“Well-Written” Romance Novels I Loved

Screen-Shot-2017-08-02-at-4.23.36-PMRecently I saw a tweet by The Ripped Bodice (a romance only bookstore) bemoaning customers that come in with their noses in the air asking for “a well-written romance novel.” Oh boy. As if that’s some kind of mythical beast, a unicorn hidden in a field of trash-eating raccoons.

We’ve got news for you folks; there are a lot of talented authors who happen to write romance! Sure, there are some stinkers out there, but isn’t that true of any fiction genre? So I thought I would spend this post sharing the love for a few of my favorites. These are organized by sub-genre.

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I Quit My Day Job to Become a Writer

IMG_3944I have decided to quit my job to focus on building my career as a writer.  That sentence comes with one part, “WOO-HOO,” two parts, “WHO DO I THINK I AM?” with a hearty dash of “WHAT AM I THINKING?!”

This decision has been very difficult and is not one I take lightly. I don’t know how long this jaunt will last or if anything will come of it. I don’t know if I will regret my choice or wish I had done it years ago. All I know is that I’m tired of dipping a toe into “my writing thing.’’ The time has come to give it a go for real.

I imagine my friends and family might have some questions about this new direction of my life. So here are some FAQs, many of which I have asked myself. Continue reading

The Soaring Culmination of My Forbidden Romance (Convention)

IMG_3778 (1)I’m back from the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention (a.k.a. RT), and it was more fun than getting kidnapped by a chisel-jawed pirate. The experience was as ridiculous as I had hoped (in the best way), and I learned so much about writing, publishing, and how to be an author.

I won’t drone on about everything I learned at the amazing writer boot camp (Tropes! GMC! Laban movement!), but I will share some general reflections and fun facts on the convention itself. My journal is littered with bullet point style notes I took in the workshops, so I have written this post in bullet point style to match. Continue reading