I stumbled on Claire Cain during a nightly Instagram scroll and I am so glad I did! Luckily during her most recent book’s debut – Fighting For You – Claire was kind enough to answer some of my questions about her writing process, both books she loves (and those that mock her from the nightstand) and a quick peek into her purse. You can view all her books on her website.

HS: What got you into writing?

CC: I’ve always loved writing and earned a couple degrees with writing focuses. That said, I can easily link writing romance novels to my love of Boy Bands and the fan fiction I penned with great ferocity in my early teen years. I have the notebooks of hand-written stories featuring NSYNC and BSB and they are…truly horrifying and yet amazing. Occasionally I share excerpts on social media and am always glad the entirety of the stories remain in my control.

HS: Walk us through a typical day in your life?

CC: I wake up early to get kids off to school, but have a about an hour between when my oldest leaves and my two younger kids get going, so I use that time to either workout or work. After the littles are off, I dive in to social media and try to get something posted in the places I plan to. If I’m drafting a book, which I’d say is roughing 60-70% of the year all-told as I write 4-5 books per year, I love to do writing sprints with fellow writers. I’ve organized a few of those or I jump in with organizations running them. These help me get my word count goal early in the day or with concentrated times devoted to writing so the whole day doesn’t get eaten up by just writing—I’ve found that’s my driving force so I can quickly get swallowed by the need for more words. But this life as not just a writer but a publisher means there are many other tasks—business management, marketing, ads, accounting, etc. Those things tend to take up the rest of the day until it’s time to welcome home the kids and husband and I set the work aside. I typically circle back and squeeze in a bit more work after the kids are in bed. All this said, I do have a lot of flexibility, especially if I can nail my word count early!

HS: How do you come up with the ideas for your books?

CC: I always thought this would be the hardest part of writing, but turns out, it’s the easiest part! Generally, when I start writing, the ideas come. Sometimes I get a spark of an idea through an interaction or people-watching, but most often the ideas for my next book or two or three develops as I build the world of my current book, if that makes sense.

HS: Yay or nay to outlines?

CC: I do a very loose partial outline where I staple in the plot points in the three-act structure, and then I go. Because the writing itself is what helps me develop the story, I can’t nail down all the parts ahead of time. When I’ve done this, the book is HARD to write and the story ALWAYS changes. So! I nail down my main plot points (25%, 50%, 75%, hook, inciting incident, pinch points, and climax, and resolution), and then I write to those points knowing they will likely change and by 50% I’ll need to revamp the last half. Basically a true plotter’s nightmare, but after 34 books, the system seems to work no matter how I fiddle with it!

HS: Top 3 favorite writers & top 3 favorite books:

CC: This is an impossible question, so I’ll stick to romance writers and authors since that’s the majority of what I consume these days.

I love Penny Reid and list her first because she’s the romance author who inspired me to seriously consider writing romance. Beauty and the Mustache is such a beautiful, funny, swoony book! I also love Genny Carrick, Abby Jimenez, Kennedy Ryan, and BR Goodwin. Honestly nailing down specific books feels cruel and I’m not sure I can!

HS: What’s on your nightstand right now?

CC: A lamp and a copy of B.R. Goodwin’s What Remains. It’s taunting me because I haven’t read it nor will I—I don’t read paperbacks anymore, so I need to grab the ebook and finally dive into the series I’ve heard rave reviews of!

HS: Share a quote that you love!

CC: “Almost all good writing starts with terrible first efforts.” It’s helpful to see great writers like Anne Lamott say this since I regard her so highly and my first drafts are typically quite awful.

HS: What can we expect from you in the future?

CC: More books! I’ll put out four in 2025, and I have one more book releasing this year.

HS: Favorite fall activity you’re looking forward to?

CC: Well, I’m an October baby, so I generally love the month and time of year because I’m one of those obnoxious people who celebrate “Birthmonth.” Mostly I just love the cooling temps—cowboy, take me away from the 80s and right on down to those 50s!

HS: Reach into your purse—what are the first three items you grab?

CC: Mint gum, mint chapstick, and cuticle oil (a fresh manicure I do every Sunday night is the key to getting my words during the week, hah!)

You can follow Claire on all social media @ClaireCainWriter and/or join her Facebook group!