Lori Devoti, the wise woman woman who’s behind this whole HowToWriteShop brilliance, once said something to me I’ve never forgotten. Lori is well-known for her straight-talk, and her no-holds-barred honesty in telling you how she thinks things are. Whenever she talks about goals or plotting (real-life or storytelling), she is very quick to say, “You … [Read more…]
Ever since readers everywhere started the now-famous “Team Edward/Team Jacob” argument, it seems as if love triangles are everywhere in young adult fiction. I’ve seen a lot of informal recent polls about this trend, and while some readers remain firmly against love triangles, one answer I see a lot is “I like love triangles—if they’re … [Read more…]
Okay, I admit it. Along with being a romance novel fan, I’m also a romance FILM fan. This summer gave us some great superhero movies that led me into a number of conversations with friends (writer and not) as to what makes a romantic hero. This year’s variations were perfect vacation-from-reality fare, with the requisite … [Read more…]
A lot of writers hear that romance is the number one selling genre and with that in mind decide they want to write a romance novel. Let me start by saying I think that is a horrible reason to want to write a romance novel and one that is laden with possibilities for failure. Romance … [Read more…]
So you want to write a romance novel? Do you know what that means? Very briefly, a romance focuses on the central story of two people falling in love, and the challenges they encounter trying to make the relationship work. It also means the story will end with the understanding that these two characters will wind … [Read more…]