Love is worth the risk
Process? I don’t need no stinking process. My book, alas, needs a plot. I’ve read the craft books. I know a scene from a sequel, and I understand the big W shaped romance plot and the four acts that make it up. I get hooks and turning points. I’ve tried outlines, story boards, and scene […]
Highlighting Historical Romance: Regan Walker The issue of emancipation for Catholics consumed England for many decades, beginning in the 18th century and continuing until the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829. Prior to that, Catholics could not, among other things, hold public office nor serve in Parliament. Ironically, the Prince Regent opposed Catholic Emancipation even though […]
I’ve always said I can go for weeks on a few good words. My muse feeds on it. Tell me you like my book, and I’ll hustle to write another one. That said, I may get months of forward energy from this particular review. The March issue of InD’Tale magazine published a review for The […]
This week’s starter in the 52 Week Challenge is “Words that make me go ICK,” or maybe just GAG. Simple enough. I might begin with feces, puke, scabies, worm guts, pustules, zit… Need I go on? My least favorite word? Fuck. I know, I know; it is a good plain Anglo-saxon word that cuts through […]
Readers may have noticed that I’ve been participating in the Marketing For Romance Writers (MFRW) 52-Week blog challenge. The idea is that all the participating authors post on a single topic, and we get to see the wide variation in approaches to the topic. It is a bit fun, and I plan to continue, but […]
Highlighting Historical Romance Ruth Kaufman shares her research and her passion. Years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to England and Wales and explore some amazing castle ruins and stay in two castles (Amberley and Thornbury). I knew I had to visit Castle Rising, in the village of Castle Rising in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, […]
As is our routine, I reviewed the family calendar and my convoluted to-do list with Beloved. Why convoluted? I use a tool called Toodledo that lets me assign every task a due date, an importance level, and a category or folder. The web-based tool lets me sort on all three of those. Obviously a task […]
Highlighting Historical Romance: Jan Scarbrough’s My Lord Raven Writing My Lord Raven was a labor of love. It took a long time with many starts, stops, and twists along the way. I fell in love with medieval history and romance in high school with authors Thomas B. Costain and Anya Seton. Later the romance genre […]
Let me get this off my chest first: I cannot spell. I have been known to spell the same word three different ways on one page. Worse: I cannot proofread. I once earned my living as a tech writer, and a good one. I got reviews that to prove it. They boiled down to “This […]
First draft writing can be a long agony. Once you reach that tender, soul-satisfying conclusion, wipe away a tear, and type The End, you take a deep sigh, certain the story is right. You ask, “Now what?” The temptation is to either a) send it off now because, of course, it is perfect OR b) […]