Writer Routine Wednesday: Nicola Marsh

Hey, all! It's another week of my new blog segment:

Writer Routine Wednesday, where every Wednesday from now until the end of August, I will host an author. We'll get to know them better and their books as well as hear them describe their usual writing routine. Maybe you'll pick up an idea they use for yourself!
Lots of great prizes are scheduled too!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, please welcome author Nicola Marsh today and hear about her writing routine!


BIO: USA TODAY bestselling author Nicola Marsh writes flirty fiction with flare for Harlequin Romance and Modern Heat/Presents.
She’s had 24 books published and sold over 2 million copies worldwide. She’s a Waldenbooks and Bookscan bestseller, has finalled in several awards including the HOLT, Booksellers’ Best, Golden Quill, Laurel Wreath, More than Magic and won several CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Awards.
She was recently nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Harlequin Romance 2009.
A physiotherapist in a previous life, she now adores writing, raising her two little heroes, sharing fine food with family and friends, and her favourite, curling up with a good book!

For more info on my books and writing life, visit my website http://www.nicolamarsh.com/ and blog http://nicolamarsh.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by, Nicola!

Please describe for our audience a “typical” writing day for yourself. For example: Do you get up have your coffee, check e-mail, then write to a certain time? Do you have a set word or page goal when you write?

In the ideal world, I would write the whole day (what bliss!) Instead, I have a family to raise so my work ‘day’ starts at 8.30 pm when the little ones are down for the night. I write for a few hours, longer if I'm on a roll or facing a deadline. Sleep is a distant memory!

Checking emails and my social networking stuff happens in snatches, usually via my iPhone. Best invention ever for authors on the run with limited time!

Do you have another job outside of writing? (Being a mommie definitely counts!!) If the answer is yes, describe how you balance the two and how much time you devote to each.After working as a physiotherapist for 13 years, those years are behind me. I’m now a full time mum and part time writer. My kids always come first. That said, they know if I’m on a tight deadline because they’ll be clambering over me while I write on Alphasmart in the playroom, or telling me loudly to get off the ‘puter!

Are you a laptop, PC, Alphasmart, or by hand kind of writer? Usually PC but if I’m after speed, I always resort to Alphasmart. The words pour out when I use Alphie. I recently wrote the bulk of a mainstream novel in a month on Alphie, my trusty speed machine!

Plotter or panster? If you’re a plotter, how much time do think you put into plotter before writing? Used to be a plotter when I first started writing, these days I like my characters to show me the way.


Some writers make collages or listen to or create music soundtracks for their work-in-progress? Do you do any of those or have you thought about doing one of them? I prefer silence when I write (my quiet time of the day when kids in bed!) so no music. I got hooked on doing collages a few years ago but strangely, while I love doing them before writing the book, once I’m into the zone I barely look at them again!

What’s your favorite book on writing? Creating Unforgettable Characters by Linda Seger

What’s your favorite fiction book you’ve read so far this year? Barbara O’Neal’s The Secret of Everything. I adore her books!

What’s your favorite way to reward yourself after you’ve finished writing a book? By vegging in front of the TV at night for a week, something I don’t get to do usually. I grab DVDs of movies I’ve missed out on, scoff large amounts of ice cream and have a ball!

You're speaking my language by mentioning ice cream! Thank you, Nicola, so much for sharing a little of your writing routine and life with us today!

Nicola actually has two books out this month! Here is a little bit about both of them:

Three Times a Bridesmaid…
From geek…to chic!
Another wedding invitation has landed on Eve Pemberton's doormat. Determined not to attend alone again, Eve organises a date for the day! At such short notice she's ended up with billionaire Bryce Gibson - the guy who broke a teenage Eve's heart!

On the dance floor Eve and Bryce make a convincing couple - but she's in danger of falling for her first love all over again!

Available at Harlequin and Amazon.com.

Overtime in the Boss’s Bed

Penniless in her pencil skirt…
Desperate for a job, dancer Starr Merriday is forced to hang up her ballet shoes and accept a position as a P.A. in a new city - even if the last time she saw her new boss…she was naked in his bed! Her professional pumps and pencil skirt can’t hide her top-to-toe blush when she remembers their blisteringly hot night together!

But Starr won’t let that suppress her sassy spirit - after all, unbuttoning her blouse is next on her boss’s agenda. So she will switch on her out-of-office and go to a meeting - in the boss’s bed!


Available at Harlequin and Amazon.com.



*Overtime in the Boss’s Bed has hit the Waldenbooks Top 10 Bestseller list already!
Congrats, Nicola!


CONTEST: Nicola has generously offered to give away a signed copy of her Harlequin Romance Three Times a Bridemaid--which I bought and read. And loved!


Please leave a comment below to be entered to win. The giveaway contest will run from now until Thursday 11:59PM (EST). I will announce the lucky winner this Friday!


Good luck and get into your writing routine!