About Terri Reed:
Award winning multi-published author Terri Reed discovered the wonderful world of fiction at an early age and declared she would one day write a book. Now she is fulfilling that dream writing full-time. Her romance and romantic suspense novels have appeared on Publisher’s Weekly top 25, Nielsen’s Bookscan top 100 and featured in USA Today, Christian Fiction Magazine and Romantic Times Magazine. Her books have finaled in Romance Writers of America’s RITA contest, National Reader’s Choice Award contest and two times in American Christian Fiction Writers The Carol Award contest. She resides in the Pacific Northwest with her college-sweetheart husband, two wonderful children, and an array of critters. When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, gardening and playing tennis.
What inspires you to write?
Life inspires me. I love to people watch. As a kid I would make up stories about the people around me. I also find news and real life events are great fodder for my imagination. Playing What-if is always a good prompt.
Tell us about your writing process.
I plot heavily before I write and I do it long hand. The same with character development. I use several different forms from various writing guru’s and fill them in long hand. There’s something about the act of writing by hand that stimulates my brain. Then I’m a bit of a pantser/plotter during the actually writing. I consider my very detailed synopsis as a road map. I have a beginning, events that build upon one another through out the middle as we journey toward the final destination. As I write I allow myself and my characters to take side trips or alternate routes, as long as I can still find my way to the end point. Letting my creative mind take over has taken some of my books in interesting and surprising places that I hadn’t planned on at the beginning. It keeps it fun for me and hopefully for the reader.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I do talk to my characters, asking what they are doing, why they are doing such and such and what are they feeling. They talk back to me, then I give them voice on the page. Its a very symbiotic relationship.
What advice would you give other writers?
If you want to make this a career, then you must be persistent and persevere despite the obstacles that will undoubtedly come your way. Very wise and wonderful author, Muriel Jensen, once told me that crisis of confidence is the enemy of every writer and attacks without warning. She said you must be strong enough to push through the crisis of confidence. I am constantly battling my own crisis of confidence.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I write for Harlequin and now for Tule Publishing Group. I knew I wanted to write for Harlequin when I started down the road of writing with the intent to publish. My creative writing college professor told me I should be writing for Harlequin. Of course when I was twenty, I had no idea how to make that happen and certainly didn’t think I had what it took to write. But that thought never left me, so when I decided to pursue a writing career, I targeted Harlequin. It took my ten years to have my first full length book published by Harlequin Love Inspired. Now eleven years later I’m still writing for them and enjoy doing so.This past year I was asked if to write for Tule Publishing Group. I had a wonderful time delving into the world of Montana Born books set in the fictional town of Marietta. Of course, writing about cowboy is always a joy.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think more hybrid authors will emerge and that readers will find every type of book they could possibly want to read.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Inspirational Romantic Suspense, sweet contemporary romances
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Terri Reed Home Page Link
Link To Terri Reed Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
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