All Posts 41lKJOi27JL Review – The Napa Deal Reading Time 5 Mins Read Rating: Three Stars – The Napa Deal is a quick, light hearted read, perfect for a lazy weekend or to pass time during a commute. The romance is satisfying, and Brandon basically painted a picture with her lush descriptions of the Napa landscape. pexels-asad-photo-maldives-1024960 The Influence of the Romance Author Reading Time 8 Mins Read Producers of romantic media hold a heavy influence over something fluid, ambiguous, subject to opinion, and a basic tenant of our social biology. In some form or another, romance is something everyone has to deal with on a regular basis. We are all affected by it at some point in our lives. Screen Shot 2021-01-16 at 10.17.03 PM Writing Close – Character Awareness Reading Time 4 Mins Read This awareness gig is one of the more subtle tools in the romance toolkit. It requires context. If Rick had used the phrase “You’re in her seat” in order to clear a space next to her brother (and not next to Rick himself), it would have communicated vastly less about their relationship. table five square (1) Character Description Notes Reading Time 2 Mins Read Some authors spend a lot of time on character description. There are all kinds of questionnaires and forms floating around out there on the internet, and they were even given to me as assignments in college. The author details favorite colors, food, music, and hobbies. They decide where they went to school, who their first girlfriend was, or what their job is. 99.9% of this stuff never makes it to the finished novel, but the author enjoys this exercise. It’s like building a character on the Sims. Admit it. Those of you who play Sims have spent way too much… secret-2725302_1920 Writing Close – Secrets Reading Time 5 Mins Read It divides your characters into distinct categories: Those who know, and those who don’t. And that is a huge deal. When you have two characters sharing a secret, it creates a bond of trust between them. It separates them intellectually from everyone else. the-only-alien-on-the-planet Review – The Only Alien on the Planet Reading Time 3 Mins Read Rating: Five Stars – Ginny is a great main character. She is refreshingly average without being obnoxiously so. She’s no beauty queen if only she’d take off her glasses. She’s no clumsy-but-hot female protagonist. She’s good at school, makes friends easily, is a bit of a coward, occasionally makes rash decisions, and mostly just wants to mind her own business. herald-2100807_1920 On the City of Valheid. Reading Time 3 Mins Read Taken from the notes document for The Little Owl. This is some world building for Valheid, the seat of government for Derehan, where the bulk of the story is set. In the northern country and at higher altitudes, so the buildings will have extremely steep roofs with thatch or sod. Stone and wood construction. Cobbled streets and dirt roads. Well thought out drainage ditches and canals with a very simple sewer system for runoff only. No indoor plumbing or black water management. Chamber pots and out houses. There is no military, but there is a guard. They are not a war-like kind… pexels-alex-andrews-821748 Character Flaw vs. Character Arc Reading Time 9 Mins Read One of the most dangerous misconceptions (relatively speaking, of course) in the academia of creative writing concerns the character flaw. I blame the internet. In a day and age where everyone gets a platform, and where a huge percentage of writers are self taught using online resources, the vast, maze-like bog of story-telling theory gets reduced to soundbites and memes. Because people have, in general, such short attention spans, the most effective way to communicate with them these days seems to be superimposing a single short sentence over a brightly colored background on Facebook. That’s not to knock social media…. love-2055372_1920 Writing Close – Touching Reading Time 2 Mins Read One of the most obvious tools in the romance toolbox for showing close relationships between characters is simply to have them touch each other. Don’t worry, I don’t mean explicit touching. This isn’t a how-to for writing naughty love scenes. When I say “touching,” I mean casual touches. People who are close simply touch each other more. pexels-brianna-martinez-3708717 Gardening is Not Bullshit Reading Time 6 Mins Read Have you ever been writing a scene, and one of your characters does something you didn’t plan on? Did they say something you didn’t intend? Did they see a clue you hadn’t come up with before? Did you paint yourself into a corner or notice a plot hole? journal-2850091_1920 Just Write – What If I’m Not Good Enough Reading Time 5 Mins Read So for right now, don’t think about what might go wrong years from now. In this moment, if you enjoy writing, you should be writing. You should be taking classes and writing drafts. You should be reading your preferred genre, and you should be writing drafts. MV5BNWY2NWE0NWEtZGUwMC00NWMwLTkyNzUtNmIxMmIyYzA0MjNiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA2OTQ3MTUy._V1_ An Entirely Unnecessary Response to a Bad Feminist Review of WW84 Reading Time 6 Mins Read The last time I checked, the struggle with weak female characters was never about romance. Never. It was about the fact that the female character was consistently shallow and only existed as a reward for the male MC. She was there to provide a romance subplot for another character. That was NOT the case in WW84. If anything, Chris Pine’s character fails that particular test. country-bride-5 Review: Country Bride Reading Time 2 Mins Read Rating: DNF — I am a huge fan of escapist romance reads. Improbable situations? Great. Ridiculous deals leading to romance? Fantastic. And even better, this one promised to be devoid of secret billionaires, celebrity, exotic locations — all the soapy stuff that is usually the hallmark of shallow characters. pexels-daria-shevtsova-705670 Tied Up in a Bow Reading Time 6 Mins Read What’s the one thing that keeps a reader turning the page? One word: tension. To be more specific, it’s the build up of tension and the expectation of release. But that’s such a broad concept with a myriad of options, how can one possibly write a single article on the entire topic? Well you probably can’t. But there is one place that tension is often overlooked, and that also happens to be the one place it should be strongest: the last sentence/thought of a scene. There are a whole bunch of writerly advices out there that have been compressed down… fireflies cover 7.4 Announcing: The Little Owl Reading Time 3 Mins Read There is no such thing as right anymore. Gwen has set herself strict rules to keep her heinous abilities in check: No listening in. No Coercion. No lies. But now she must decide how much of a monster she’s willing to become in order to save the people she loves. I am happy to announce the one book that I have been working on more than half my life: The Little Owl. This book has been a passion project for the past twenty years. It has gone through many different iterations, name changes, character changes, plot changes… And finally it’s… pexels-maurício-mascaro-1154189 On the Prowl Reading Time 3 Mins Read A deleted scene for Table Five. Spoilers ahead: Mae and Jamie are looking for someone to help her check off the final item on her list. Several guys caught Mae’s eye as they danced, though most of them backed off the second they saw Jamie, who was obviously dancing with her. There were two, however, who either viewed him as fair competition, or at least non-issue. A tall man with a trim beard and tight jeans, and another with dirty blond hair and a square jaw. “I think I’ve got some nibbles,” Mae said into Jamie’s ear when the blond… woman-1839798 The Beautiful Beta Reading Time 3 Mins Read If there’s one thing every author needs, its eyeballs on your page. Not just one pair, but many. Of all the long, complicated, fluid steps involved in writing a book, one of the most valuable is the Beta Read stage. At this point, you have finished your novel and are relatively happy with it. (An author is never completely happy with their work, but you can get close.) You’ve double checked everything, tied up all the loose ends, and even had a friend read it to check for obvious errors. Now it’s time for the beta read. It can seem… pexels-edu-carvalho-2050999 Crazy Aunt June Reading Time 2 Mins Read Some notes about the one character that never quite made it to the page, from The Ordinary Life of Emily P. Bates. Crazy Aunt June, as described by Emily. This excerpt didn’t make the final cut. June Bates. There’s only one way to describe that woman: crazy. In fact, that’s how we refer to her, Crazy Aunt June. She even calls herself that. “Oh, kids, I’m so glad you’ve come to see your Crazy Aunt June!” she says. Yes, sir, she’s nutters all right. Her house is nuts too. She inherited it from Grandpa Bates when he died, and he… pexels-gabriel-santos-1845429 Much Ado About Pat Reading Time < 1 Min Read Taken from my notes document for Table Five. The big problem: how do I get Pat and Mae to meet? Okay, I want Mae and Pat to meet at some point without Mae realizing who she is (at least not at first). First of all, Pat knows how Mae is involved with Jamie, so her going to the bookstore must be intentional. So why does she go there? Is she just curious? Jamie seems to really like her. He’s been absurdly cheerful the past few days and Pat wants to see what’s up. Why does she care about this? She… pexels-skitterphoto-926680 (1) Performance Anxiety Reading Time 4 Mins Read An excerpt from Chapter 8 of The Ordinary Life of Emily P. Bates. Emily visits Finn at the Cornell Library, where he works. “So,” I started, and then stopped to gather my words. “So I was actually kind of avoiding this party thing for a reason.” “Really?” Finn sounded maddeningly unsurprised. “Yeah.” “Would it have something to do with Mr. McDreamy? Or your lack of party experience in general.” He opened his mouth and I tossed in another M&M. “Kind of both.” “Go on.” “Well, first of all, yes, parties make me nervous. Drinking parties in particular, because frankly I’ve… kiss-1858088 Sex and Climaxes Reading Time 5 Mins Read I am personally all for getting nasty in print (as proven by my latest book, set to come out next year!) But even the raunchiest of us know that graphic sex scenes aren’t always appropriate. You have to consider things like audience (you don’t want to be handing porn to minors) and the plot and climax of your story (pun intended). Sometimes a book simply doesn’t call for a sex scene, even if the characters are in a sexual relationship. Well I’m bored tonight. Why not amuse myself by categorizing them in extremely unnecessary detail? Vanilla This one is pretty… Load More Loading More… You’ve reached the end of the list
41lKJOi27JL Review – The Napa Deal Reading Time 5 Mins Read Rating: Three Stars – The Napa Deal is a quick, light hearted read, perfect for a lazy weekend or to pass time during a commute. The romance is satisfying, and Brandon basically painted a picture with her lush descriptions of the Napa landscape.
pexels-asad-photo-maldives-1024960 The Influence of the Romance Author Reading Time 8 Mins Read Producers of romantic media hold a heavy influence over something fluid, ambiguous, subject to opinion, and a basic tenant of our social biology. In some form or another, romance is something everyone has to deal with on a regular basis. We are all affected by it at some point in our lives.
Screen Shot 2021-01-16 at 10.17.03 PM Writing Close – Character Awareness Reading Time 4 Mins Read This awareness gig is one of the more subtle tools in the romance toolkit. It requires context. If Rick had used the phrase “You’re in her seat” in order to clear a space next to her brother (and not next to Rick himself), it would have communicated vastly less about their relationship.
table five square (1) Character Description Notes Reading Time 2 Mins Read Some authors spend a lot of time on character description. There are all kinds of questionnaires and forms floating around out there on the internet, and they were even given to me as assignments in college. The author details favorite colors, food, music, and hobbies. They decide where they went to school, who their first girlfriend was, or what their job is. 99.9% of this stuff never makes it to the finished novel, but the author enjoys this exercise. It’s like building a character on the Sims. Admit it. Those of you who play Sims have spent way too much…
secret-2725302_1920 Writing Close – Secrets Reading Time 5 Mins Read It divides your characters into distinct categories: Those who know, and those who don’t. And that is a huge deal. When you have two characters sharing a secret, it creates a bond of trust between them. It separates them intellectually from everyone else.
the-only-alien-on-the-planet Review – The Only Alien on the Planet Reading Time 3 Mins Read Rating: Five Stars – Ginny is a great main character. She is refreshingly average without being obnoxiously so. She’s no beauty queen if only she’d take off her glasses. She’s no clumsy-but-hot female protagonist. She’s good at school, makes friends easily, is a bit of a coward, occasionally makes rash decisions, and mostly just wants to mind her own business.
herald-2100807_1920 On the City of Valheid. Reading Time 3 Mins Read Taken from the notes document for The Little Owl. This is some world building for Valheid, the seat of government for Derehan, where the bulk of the story is set. In the northern country and at higher altitudes, so the buildings will have extremely steep roofs with thatch or sod. Stone and wood construction. Cobbled streets and dirt roads. Well thought out drainage ditches and canals with a very simple sewer system for runoff only. No indoor plumbing or black water management. Chamber pots and out houses. There is no military, but there is a guard. They are not a war-like kind…
pexels-alex-andrews-821748 Character Flaw vs. Character Arc Reading Time 9 Mins Read One of the most dangerous misconceptions (relatively speaking, of course) in the academia of creative writing concerns the character flaw. I blame the internet. In a day and age where everyone gets a platform, and where a huge percentage of writers are self taught using online resources, the vast, maze-like bog of story-telling theory gets reduced to soundbites and memes. Because people have, in general, such short attention spans, the most effective way to communicate with them these days seems to be superimposing a single short sentence over a brightly colored background on Facebook. That’s not to knock social media….
love-2055372_1920 Writing Close – Touching Reading Time 2 Mins Read One of the most obvious tools in the romance toolbox for showing close relationships between characters is simply to have them touch each other. Don’t worry, I don’t mean explicit touching. This isn’t a how-to for writing naughty love scenes. When I say “touching,” I mean casual touches. People who are close simply touch each other more.
pexels-brianna-martinez-3708717 Gardening is Not Bullshit Reading Time 6 Mins Read Have you ever been writing a scene, and one of your characters does something you didn’t plan on? Did they say something you didn’t intend? Did they see a clue you hadn’t come up with before? Did you paint yourself into a corner or notice a plot hole?
journal-2850091_1920 Just Write – What If I’m Not Good Enough Reading Time 5 Mins Read So for right now, don’t think about what might go wrong years from now. In this moment, if you enjoy writing, you should be writing. You should be taking classes and writing drafts. You should be reading your preferred genre, and you should be writing drafts.
MV5BNWY2NWE0NWEtZGUwMC00NWMwLTkyNzUtNmIxMmIyYzA0MjNiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA2OTQ3MTUy._V1_ An Entirely Unnecessary Response to a Bad Feminist Review of WW84 Reading Time 6 Mins Read The last time I checked, the struggle with weak female characters was never about romance. Never. It was about the fact that the female character was consistently shallow and only existed as a reward for the male MC. She was there to provide a romance subplot for another character. That was NOT the case in WW84. If anything, Chris Pine’s character fails that particular test.
country-bride-5 Review: Country Bride Reading Time 2 Mins Read Rating: DNF — I am a huge fan of escapist romance reads. Improbable situations? Great. Ridiculous deals leading to romance? Fantastic. And even better, this one promised to be devoid of secret billionaires, celebrity, exotic locations — all the soapy stuff that is usually the hallmark of shallow characters.
pexels-daria-shevtsova-705670 Tied Up in a Bow Reading Time 6 Mins Read What’s the one thing that keeps a reader turning the page? One word: tension. To be more specific, it’s the build up of tension and the expectation of release. But that’s such a broad concept with a myriad of options, how can one possibly write a single article on the entire topic? Well you probably can’t. But there is one place that tension is often overlooked, and that also happens to be the one place it should be strongest: the last sentence/thought of a scene. There are a whole bunch of writerly advices out there that have been compressed down…
fireflies cover 7.4 Announcing: The Little Owl Reading Time 3 Mins Read There is no such thing as right anymore. Gwen has set herself strict rules to keep her heinous abilities in check: No listening in. No Coercion. No lies. But now she must decide how much of a monster she’s willing to become in order to save the people she loves. I am happy to announce the one book that I have been working on more than half my life: The Little Owl. This book has been a passion project for the past twenty years. It has gone through many different iterations, name changes, character changes, plot changes… And finally it’s…
pexels-maurício-mascaro-1154189 On the Prowl Reading Time 3 Mins Read A deleted scene for Table Five. Spoilers ahead: Mae and Jamie are looking for someone to help her check off the final item on her list. Several guys caught Mae’s eye as they danced, though most of them backed off the second they saw Jamie, who was obviously dancing with her. There were two, however, who either viewed him as fair competition, or at least non-issue. A tall man with a trim beard and tight jeans, and another with dirty blond hair and a square jaw. “I think I’ve got some nibbles,” Mae said into Jamie’s ear when the blond…
woman-1839798 The Beautiful Beta Reading Time 3 Mins Read If there’s one thing every author needs, its eyeballs on your page. Not just one pair, but many. Of all the long, complicated, fluid steps involved in writing a book, one of the most valuable is the Beta Read stage. At this point, you have finished your novel and are relatively happy with it. (An author is never completely happy with their work, but you can get close.) You’ve double checked everything, tied up all the loose ends, and even had a friend read it to check for obvious errors. Now it’s time for the beta read. It can seem…
pexels-edu-carvalho-2050999 Crazy Aunt June Reading Time 2 Mins Read Some notes about the one character that never quite made it to the page, from The Ordinary Life of Emily P. Bates. Crazy Aunt June, as described by Emily. This excerpt didn’t make the final cut. June Bates. There’s only one way to describe that woman: crazy. In fact, that’s how we refer to her, Crazy Aunt June. She even calls herself that. “Oh, kids, I’m so glad you’ve come to see your Crazy Aunt June!” she says. Yes, sir, she’s nutters all right. Her house is nuts too. She inherited it from Grandpa Bates when he died, and he…
pexels-gabriel-santos-1845429 Much Ado About Pat Reading Time < 1 Min Read Taken from my notes document for Table Five. The big problem: how do I get Pat and Mae to meet? Okay, I want Mae and Pat to meet at some point without Mae realizing who she is (at least not at first). First of all, Pat knows how Mae is involved with Jamie, so her going to the bookstore must be intentional. So why does she go there? Is she just curious? Jamie seems to really like her. He’s been absurdly cheerful the past few days and Pat wants to see what’s up. Why does she care about this? She…
pexels-skitterphoto-926680 (1) Performance Anxiety Reading Time 4 Mins Read An excerpt from Chapter 8 of The Ordinary Life of Emily P. Bates. Emily visits Finn at the Cornell Library, where he works. “So,” I started, and then stopped to gather my words. “So I was actually kind of avoiding this party thing for a reason.” “Really?” Finn sounded maddeningly unsurprised. “Yeah.” “Would it have something to do with Mr. McDreamy? Or your lack of party experience in general.” He opened his mouth and I tossed in another M&M. “Kind of both.” “Go on.” “Well, first of all, yes, parties make me nervous. Drinking parties in particular, because frankly I’ve…
kiss-1858088 Sex and Climaxes Reading Time 5 Mins Read I am personally all for getting nasty in print (as proven by my latest book, set to come out next year!) But even the raunchiest of us know that graphic sex scenes aren’t always appropriate. You have to consider things like audience (you don’t want to be handing porn to minors) and the plot and climax of your story (pun intended). Sometimes a book simply doesn’t call for a sex scene, even if the characters are in a sexual relationship. Well I’m bored tonight. Why not amuse myself by categorizing them in extremely unnecessary detail? Vanilla This one is pretty…
