a story to tell. At times they were funny, other times scary, but they were always happily-ever-after. Sarah is here today to tell us a little bit about the voices in her head.

Leave a comment today and Sarah will award one of you an electronic copy of her LASR Best Book of 2010 nominated romantic suspense, NOT WITHOUT RISK.

**Note: Blogger is having trouble accepting comments today--mine included--unless you log in with the name/url option. (The URL is optional). And we'll be accepting comments until Friday, with the winner announced this weekend, so if you're having problems, come back to this post and try again another time.



As an author I get asked all the time how I come up with my stories. This is a great question and applies to all creative people. How do we do what we do? For me, it has to do with the voices in my head. Yes, you read it correctly, the voices in my head. No, these voices don’t tell me to do things like hurt people. If they did, I’d have myself committed.

So what do I mean by the voices in my head? Simply this; at all times, in all situations, there is a character in my head talking to me, or more accurately, talking to another character. Sounds insane, I know, but it’s true.



The characters in my stories are real to me long before I begin to put them down on a page simply because they’ve lived with me for quite some time before I write about them. They sit in my head, feeding me insight to their hearts and souls at the oddest times. They converse with the other characters about what makes them similar or different from each other. Believe it or not, they even complain. Maybe I’m not listening or haven’t gotten to their story quickly enough to satisfy them.

I’m struggling with that right now. I’m about half done with a story called MIDNIGHT HEAT and just started a new job. Eek!

Anyway, as I spend each day entering invoices into an accounting program I’ve never worked with before, and filling out the massive amount of paperwork the government requires farmers to file each year, my hero has made it known that he expects his HEA to happen soon. Very soon, if his sulking is any indication, or if I wish to hold onto what little sanity I have left.

I’d better get back to it…

Sarah lives in West Michigan with her husband, two sons and three miniature schnauzers. Find Sarah online at her website: http://www.sarahgrimm.com, her blog: http://www.authorsarahgrimm.blogspot.com, or on Twitter.
http://www.twitter.com/SGrimmAuthor

14 comments:

Sarah Grimm said...

Terry-

So excited to be here today. Thanks for the invite!

P.S. I ordered When Danger Calls and Where Danger Hides. I can't wait to read them!

AJ Nuest said...

Hi Sarah and Terry! Great blog, Sarah! But would I'd like to know is if you ANSWER these voices in your head. I've been known to have conversations with my characters, and don't even realize I'm doing it until my daughter says, "Who you talking to, Mom?" Scary...

Terry Odell said...

Sarah - Thanks for being my guest. And for holding down the fort while I'm away.

AJ - I can't speak for Sarah, but my characters and I have very delightful conversations.

And, for some reason, my own comments aren't coming through as usual.

Sarah Grimm said...

AJ-

That's too funny! I don't necassarily answer, but I have been known to say out loud what the characters in my head are saying to each other. O_o

Laura Kaye said...

I've already had the great pleasure of your first book, but I wanted to stop by and read your post! And I loved it because I know just how you feel! It's crowded in ye olde noggin sometimes! :)

Toni Anderson said...

Sarah, as long as you don't talk back to them in public :) I love your book :)

Kris Bock said...

The voices sound perfectly normal to me. I even use voice recognition software, so all my writing happens out loud. Since my current work in progress has a first-person narrator, I suppose she's talking to me all the time.

I love (and write) romantic suspense, so I'm glad to have another name to put on my reading list!

Kris Bock
Rattled: romantic suspense in the dramatic and deadly New Mexico desert
Read the first three chapters: www.krisbock.com

Sarah Grimm said...

Laura- Thanks for visiting! It's funny what us writers consider normal, isn't it? Or maybe we are normal and all of those who don't hear voices...nah. lol

Sarah Grimm said...

Toni-

I try not to talk back to them in public, but I have been caught mumbling a time or two. :)

So glad you liked my book!

Sarah Grimm said...

Kris-

I know of quite a few authors who use voice recognition software. I don't dare...too much editing involved when I yell at the barking dogs while writing. *grins*

Thanks for visiting today! I'll have to check out your website. It's always nice to find new authors.

LaVerne Clark said...

Hi Sarah and Terry - great post! And so familiar. Unfortunately (but fortunately when others are around!) the voices in my head don't happen as much as I'd like. Maybe I just need to learn to listen harder and tune out all the background noise - children, dogs, music/TV....sigh...

Please enter me for Not Without Risk - its one I've been meaning to read and I LOVE your cover!

Sarah Grimm said...

LaVerne-

So glad you stopped by! I've had those times where the voices where drowned out by family, kids, work, etc. But then sometimes something I hear sparks an idea and the voices speak up again!

You're entered in the drawing, and I'm very fond of my cover, too. ;)

Karen C said...

I tried several times since yesterday to comment, but Blogger was being a pill!

I don't hear voices in my head (at least that I will admit to), but I am very thankful for those of you writers that do - because I (and many others) reap the direct benefit with the lovely books you generate. So, please keep listening to those voices!!!

I'm really looking forward to reading your book; most of what I read is romantic suspense and visiting author blogs has netted me a host of new-to-me authors to check out.

Congratulations on the LASR nomination!!

Sarah Grimm said...

Karen-

So glad you kept trying to comment! I love visiting author blogs and discovering new authors and books. Not sure my pocketbook does, though. :)