My writing process blog tour

Thanks to Carol Westron for nominating me for this.

So, to delve into my writing process. What am I working on at present?  I'm working on the rewrite of a science fiction novel titled Jade.  The novel is fifteen years old, and explores what happens when humans discover a sentient planet.  When I started the rewrite I decided I wanted to make the science in the story as real as possible, and this has led me down numerous fascinating avenues of research.  I'm now towards the end of the rewrite, and feeling really pleased with the way I've managed to weave real science into my fictional scenario and make it work.

I'm a science fiction writer, and my work differs from others in my genre because I focus on the natural world and its creatures, and the challenges they face when humans come messing up their patch.  My indie published books Panthera : Death Spiral, Panthera : Death Song, and the third book to be published next year, Panthera : Death Plain, all centre around the looming extinction of different big cat species.  My central character is Ren Hunter, a wildlife conservationist who is trying to find out why so many are dying in unnatural circumstances.

I've always been a science fiction writer because I want to explore dreams of the future and other societies which aren't rooted in the prejudices and problems of our own time.  Putting a current issue into an invented context allows me to criticise or challenge what's going on around me without fearing a libel suit.  I write about the natural world because I want others to see the power and beauty that lies there, in an unspoiled landscape, or a creature that inhabits that landscape.

I write the first drafts of my stories in longhand.  I like to write on Pukka Pads, A6 size, and I take one  and a pen to my favourite coffee shop and sit down with my cappuccino to write.  I then go home and type up my scribble, and do a rough edit of the typed script before moving back to handwriting the next section.  I have a "travel kit" of data about each book that I carry with me in plastic wallets. This contains character tables, maps of my fictional worlds, and a detailed chapter plan.

Once the first draft is typed up it's time to sit down with more cappuccinos and the manuscript, read the whole thing through, and alter things.  And repeat the whole process several times.

I nominate Susan Lodge to be the next person to reveal her writing process.