A Day In the Life
Do you write full time? If not, how many hours per day do you attempt to dedicate to your writing?
LOL. Yes and no. I do write full time, but I have a job as well. I recently cut my hours (and salary… eek!) on my day job so I could write more and focus on this. I usually spend a decent 5+ hours on this per night, and more on the weekends.
Do you listen to music when your write?
99% of the time, I can’t. I start listening to the music and then I space out or start dancing…I guess I’m easily distractible:) For some odd reason, when we were writing One Small Thing (with Piper Vaughn) I did. I listened to Death Cab’s album Codes and Keyes the entire time really quietly in the background. I have no idea why it worked that time, but forever now those songs will make me think of Rue and Erik.
Which of your books was the easiest/hardest to write?
The book that came the most easily to me was The Luckiest (again, with Piper Vaughn) . I think even though Nick Ventura was crass and a big pain, he came to me easily. That book flew out of my fingers. I think my half, which was about 45 thousand words give or take, took a little less than a month. Hardest was a regency short that hasn’t been published yet. I’ve been working on those fifteen thousand words twice as long as it took me to write 45. I have to keep erasing swear words….no, regency women didn’t say “shit”, MJ. Delete, delete…
Which of your books is your favorite?
Ooh, that’s a tough one. I think there are parts of certain ones that I like the best — like the setting for Dark Sun, or Nick Ventura/Tally (from Coming Home) as a main character. I like a lot of the ideas behind the Moon series, even though someday if I have lots of time I’m going to revamp and expand that one.
How did you celebrate the sale of your first book?
By having a minor panic attack. Lol. No, I think I went out to dinner, then got working on the second one!
Plotter or Pantser? Why?
Yes. To both. Mainly, though, I have to plot because if I try to fly by the seat of my pants, things get really disorganized and I end up putting the project aside. I’ve gotten far more into plotting the more I write.
Do you use a pen name? If so, how did you come up with it?
I do:) Mj O’Shea is not my real name. But my grandparents (mom’s side) were Mary and John O’Shea. There’s still a hotel, I forget the name, in Kerry Ireland that O’sheas I’m related to own. Someday I’ll go there! I decided to use a pen name because an eventual goal of mine is to write mass market young adult. I didn’t like the idea of a kid liking my YA titles (if and when they ever exist) and then going and finding ero-rom titles. I can see angry hate mail from parents on that one.
Links:)
Website
Blog with Piper
Twitter
Facebook
Thanks for having me stop by! Below is the blurb and cover of Coming Home, my newest solo title release from Dreamspinner Press:)
Title: Coming Home by M.J. O’Shea
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: M/M, Contemporary, Erotic, Romance
Length: 230 pages
Summary:
Tallis Carrington ruled Rock Bay with his gang of jocks and an iron fist—until a scandal destroyed his family’s name. Ten years later Tallis is dead broke, newly homeless, and on the walk of shame to end all walks of shame. He needs money and needs it fast, and Rock Bay is the only home he knows. But the people of Rock Bay haven’t forgotten him—or the spoiled brat he used to be.
The only person in town willing to overlook his past is Lex, the new coffee shop owner, who offers Tally a job even though he appears to despise Tally based on his reputation alone. When Tally discovers his gorgeous boss is the kid he tortured back in high school, Lex’s hot and cold routine finally makes sense. Now Tally has to pull out all the stops to prove he was never really the jerk he seemed to be. After all, if he can win Lex’s heart, the rest of the town should be a piece of coffee cake.
Buy Link: Dreamspinner Press
