Guest Post - Rachel Rossano

I'm pleased to introduce to all of you a fellow homeschooled author and her new book,

Duty: a novel of Rhynan

Brielle Solarius struggles to keep her village from starvation. The men rode off to war and never returned. The remaining women and children face a winter of starvation if they do not find a solution soon.

Tomas Dyrease, the newly made Earl of Irvaine and the village of Wisenvale, owes his good fortune to his king. When that same king demands Tomas marry the impoverished daughter of the late Lord Wisten, he obeys. However, no one warned him that she wasn’t a typical noblewoman.

Duty: a novel of Rhynan follows their journey from strangers to friends as they face complications from their pasts and the shaky politics of a changing regime. Then Brielle is implicated in her cousin’s treasonous activities. Can a marriage of duty survive treason?

It's available on Amazon and Smashwords:

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Duty-novel-Rhynan-ebook/dp/B00BAI41RO

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/281699

About Rachel:

Author of a growing stack of novels, novellas, and short stories, Rachel Rossano balances her time between the chaos of raising and homeschooling her three children and the world of drama and high adventure in her head. With her faithful husband and chief consulting editor by her side, she dreams of many more adventures to come in both of her double lives. Check out her work at http://Rachel-rossano.blogspot.com.

Also, Rachel has written up a lovely bit about 

Plotting, Pantsing, and the Space Between

  When a writer meets a writer for the first time, frequently we ask each other one question. “Are you a plotter or a pantser?” For those of you who do not write, you probably don’t recognize the terms. A plotter is one who plots the novel before writing it. Those who claim to be pantser make the plot up as they go along.

  I have a confession to make. I am stuck in the vast space between.

  I began my writing life as a completely committed pantser. I rambled, I wandered, and my early manuscripts suffered the consequences. As I dug them out years later, I recoiled from the mess and promptly reburied them.

  Still, I persevered because I loved to write. Characters came alive beneath my fingers. The way they took up residence in my thoughts and daydreams thrilled me. So, I wrote and reveled in my characters while I ignored the loose and meandering stories I produced.

  Then one day a friend commented that my plots struck her as simple. Comparing my stories to my favorite authors, I realized she had a very valid point. So, with the best of intentions, I endeavored to plot. I promptly plotted myself into boredom with the story.

  Not one to give up, I tried again. The second attempt didn’t follow the script. My characters rebelled and started doing things consistent with their make up by definitely not what was in the plan. That was when I had a revelation. I needed to plot and pants my stories.

  I tried a new technique for me. I did extensive pre-work on my next project: world development, cultures, clothing, character histories, and (gasp) a bit of plotting. I only developed a very general idea of where I wanted to go in the scenes ahead and a few vague plot points that I had to hit. I set to writing and discovered it worked.

  So, three and a half manuscripts later, I am enjoying this new technique. I even began integrating some editing into the writing process when I was writing Duty. I just have to watch out for those revision loops. They are definitely more of a hazard when editing while you write.

  If you are a writer, what hazards do you have to watch out for in your writing process? If you are a reader, do you like reading about the inner workings of the writing process or do you suspect all fiction writers are a bit mad?

Stay tuned for an interview in a few weeks! (Oh, and a review on the O.Scarlett blog!)