Romance and Writing What You Know

We’ve all had bad relationships. And most romance novels seem to be about romances that go bad, then redeem themselves. This is me speaking from the perspective of a person who is not primarily a romance reader, mind you.

So my question is, how does it interact? Like every writer, a romance author surely draws upon his or her own experience to craft stories, though probably not putting literal events from their own lives into the tale. But are there any romance writers who have rarely or never had bad relationships… or who are currently living a strong, loving, long-term relationship with good communication and no major hassles?

I suspect the answer is – both. I daresay both good and bad relationships teach us about relationships, and that’s what romance writing is largely about. Long may it wave.

Your Friends, Vice, Ego and Pride

When you’re writing a character, don’t make them too perfect–even if they’re the good guy. I have seen a lot of fiction cross my desk lately wherein the heroes are too good. Too smart, too knowledgeable, too flawless. This mistake makes them boring, and worse: it keeps the reader from sympathizing.

We all know we have our own vices, our own pride, our own egos, our own flawed selves. We can sympathize with a main character who makes mistakes, not by accident, but because of issues they’re carrying around unnecessarily. Because we’re all that way too.

So don’t make your characters be who you wish they were. Get out of their way and let them be themselves.

New Look

Okay, it’s just a new theme, but I really thought it was beautiful. Light and airy, ethereal. It’s got pretty colors too. I hope you like the change!

Food Research!

Ever wondered when ice cream was invented? Or mayonnaise? Were those characters you have for your historical romance really allowed to eat Thousand Island dressing on a salad in 1807?

The Food Timeline can help answer these questions! I hereby share this fun and helpful research site with you.

Heart of Gold will have a sequel

My steampunk novel, Heart of Gold, is complete. It only awaits the final revisions before sending off. But for a further gift, a sequel has explained itself to me as well! I have begun work on Spark, the second in the series. So should I have a series title as well as a title for each novel? Does that make the book cover more cumbersome, or the series easier to remember? Should the series title be long, as in ‘Tales From the Widowmaker Fleet’… medium, as in ‘Widowmaker Fleet’… or short, just ‘Widowmaker’? What do you think?

Paper

Remember… you’re writing on paper, not carving in stone.

Your words need not be perfect… if you can get them down, you can revise them later. Even better, the next set of words you get down will be better. There’s no excuse not to write, if you’re a writer. Every word you write, on any subject and for any reason, will improve your work.

We have to get past the fear that it won’t be good enough. There’s no such thing as a word you shouldn’t have written. It’s on paper. It’s not carved in stone.

Fear and Desire Audiobook!

Hey folks, Fear and Desire has been turned into an audiobook! That’s right, you can now hear this erotic tale read out loud.

The first chapter is up for free as a sample! Check it out!

Steampunk Tale

It took me a surprisingly long time to finish it, but the steampunk story I intend to offer to Lyrical is finally done. It’s a steampunk adventure, with pirates and romantic elements.

It’s going through my critique group now, and my own revision process, and will be offered to them soon! Stay tuned!

New Review for Djinn

Djinn was reviewed by Joyfully Reviewed! Although she praised my writing, some parts of the story didn’t please the reviewer. Have you read it–do you agree? Let me know!

You Need to Read This! (Another Review)

Hey, Fear and Desire got another good review, this time from You Gotta Read Reviews. The reviewer had something in common with my main character! Come see what it was.