In My Words: Kimberly Burton Allen, Writer

Winter is my writing time. When the bed and breakfast business slows and the cold sets in, Chris and I go away to California to relax and rejuvenate our bodies and minds. And, away from the siren call of house projects like painting rooms or planning garden additions, I try to reconnect with my writer spirit and channel my muse through my computer keyboard. This winter I have been finalizing Choice . Unlike my previous fiction, the suspense novels  Blood Exposure  and Net Stalker , Choice  is women's fiction. As I was doing the final edit from Southern California, where much of the book is set (and relishing NOT being in the midst of the horrific winter the East Coast had this year!), I found it easy to slip back into the arms of the characters once more. From the "flyleaf:" Jody Carpenter loved and admired artist Keith Ackerman and believed their personal and creative synergy was evidence they were meant to be together. But after months of assuming their sexua...

When I first began writing seriously (meaning, I took myself seriously and took writing courses and joined writing groups and forums in order to improve my craft), one of the things I learned was that much of the discovery of what your book was about -- the theme-- was rarely apparent in the first draft. Or even in the second. It wasn't until you'd been through a few extensive rewrites that you began to see the theme. I noticed this when I wrote " A BUTLER'S LIFE, " about Chris's experiences as a formally-trained English butler. (Oh boy, don't get him started on the reality of domestic service vs. Downton Abbey !) A Butler's Life is a memoir, not fiction, so I wasn't consciously seeking a theme.  But an unexpected epiphany occurred as we read through the drafts I was editing. A pattern emerged. While Chris had never consciously realized it as it was never a caregiver situation, every one of his major career choices was made in response to his r...