Rebecca Rose Taylor’s second novel The Modern Way
Author Rebecca Rose Taylor, of Stfelix-de-kingsey, is in the editing process of her soon-to-be-released novel, a follow-up to her historical romance novel, published last year, The Moderna Way. I had the opportunity to chat with her about her latest release, The Heart’s Way.
SQ: Sometimes putting together a first book and having it published is a big feat - how would you compare the process of the first to the second?
RRT: I’m still working on putting together the second book, but this time around, I know all the steps that I need to take, so that is a huge plus.
SQ: Where are you taking your characters in this novel?
RRT: The characters and their names just sort of came to me. I began working on this project back when I was in college in 2006. I remember starting it on my laptop in my dorm room and reading a chapter at a time at a college writer’s group. Their support back then and the encouragement from my Grandpa Herbie when I got home from college and began reading the book to him really helped it grow. I even remember e-mailing chapters to Bridget when she was in college a few years later so that she could read them and give me feedback.
(Herbie Taylor, Rebecca’s grandfather, was well-known to folks making their way past the Richmond Fairgrounds, as he ran a well-loved fruit and vegetable stand for many years, where Rebecca, and her sister Bridget and brother Evan spent a lot of time while they were growing up.)
SQ: How do you find the content of your books compare to one another?
RRT: Character-wise, we have mostly the same characters in both books, with the addition of a love interest for one of the characters in book two. However, the characters grow from book one to two in terms of what they want out of life and the decisions that go along with figuring out their life paths. The settings are the same in both books. One major difference is that book one takes place in approximately the span of a year, whereas book two follows the lives of the characters for a few decades.
SQ : How about your process of writing - tell us about your rituals and what gets your imagination going?
RRT: For most of the writing that I do, I don’t plot things out chapter by chapter. For “The Moderna Way” and its sequel, I did have a list of characters with their looks, their birthdates and their catch phrases. When I write, I find that I write better when I have a bit of music in the background; for some reason, it seems more difficult to get the ideas to flow when it is too quiet. Writing for me is a process both on and off the page. Ideas often come when I’m not contentiously thinking about a project. SQ: Did you ever have writer's block? RRT: I’ve had periods when I haven’t felt as motivated to write than other periods, but I don’t recall a time when I’ve officially had writer’s block and couldn’t write anything.
SQ: If so, how did you come unstuck in your writing?
RRT: I’m often working on several projects at once, so when I’m having trouble with one project, I can take a break and work on another. I also sometimes skip chapters in books or further ahead in short stories to write a part that I know is going to happen and then go back to where I’m having trouble.
SQ: Where there any characters or plot twists that surprised you as you put this together? Anything that happened that even you weren't expecting?
RRT: I often have surprises in my work as I don’t plot for most of my projects. I can think of a specific instance in the sequel “The Heart’s Way” where one of my characters had a goal that she had been working on since book one, but after a series of roadblocks, she makes a decision to not pursue her goal in the way that she had planned. I don’t want to say more than that to give away the story when readers finally get their hands on a copy of the book, which I’m hoping to have out this summer.
SQ: Are you contemplating further books in the series?
RRT: Book 2 wraps up all of the loose ends and also spans a few decades. Right now, I’m not planning any more books in this series, but down the road, I’d say anything is possible. I really loved writing about these characters and even now, twelve years after I first created them, I still feel really attached to them.
SQ: Have you had any responses from fans?
RRT: I have had a good response from fans in our area. I’ve also had an online review on a book blog that was positive. I am hoping to be able to introduce more fans to my work in the future.
SQ: What do you find influenced your writing this time around - in terms of your own hobbies, passions or music, authors that you enjoy?
RRT: Living on a farm definitely had an influence on some of the situations in the book. Also wanting my female characters to feel empowered to accomplish anything that they wanted, whether it was considered to be in the male or female domain was also really important to me. My love of westerns also had a major impact on my novels. The concept for the book came from watching westerns on TV and the thought that if only one of the characters had a cell phone…
The Modern Way is available at Townshippers’ Association, on Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Once the sequel is released, it will also be available in the same locations. On Amazon, both the ebook and paperback versions are available.
Rebecca Rose Taylor also released a children’s book “Finding my Blue Ribbon” last fall.