I got back last Saturday from what was supposed to be the Writers’ Cruise. From that opening sentence, you obviously can tell that it didn’t happen exactly as advertised. Let me start from the beginning: About 8-10 months ago, a member of RomVets, a group of romance writers who served or are currently serving in …
Category : Writing
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Sorry I’ve been so neglectful of this blog. Life just seems to get in the way of doing the things I want to do. Some quick updates: Writing update: I’ve kind of put off writing because of some other things going on. I finished judging the entries I got from the Get Your Stiletto in …
Time is getting shorter! The cruise for the Caribbean in getting closer. Check out this page. We’re going to have a great time and I’d love to see all of you there! I know Susan and I have been posting some of our preparation updates over at RomanceNovelTV. You should come by and check in. …
Thirteen fantasy “cliches’ I hope I never have to see again. Â 1. “Talking” horses – Horses are great animals and I know some people have a deep devotion to them, but seriously, how many books do we need where the hero/heroine has an equine companion who is psychic or can actually speak? There are other …
Thirteen Mistakes Your Hero Should Never Make Last week, I talked about mistakes your heroine should never make. To give equal time, let’s do the hero this week. And of course, this is the biggie: Sleeping around – the hero must be committed to the heroine, even if this is a historical or in a …
Romance Writers of America is considering changing the rules for its RITA and Golden Heart contests. Two things concern me. First the proposed change to the inspirational category: 9.2.11. BEST INSPIRATIONAL ROMANCE – romantic novels in which one or more characters’ religious or spiritual beliefs (in the context of any religion or spiritual belief system) …
Back with I wrote about Sexual Tension in the Sweet Romance, I said that this was workshop I will be giving on the cruise in July. I will also be doing a workshop on older heroines. Let’s see what you all think about that. The earliest heroines were sweet, young things – 18 to 20 …
To avoid the dread TSTL (too stupid to live) syndrome, please avoid these mistakes when creating your heroines: 1. FLEEING UPSTAIRS: The murderer is on the first floor of a building, so our heroine, naturally, runs up the stairs to get away. Eventually, honey, you’re going to end up on the roof and …
Fan Fiction Okay, maybe you’ve heard of it. Maybe not. Essentially, fan fiction is just that: fiction written by fans, generally about movie or television show characters. A person who just loves, say, Stargate: SG-1, thinks a lot about the characters and usually has an idea for something that might happen that may or may …
As regular readers of this blog know, I’m going on a writer’s cruise in July. I hope some of you will join me! I’ll be giving two talks and one of them is about Sexual Tension in the Sweet Romance. I asked my inspirational writer friends for some help and advice for this and in …