For this post, let’s break down a well known romance plot to see where the story beats are going. This is an exercise I’d really recommend for authors of any genre. Take your favorite story, or movie, and break it down to see how they made everything work. You’ll be surprised how much it helps you break down your own story! And yes, this is the movie I’m turning into plot points, but it still translates to novel form. Beauty…
To be fair, no one in the IWSG asked why I love romance. The actual specific question for this month was What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre? But . . . I mean. Come on. We all knew SE was going to answer ‘romance! I freaking adore romance’ and come prepared with an entire listicle of what I consider the best characteristics of romance. With GIFs galore. The co-hosts keeping us on track for October…
It’s the first Wednesday in August, which means it’s IWSG day! Bask in the support and kindness of your fellow authors, and come join the group if you haven’t already. The group is on Twitter (@IWSG) and uses the hashtag IWSG on social medias, if you’re the masochistic type who flitters around social media. (And we are all that type.) Our volunteer co-hosts this month are Tara Tyler, Lisa Buie Collard, Loni Townsend, and Lee Lowery! Go tell them thank you for giving us…
AKA my favorite summer reads Also I may have been misleading you a tad with the ‘little’ in the title. Buckle up, bookworms. Tis the season for some hot, hot stuff. Please be advised that every single series on this list would be classified in the erotic romance genre, and carries the accompanying level of spicy scenes. This is the perfect weather to sit sipping a cold drink and reading all about abductions, mail-order brides, cute hybrid babies, forced proximity,…
It’s the first Wednesday of the month, which means we are all insecure! Get down with your bad self and accept the fragility. We’re all here to support you. To sign up for the group, go here. We are, if not legion, then at least myriad. There’s plenty of support to be had. And we are also on Twitter @TheIWSG hashtag #IWSG. A lot of the support today is coming from our volunteer co-hosts J Lenni Dorner, Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane…
Isn’t it the best when those mischievous feelings sneak up and, WHAM, catch our protagonist upside the head? It’s the literary equivalent to the ‘suddenly; squirrel!’ humor trick and I can’t get enough of watching it play out. Our characters are happily spatting [this is a theme I really like so I read a lot of enemies to lovers, get used to that trope showing up everywhere in my rec posts ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ] all while one of them is insistent…
In the grand tradition of December, let’s do some wrapping up. Wrap some presents. Wrap-up your post-holiday shopping. Write lots of wrap-up lists. Wrap-up small, misbehaving children Krampus style to mail to . . . haha . . . ooops. Don’t do that. Got carried away there. Number Of Books I Read: A very respectable 174 I kept my goal of 200, despite knowing that was stupidly unrealistic with me going back to work full time. And indeed, my reading…
Today’s niche trope is all about choosing to love. To me, the decision to step up as a parent figure is the definition of heroic, because it hits close to my own personal experience. I have been a single mom and I have been lucky enough to find a second chance with the most amazing husband and stepfather in the entire world. He’s the best. No arguing. Also, he’s mine. But you can have these books which feature a love…
Quick internet search tells me that a nerd is defined as; “a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted, interested in obscure or not-popular things, and lacking social skills.” Basically? I am ALL OF THOSE THINGS. It’s like the internet knows my life!* *Dear NSA Agent skimming my blog: please do spend some quality time with my trope rec posts. I promise you will need reading material because my life is very boring and these books are more fun. Also…