Please help me welcome Taryn Blackthorne to my blog today.  Taryn will be giving away a copy of her book to one lucky commenter.  So be sure and leave a comment for an entry to win.

How did you get started writing?

I got my start in writing by storytelling. When I was a kid, I used to put on plays for my babysitters, my Barbies were always horse trainers or sorceresses or psychics. My best friend and I invented the Red Hawks and White Hawks, two imaginary groups of defenders of the world and we’d go on adventures. We were the leaders, of course. My writing just naturally developed out of that.

What genre(s) do you write in and why?

I write in paranormals mostly. I have a few futuristic and a couple of contemporary, but the magical/mystical elements always find ways to creep into my writing, no matter how hard I try to write ‘straight’.

What is your favorite part of writing?

My favourite part of writing is … all of it, I suppose. I love drafting, I love editing, I love making something from nothing and having it all appear from my brain, knowing that without me, this couldn’t have been born. Egotistical? Maybe, but it’s what I like. I guess I’m a bit of a control nut. Okay, there, I admitted it. Really I love trying to figure out the world I live in through the characters on my screen.

What is your favorite dessert/food?

Chocolate or fresh apples with cinnamon sprinkled on them. Mostly chocolate (anything chocolate falls into this, so cake, pie, brownies, bunnies, fondue…excuse me I have to go to the kitchen).

How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?

I get teased about this all the time by my non-writerly friends. I’ll get this look on my face and my best friend Deb always moans and says ‘that’s going into a book, isn’t it?’ But to tell the truth, it’s not the people who end up in my work. I don’t know any real werewolves or wizards, people who’ve been possessed by ghosts or spirits or anything. I’ll pick out dialogue, a movement with hands, the way people look at their spouse or kids. That’s what ends up in my books. And of course, the occasional stupid move I do, like tripping up stairs or pushing a pull door.

What is most difficult for you to write?  Characters, conflict or emotions?  Why?

Fight scenes are VERY difficult for me. I’m not a fighter. I have to ask people who know how to throw a punch, people who are more connected with their bodies than I am. I live too much in my head, everyone who knows me tells me this. I break out chess pieces, dolls, anything to help me block it out and get it right, make it feel real.

What is your writing routine like?

A good day starts off at 6 am. Get up, coffee/tea, breakfast, shower and force my eyelids open. Try to be at the desk by 7am. Emails, blog updates, Twitter hooked up and I’m generally ready to start the word count goal by 8am. Then I hit the #1k1hr people on Twitter and go until I hit 3500 words or 11:30/noon. Then its run errands, interact with real live humans and kitties and other normal stuff. After supper I try to hit the books a bit (professional development for writers should be never ending…I call it research and EVERYTHING can fit in here if you do it right J).  I might go back to the drawing board if I had trouble in the am, or I might write some more if I’ve had trouble hitting my word count. But mostly, that’s it. I try to take weekends off, but if I haven’t hit my weekly count then I’m working the weekend too.

Are you a member of any writing organizations and, if so, have they helped?

I’m a member of the RWA and my local chapter (Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada, or R-wac as we call ourselves) they have helped immensely! I love having people I can bounce ideas off of, ask questions about self-publishing and just network with. I’ve improved immensely in my writing from their book recommendations alone!