{"id":2349,"date":"2019-06-11T08:52:45","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T12:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/?p=2349"},"modified":"2022-12-28T20:41:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-29T01:41:58","slug":"meet-the-irregulars-eden-baylee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/meet-the-irregulars-eden-baylee\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Irregulars: Eden Baylee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Thirteen Questions with\u00a0EDEN BAYLEE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/edenbaylee_headshot.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2350\" src=\"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/edenbaylee_headshot-264x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"264\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/edenbaylee_headshot-264x300.png 264w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/edenbaylee_headshot-600x682.png 600w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/edenbaylee_headshot-768x872.png 768w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/edenbaylee_headshot-901x1024.png 901w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/edenbaylee_headshot.png 1354w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 264px) 100vw, 264px\" \/><\/a>How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Fortunately, I don\u2019t have many. I\u2019m in the process of finishing my STRANGER trilogy. The first book, <em>Stranger at Sunset<\/em>released nearly five years ago already! The next book, <em>A Fragile Truce<\/em>is due out shortly.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Does writing energize or exhaust you?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Both. As I often write into the wee hours, I\u2019m sometimes exhausted by the process. Afterward, I can\u2019t fall asleep because I\u2019m so energized by the words I\u2019ve written. It\u2019s a strange dichotomy, like exercise which fatigues the muscles but also gives one energy.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I like to dive right in to writing, so my research is done as I write. If I were to become an expert on a subject before beginning a book, I might never start! Because I\u2019m a \u201cpantser,\u201d I discover so much in the process of research, and this sometimes moves me in different directions. Firsthand experience is the best way to get the facts straight, so I do this whenever possible\u2014especially when it comes to location for a story. In recent years, trips to Indonesia, Cuba, and parts of the US have enabled me to write stories with more detail and greater accuracy.\u00a0 Aside from this, the majority of my research is done via the Internet and reading of texts.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some authors want to make sure their readers are able to follow their narrative at every juncture. I\u2019m not sure how they manage this, but I\u2019m not one of those authors. By committing to myself to write the best story possible, I fulfill my obligation as an author. Beyond that, readers take care of themselves, and I give them a lot of credit to be able to do so.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>No, I view writing as my profession. It\u2019s work. Meditation and yoga fulfill my spiritual disciplines.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yes, and I still do. When I started writing, my mentor told me it would be best to write under a pseudonym for my genre\u2014erotica. My family and friends already knew what I was writing, so I had no reason to hide from them, which is probably why most people use an alternate name. For me, it was primarily to protect my identity from strangers I\u2019d rather not associate with.<\/p>\n<p>After I started writing in the suspense genre, I considered reverting to my real name but decided against it. I\u2019d always written in multiple genres anyway, particularly for the WordCount Podcast. I published these stories on my blog and introduced many readers of my erotica to them. It helped spread the word about my ability to tell a story, regardless of genre. Aside from this, it had also taken me some time to build a following of readers. I had no desire to spend a lot of time re-branding myself, so marketing the name of Eden Baylee as \u201cauthor of multiple genres\u201d works.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What\u2019s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex? <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019ve written many male characters in my stories, even some from a male point of view. Often, we form opinions of the sexes from stereotypes\u2014men are successful, insensitive, and aggressive, while women are caring, inclusive, and shopaholics. I\u2019ve included perceived positive and negative traits for both, but they are all trappings. When we use clich\u00e9d beliefs in our writing, they dilute the authenticity of our characters and make them one-dimensional. As such, we should not pigeonhole our characters based on sex, since human traits are fluid.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>How many hours a day do you write?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I usually write between 3-5 hours daily. I use word count as a barometer for daily production. If I meet my 2000 word count for the day in less time, it gives me a bit of breathing room. Somedays I struggle for hours and produce very little; other days, I can hammer out a full chapter in less than thirty minutes.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What period of your life do you find you write about most often? (child, teenager, young adult)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I relate strongly to the mid 30s-early 40s. This is primarily because the main character of my trilogy, Kate Hampton is in that age range, so getting into her head is important. When I wrote erotica, the characters were about a decade younger because those stories evoked a particular time in my own life.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>How do you select the names of your characters?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In a word\u2014painstakingly! Names resonate with me in different ways, so I have to be sure I can inhabit a character for the entirety of a book. If I hate the name, it\u2019s not going to be easy to write about that person. I have my own definition for what constitutes \u201cstrong\u201d vs. \u201cweak\u201d names and will assign them accordingly. One quirk of mine is the naming of male characters I don\u2019t like. They always begin with the letter \u201cM\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a lesson not to piss off an author, as they will somehow write you into their stories!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What was your hardest scene to write?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Violence against women is difficult for me, especially when I started by writing erotica\u2014 stories about love. When I write suspense in my short stories or novels, I purposely seek to tackle vile, violent, and sometimes grotesque scenarios. It\u2019s a challenge, but one that I enjoy as I\u2019m attracted to that darker side of storytelling.<\/p>\n<p>In <em>Stranger at Sunset, <\/em>I included a scene of implied rape. It was a tough chapter to write, one that required restraint because I didn\u2019t want to narrate a rape scene. Instead, I ratcheted up the tension with dialogue and mood leading up to the incident.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Does your family support your career as a writer?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yes. I had a career in banking for twenty years before embarking on writing. In many ways, I became a banker to please my parents. When I turned to writing, I was past the age where I needed my family\u2019s support. Still, it\u2019s good to have it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Do you believe in writer\u2019s block? <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>YES! I answered this question differently several years back when I was a lot more cocky and publishing regularly. I said something like: You\u2019ve never heard of \u201cplumber\u2019s block\u201d so why do writers have \u201cwriter\u2019s block?\u201d The inference was that we don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve since learned that you can\u2019t compare plumbing and writing. A plumber installs and fixes pipes, so if you have the proper tools to do so, you\u2019re in business. As a writer of fiction, one of my biggest tools is imagination. The ability to create thought is not the same as wielding a hammer. When you write, you pluck thoughts and ideas from your brain and translate them as words to mean something.<\/p>\n<p>Add to this, mental and physical health, which are both necessary to stay focused.<\/p>\n<p>If any of these tools are not functioning for whatever reason, it can become impossible to write. I\u2019ve had writer\u2019s block for some time now. It\u2019s crippled me in some ways, but it\u2019s also humbled me. I realized that beating myself up over it only made matters worse. I now know it\u2019s not for lack of dedication and desire that I can\u2019t write, and I\u2019ve been trying different things to get back on track. I\u2019m happy to say it\u2019s moving me in the right direction.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Bio<\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-shot-2016-04-16-at-1.41.13-PM.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1671\" src=\"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-shot-2016-04-16-at-1.41.13-PM-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-shot-2016-04-16-at-1.41.13-PM-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-shot-2016-04-16-at-1.41.13-PM-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-shot-2016-04-16-at-1.41.13-PM-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-shot-2016-04-16-at-1.41.13-PM.png 447w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>Eden Baylee<\/strong> left a twenty-year banking career to write and is now a full-time author of multiple genres.<\/span><br class=\"\" \/><br class=\"\" \/><span class=\"\">She has written three collections of erotic novellas and flash fiction ~ SPRING INTO SUMMER, FALL INTO WINTER, and HOT FLASH.<\/span><br class=\"\" \/><br class=\"\" \/><span class=\"\">In 2014, she launched the first novel of her STRANGER TRILOGY with Dr. Kate Hampton\u2013a psychological mystery\/suspense called \u201cStranger at Sunset.\u201d In addition to working on her next novel, Eden created the LAINEY LEE SERIES about a feisty divorc\u00e9e who finds adventure and romance in Hawaii.<\/span><br class=\"\" \/><br class=\"\" \/><span class=\"\">An introvert by nature and an extrovert by design, Eden is most comfortable at home with her laptop surrounded by books. She is an online Scrabble junkie and a social media enthusiast, but she really needs to get out more often!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Website: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.edenbaylee.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.edenbaylee.com<\/a><\/div>\n<div>Blog:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/edenbaylee.com\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/edenbaylee.com\/blog\/<\/a><\/div>\n<div>Facebook:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/edenbaylee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/edenbaylee<\/a><\/div>\n<div>Twitter:<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/edenbaylee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/edenbaylee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@edenbaylee<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thirteen Questions with\u00a0EDEN BAYLEE How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? Fortunately, I don\u2019t have many. I\u2019m in the process of finishing my STRANGER trilogy. The first book, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-2349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meettheirregulars","tag-podcast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2351,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349\/revisions\/2351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}