I binge write. When I'm in a writing binge, I will write almost non-stop for about 48 hours, stopping every 5 hours or so for a 2-hour nap and some food. When I wake up, I'm back to the story. These breaks allow me to process where the story is and the next steps in the storyline. I dream of scenes, conversations and events. My writing is more like recording, where I'm racing to keep up with the ideas flying through my mind. After the first draft is finished, my binge writing is over. I read through the entire manuscript to create better word flow and intensify the setting as well as tinker with the dialogue. The next step is to print the manuscript and give it a read with my red pen in hand. After I enter those changes into the computer, I send it to an editor.

Real life is my favorite place to find stories and situations. I stay away from real characters because I like to shape my characters with psychic wounds that bolster the story theme. Reaping the Whirlwind came from an aside comment from someone teaching a seminar. He said, "The Scopes Monkey Trial was a complete sham. Nothing in the movie Inherit the Wind was factual." That caught my attention. I read the biographies of the main players in the trial and I learned he was absolutely correct. The biographies agreed that the trial was a sham. After that, I had to write it. I go through this in more detail in my Facebook interview here: https://www.facebook.com/aimee.ravichandran/videos/1575131452961357

Over the years, I developed a system of worksheets and questionnaires to speed the process along. First I find a captivating theme that means something to me personally, such as a lifechanging event in my own life or a friend's life. From that foundation, I create characters who can live out that life lesson, give them psychic wounds that start the journey and situations that expose that wound and give them a chance to develop and grow through it. I find a situation that will also challenge their psychic wound, so they have a circumstance that takes them through the growing process--the lost job, the death of someone close to them, the unknown stalker who scares them. I find a setting that will allow them to show their mettle. Then, I go through the scenes of the story with an eye to the character's changes and fill in a chart of where these changes happen and what they are, so I can make sure the events in those scenes show the shifts in mindset for the character. All of this is in my fiction course, along with my worksheets and questionnaires, at How To Write a Novel That Sells dot com.

My 43rd book is coming out early next year, my first paranormal cozy mystery called SHAKEN BUT NOT STIRRED. Naming my favorite is difficult. To me, that's like trying to pick my favorite child. My heart will always be attached to COLORADO because it was my first series, 4 books in 1 volume. It's a touching Old West mystery series that starts with an orphaned young woman who agrees to a marriage of convenience that takes her from Baltimore to the mountains of Colorado so she can take care of her little brother who has Rheumatic fever. He's in a sanitorium in Baltimore and she send money back each month for his care. That volume sold 250,000 copies and launched my career. I also love REAPING THE WHIRLWIND because the story was such a find, a famous trial that most everyone knows from the play and movie Inherit the Wind, but that story is total fiction. I found the true story and made it the setting for a serial killer mystery during the trial. That book won The Christy Award, the Literary Titan Silver Book Award and The Book Excellence Award as well as a 5-star rating with Reader's Favorite. My newest favorite is SHAKEN BUT NOT STIRRED, coming out early next year, because it's a spin off of my own experience with my father's spirit coming to me after he passed. Not visibly, but his presence. In SHAKEN, the female main character's father shows up in full body form and pops in at the most inconvenient times. He's a loving, humorous and healing presence in her life as she deals with the murder mystery of a client and an unknown stalker who makes her life a terrifying journey.

I just googled Rosey Dow and found 719,000 results. That's my pen name and the name on most of my books. I googled Lana McAra, my actual name, and found 43,600 results. I'm currently switching from using my pen name to using my real name because I'm changing genres from Inspirational Romantic Mystery to Paranormal Mystery (with a touch of romance). Most of the Google entries are from sites like ThriftBooks.com, podcasts I've been on and social media pages. Lots of profile photos as well.