Romancing the Blog | Romance Authors and Readers Who Blog

by Alisa Kwitney

Are you guilty of abusing your Muse? I know I am. Back when I was younger, I was grateful when she graced me with inspiration. That was back before peer workshops, my MFA program, Amazon, snarky reader reviews and that last snippy comment from Kirkus.

Nowadays, I take it all out on my Muse. First, I slam her into a chair and demand a bunch of ideas. No, I do not take her out on a walk in the sunshine or make offerings of honey and porridge. I don’t compliment her or play her music, either. Just wham, bam, give it to me, Muse.

And when I get the ideas, I start demanding pages. Lots of them. Product, Baby, this isn’t art, this is a job. Churn them out. I have friends writing two, three books a year. Or a month. My muse complains? I keep her up all night and call her dirty names.

After I get the pages, I start in on the quality. What kind of a flat, insipid scene do you think this is? Do you call this character original? Are you even moving the plot forward, Bimbo? Which Muse are you, anyway? Epic Sentences? Derivative Plotting? Mediocre Prose?

After a while, of course, the Muse rebels. Sometimes she just stares blankly at the wall, or paces, biting her nails. She moans something, but it’s Greek to me.

Lately, I’ve been trying something different. When my Muse grants me an idea, I thank her. Even if it’s not very good. I put in an idea file instead of throwing it out right away, same as I do with my kids’ second-best drawings. When I do this, I find the Muse perks up, and will often throw out another idea or two.

These stink, too, but I smile and act pleased. It took me a while to train the dog.

Then, when I get a good idea, I take the Muse out, give her a nice ripe apple, bring her to a yoga class. She’s absurdly grateful for this kind of thing. Turns out she doesn’t like being chained to a chair all day. Who knew?

Now I’m getting actual pages, and it’s hard to remember not to kick the Muse in the teeth, snarling, “Shallow tripe! What do you mean by sending me this garbage!”

After all, I wouldn’t treat a friend that way, or even an acquaintance. In fact, the only person I treat with casual cruelty is…myself. But when I imagine my creative writing self as a lovely Greek nymph (Thalia, maybe, since my last novel’s a bucolic comedy, or maybe Calliope or Euterpe) I realize just how careless I’ve been.

Because a Muse that’s being ill-treated won’t hang around for long. She’ll run off and go help somebody else, and you’ll see the book you half-imagined writing, authored by someone else, climbing the bestseller lists.

Or else she’ll sick the Furies on you, and make you eat a lot of Twinkies and cheese. Either way, it’s not a good path.

So give your muse some praise, and some excursions, and some time to produce. Pick her some flowers. Play her a song. And above all else, don’t tell her that the last idea she gave you was a load of sheep droppings.

There’s a ton of effort put into the first lines of a book. It’s the hook. It has to grab the reader, introduce compelling characters, and pose a question or questions that the reader needs to read on to find out the answers to.

But what about the last lines of a book? I haven’t seen them get nearly the airtime (or blogtime) that first lines do. And yet they are so important to the book as a whole. So, what kind of endings are there? As I see it, endings can be distilled into two categories:

Satisfying or Unsatisfying.

Of course, as the saying goes, one person’s junk is another person’s treasure. Writing is subjective. But in a romance, we want the happily ever after. We NEED the happily ever after. We know the hero and heroine end up together. So if happily ever after is a given, what makes one ending work well, and another seem trite or ring hollow?

I think it’s character. The more we relate to and root for a character, the more poignant or celebratory or whoo-hoo! the ending becomes. But aside from that, it’s knowing when to actually end the book. It’s that moment when the hero and heroine realize they love each other. It’s after they’ve fallen in love, and finally defeated the villain. It’s when they commit their lives to each other and get married. And sometimes it’s when they finally make love.

There’s no one way to end a story, but no matter how it’s done, the characters must have grown toward each other and the ending has to satisfy the reader emotionally. We have to BELIEVE that the hero and heroine really will live beyond the pages of the book and succeed in their relationship. We have to KNOW that no obstacle will tear them apart. As Scarlet O’Hara said, “After all, tomorrow is another day.” Even if tomorrow is not written on the page.

Did you believe Scarlet would win Rhett’s heart again? I did, way before the sequel came about.

Obviously no writer wants their book to end on an unsatisfying note, but there are those stories that end, and you turn the page wondering if you missed something. Is it supposed to end like that? Isn’t there anymore? It’s unsatisfying, as if the present is wrapped, but there’s no ribbon or pretty bow to make it complete.

I pulled a few random books from my bookshelf that I enjoyed. Here are their endings:

Project Daddy, by Kate Perry

“Yes,” he answered positively. Pushing my wild hair back from my face, he gazed at me seriously. “I love you, Katherine Murphy Fiorelli.”

I smiled, running a finger down his beautiful face. “It’s all I ever wanted.”

Kat’s definition of ‘home’ changed at the end of the book, but Perry did a nice job of bringing the heroine’s desire full circle.

The Duke and I, by Julia Quinn

He leaned down and kissed her. “ ‘Now’ doesn’t even compare to tomorrow. And tomorrow couldn’t possibly compete with the next day. As perfect as I feel this very moment, tomorrow is going to be even better. Ah, Daff,” he murmured, moving his lips to hers, “every day I’m going to love you more. I promise you that. Every day…”

You can’t get more clear than this that the hero and heroine’s love will continue on.

Black Ice, by Anne Stuart

“Don’t look so shocked, Chloe,” he said, touching her bruised mouth with his finger and then bringing it to his own lips. “I told you I wouldn’t lie.”

I’m retired,” he said, looking into Chloe’s eyes, and everything else faded into nothingness. “And my name is Sebastian.”

Stuart also brings the reader back to the hero’s earlier statement that he’d never lie. It’s a nicely tied ribbon on the package of their love.

And my all time favorite ending (at least for now):

Practical Magic, by Alice Hoffman

But Sally doesn’t care if Gillian phoned Gary last week and asked what on earth he was waiting for. It doesn’t matter if he’s had the aunts’ address folded into his coat pocket ever since that phone call. By the time she runs down the bluestone path, it doesn’t make a bit of difference what people think or what they believe. There are some things, after all, that Sally Owens knows for certain: Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.

Hoffman’s happily ever after ending is less concrete than the others, but the promise of love is all that we need to know that Sally finds her happily ever after with Gary. Fall in love whenever you can. It’s as simple as that.

How about you? Any favorite endings that satisfied you as a reader? Or, on the flip side, any endings that just didn’t work for you and left you unsatisfied?

by Karen Gillespie

Everyone loves the familiar and readers are no exception. Most people go into bookstores seeking out their favorite brand-name authors like Mary Higgins Clark, Nicholas Sparks, and Nora Roberts.

I, on the other hand, am always looking for new voices. Nothing excites me more than seeing an unfamiliar name on a best-selling list or the front tables of a bookstore. I’m extremely open to trying debut novelists, knowing that I’m usually going to get an enjoyable read.

Why do I seek out the work of debut novelists? It doesn’t seem particularly logical. Debut novelists, after all, are beginners. Doesn’t it make more sense to wait to read novelists after they’ve written several works and honed their craft?

Certainly that’s true in some cases. We’ve all watched novelists grow and mature. Now and again a first novel will pale in comparison to subsequent efforts. However there is often something almost magical about a first novel.

For one, a debut novel is usually exceptionally well-written. When I teach writer’s’ workshops, I always pass out blind samples of prose from debut novelists and name-brand novelists, asking my students to critique both.

The students will usually tear apart the prose of a best-selling author, citing them with such writerly crimes as telling instead of showing, excessive narration or stilted dialogue. When they read the debut novelist’s prose, they often remark on the fresh language, or the original idea. They’ll say, “It grabbed me right away.’

And that’s one of the main differences between a best-selling novelist and debut novelist. Best-selling novelists can afford to have a slow start or produce less than stellar prose. Their readers trust they’ll eventually get around to the riveting plot or meaningful characterization that made them best-selling novelists in the first place.

Not so with the debut novelist. An unknown author has to seize the reader by the throat and never let go, less the reader tosses the book aside and says, “Who is this gal and why does she think she can write?”

Debut novelists tend to have a fresh perspective. They often possess what Zen Buddhists call “beginner’s mind.” Unlike many career novelists they’re ignorant of publishing trends and the bottom line. Instead of writing to get another contract, they write because they have something they want to say to the world. There’s an uninhibited quality to their prose that can be impossible to replicate. Hence the reason for so many sophomore slumps.

Brand-new novelists also have all the time in the world to polish their work. There aren’t hurried along by editors or agents wanting chapters. No one is telling them they must write a novel a year or their fans will forget them. They have long, luxurious stretches of weeks, months or years to ponder over and perfect their novels. Such circumstances often produce very memorable and moving works of literature.

Here’s a small sample of some of my favorite debut novels. Some are more well–known than others but all are wonderful.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson

The Garden Angel by Mindy Friddle

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos

Good Grief by Lolly Winston

Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

I gave a friend of mine a copy of my book the other day, thinking she might like it because she’d expressed interest in my latest title. She took it, but then said she’d probably never read it.

Her reason?

She only reads the classics. She’s trying to read “good” fiction, she told me. Of course, she added, she meant no offense, and I pretended none was taken. I also bit my tongue and didn’t tell her that Dickens was paid by the word, and considered a hack in his day, and that his own friends wouldn’t read his books. That Shakespeare’s friends laughed at him. That a good chunk of the “classics” authors were destitute because most people in their era turned their noses up at their work. It wasn’t until they died that they got interesting to mainstream readers.

So, maybe I’ll be interesting to her when I’m dead. Maybe not. I’m not pretending that I’m writing the next great American novel here, but I also know that I’m not writing bird cage liners, too. I’m working as hard as the next author, and I’m proud of every word I produce.

As for my friend, we’re still friends–her reading tastes aren’t something that I’m going to try to change one way or the other–but I won’t be foisting a book on her again .

Still, I wonder about that, about the classics and people who pass up really good contemporary books in favor of the older books. I’m not saying that there should be no reading of the classics at all (I do indeed pick them up myself from time to time) but that it’s good to balance reading between what’s available now and what was out back then. I have read some contemporary books that literally blow me away and trump books I read in college hands-down. There are contemporary authors who can write amazing words, with deep thinking and layered themes, who will hopefully someday be considered “classics.”

Who will be the classics authors in fifty years? A hundred? How will our list of literary greats change over the years? I’m not expecting my books to be on that list, but do hope that some of the authors I’ve found over the past years will make those lists, to be added to the ones I’ve read in high school and college (and please, please replace Great Expectations at some point. Pip annoyed me to no end. If asked, I could have given my Freshman English teacher a list of at least three other Dickens novels that would have been a better choice than a kid who couldn’t make up his mind to save his life).

What do you think? Would you expand the list of “classics” to include a few contemporary authors, too? And do you think that just because an author is dead that they should automatically be considered a classic, i.e., “good” enough to be read?

When I first started seriously writing back in 2002, I gave up 90% of television. I still watched some forensic documentaries (research) and CSI, but for the most part I spent my former television time writing. I had a full-time day job and five kids and television just had to go.

I rewarded myself for finishing a book by buying a season of television on DVD. This provided a little downtime after a few marathon writing weeks, and also gave hubby and I a little one-on-one time. We discovered LOST, DEADWOOD, and FIREFLY this way. (Aside: FIREFLY was a great show and should never have been canceled. And DEADWOOD? Ugh, I’m going to miss it . . . ) Right now hubby and I are watching PRISON BREAK and absolutely loving it. What a fabulous, tense show. We’re only about 6 episodes in because I have an immediate deadline, but we’re looking forward to getting back to it.

Now I no longer have a day job. I get to write full-time. So I write while the kids are in school, basically 9-3 five days a week. It works, and only when I’m really, really close to a deadline (like now) do I need to write at night.

So I’ve been buying more DVD sets to watch. One I discovered through my two oldest daughters was SUPERNATURAL. That is one incredible show that I couldn’t wait to watch the second season. So what did I do? I bought a video iPod and discovered a whole new world . . .

Anyway, I was so excited about SUPERNATURAL that I sent the DVD set of season one to my agent and bought season two for my iPod. And now I have four episodes left. I devoured the show. Characters? Fabulous. Story? Incredible. Dialogue? Sharp.

But I only have four episodes left and have to wait until September for season three. So to savor the end, draw it out a bit, I decided to buy another show that everyone has raved about. HEROES.

Big mistake. I’m hooked. Here’s a show without any major actors (at least no one I recognized) sustained almost solely through character. The story is interesting and well-paced, to be sure, but it’s the characters that really grab the viewer. It’s the hero’s journey, literally. They’re not perfect–in fact, some are seriously flawed–but you instantly glob onto them and want them to overcome their limitations and achieve their goals. I already have my favorites, and it’s going to be interesting to watch how it all comes together (no spoilers, please! I’ve only watched the first four episodes!)

I didn’t want to like it. Seriously, I don’t need another show. But one show led to another and another and I feel like writing the creators a huge fan letter raving about how much I love it.

There are some shows that just hit all the right cords. Some are popular (like HEROES) and some are sleepers (like FIREFLY.) But they all have one thing in common: character.

And in the end, isn’t that why we read? For the characters? Because it if was all about plot, would we really care about the story? Plot is nothing without people to care about, root for, and loathe.

So give me a blockbuster show you love to watch, and a sleeper you either miss because they pulled it, or is still on the air but hasn’t quite caught on. And why. When I’m done with HEROES and my deadline, I’m going to need another show to download. Right now, RESCUE ME is at the top of my list to buy next, but I’m listening . . .

I’m addicted again, and loving every minute.

My sister the Rabbi and I had a conversation one day about why she keeps kosher when the dietary laws seem so outdated. She told me that the point of keeping kosher is to bring God into her life at every meal. That in the ritual, the chance exists to go from the profane to the sacred. It was the same thing for all her rituals – they increased the odds that she would have moments of transcendence.

Sounded right to me.

I’m taking a look at my rituals. They’re not religious, and not anything like my sister’s rituals, but I am looking to increase the odds that I might have moments of transcendence when I write.

Specifically, I’m looking to see what I can do to get myself into a habit of a: writing fewer pages per day (finding a number that works for me, for my life, for my deadlines) but doing them more methodically, b: ritualizing the space so that when it’s time to write, that’s where my head is, and c: finding comfort and reclaiming my creativity.

Here’s the current situation. I have for the past many, many years done the majority of my writing in panic mode. Meaning no matter how long I had to write a book, I ended up writing the majority of it in the last month before it’s due. I become totally immersed in the book, writing about 20 pages (or more) per day, in a state that precludes every other thing except coffee and being crabby. I’m very good at this. Especially the being crabby part. Because I’ve done it so long, and because I’m not especially young any more, I have come to believe that this is The Way I Write. Inflexible, unchanging. It just Is.

The grand experiment is to see if I’m wrong.

Believe me, I’m willing to be wrong. I’m in this writing gig for the long haul. This is how I make my living, and there’s no convenient Plan B waiting around the corner if it doesn’t work out. Being wrong would mean that perhaps, just perhaps, I can let go of the panic and write in a way that seems much healthier, saner and disciplined.

Some of the steps I’m taking include getting up at the same time every day (something I haven’t done since I started writing full time). Doing morning pages a la Cameron with my morning coffee. Lighting a delicious smelling candle just before I begin work. Writing 6 pages before I look at email, or blog hop, or do anything else. Doing this 6 days a week.

I’m into a book now, so this seems like a great chance to try out this new routine. I’m not sure what it would look like during the plotting phase, but that’s for another day. Mostly I just want to see if I can do this.

I know it takes time to establish new habits. And that new habits are helped by incorporating rituals.

I also know that rituals and habits come in all forms, and I’m wondering if others have found methods to ritualize and habituate themselves into new, more rewarding practices. Not just with writing, but anything. New eating habits. Working out. You know, stuff that seemed impossible but now makes your life so much better.

I’m hoping to hear experiences and successes from whoever would care to share.

Temperatures are rising, kids are displaying all types of almost out of school squirrelly behavior, and cicadas are getting ready to invade. That can mean only one thing: summer is here.

I love summer. As a librarian summer is usually the busiest time of year for me. Thanks to the invention of summer reading clubs (who was the marvelous person who thought those up?), I will spend the next couple of months making book recommendation after book recommendation in addition to hosting a variety of fiction related programs at my library.

There may only be 99 lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer (if you count from Memorial Day to Labor Day), but readers everywhere try to make the most of that time. Readers I don’t see during the rest of the year pop-up out of nowhere to check out books by the armloads. With some of my favorite patrons it’s like being reunited with your friends from summer camp. We catch up on everything that has been going on in their lives over the past year, and I tell them about all the good books they’ve missed during their absence.

For patrons who are Anal Annies like me, visiting the library after a long break is filled with a single minded purpose: read as many books as possible before the summer is over. Some readers make it a priority to devise a personal reading plan to make the most of their summer. And before you ask, yes, I’ve been known to do that for myself from time to time. While some readers may view this as taking the fun out of discovering new books and authors, other readers appreciate the guidance of a plan and the feeling of accomplishment it provides once it is completed. These readers look forward to my library’s recommended lists each summer, and they really seem to relish checking books off those lists.

Unfortunately, summer is never long enough. As soon as the days begin to get shorter patrons start to straggle in to return the last remaining books on their checkout list – leaving empty handed and not returning until the following summer.

What is it about summer that inspires us to read? Is it the longer days? The lack of original programming on television? The idea that summer is the time for leisurely pursuits (guilt free)?

Or is it that for whatever reason, summer is the only season were people are willing to make time for themselves and make time for what the enjoy doing? And if that is the case, I am very, very sad for these people. What about you? Why do you think some people limit themselves to summer reading only?

I’m rather annoyed with myself tonight. During the writing of what was supposed to be my feelings on e-books and NY books, I entertained the following thoughts: Oh geez, I can’t say that; this might offend somebody; ohmigod, did I just insult myself?; oh, that’s a trainwreck in the making.

Here at Casa Stacey, we’re gearing up for a Memorial Day trip along with the normal everyday crises, and I just don’t have time for a trainwreck. What I find annoying is that I knowingly and willingly censored myself rather than risk the kind of tempests we’ve been seeing lately. So after hours and hours of typing and second-guessing and deleting, only the core remains—

The three statements regarding e-publishing I’ve heard the most often:

E-publishing is a stepping stone to NY:

I’ve seen too many of my fellow authors step into juicy NY contracts boosted by their digital career to argue that point. But it can just as easily work against the e-pubbed author. It’s very easy to get caught up in keeping up—getting those releases out there, promo, etc. “I’ll work on that partial for NY as soon as my edits are done/I get a sub in for that summer antho/OMG, slots are closing for ’08?”

My advice to those thinking of e-publishing: Make sure placing your books with an e-publisher is part of your career plan and not just a desperate move to get your name on a book. Set aside 5% of your writing time for NY projects with an alarm clock if you have to, but don’t get stuck spinning your wheels.

E-pubbed authors laugh all the way to the bank:

You know, back when erotic romance e-books were a niche market, that was probably true. It still is for some, I’m sure. But for many, there’s a reason that “checks will be held until the account accumulates $25” bit is in contracts. In my personal opinion, e-pubbed authors laughing all the way to the bank became a cheerleading rally cry to defend against disrespect from some NY authors, and it’s misleading to many new authors.

My advice: Choose e-publishing because you want the freedom to write your stories your way in whatever word count suits those stories. Don’t do it so you can laugh all the way to the bank, because…well, it just ain’t that funny.

She wasn’t good enough for NY:

I’m sure a lot of people think that, even if it’s not always said publicly. Sometimes it’s true and sometimes it’s not. My first book was digitally released with Ellora’s Cave, and it had never been rejected by a NY house. I’m sure there are successful e-published authors who never even submitted a manuscript to NY before selling. But I’ve been on a lot of loops for a lot of years, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen “All the NY houses have rejected XYZ, so I’m looking into e-pubs. Any recommendations?” And, to be perfectly honest, I’ve seen some books published that are utter garbage. There was no way in hell the books should have been published. (On the flip side, some of my favorite books were e-published.)

My advice: If you’ve had a book soundly rejected by everybody not only on your “A” list, but on your “B” list, as well, don’t make a “C” list. Sure, you might be willing to find an e-publisher willing to slap a cover on it and offer it for sale, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Take a good hard look at your writing. Don’t ask your readers to settle for less than your best just because a publisher is willing to let you.

And…that’s it for now. I’m proud of my e-published books and—should I be so lucky as to get a NY contract—I plan to fight for those option clauses to allow me to continue writing for my current e-publishers indefinitely. But I don’t do it for any of the three reasons listed above, and I hope new writers considering e-publishing won’t either.

E-publishing is a world that could use a little more professional discussion and a lot less cheerleading and group attacks, in my opinion. This post is my homogenized and pasteurized attempt at that.

by Rachel Gibson

I’m occasionally asked (by people who don’t read romance and have never read romance) if I will ever write books in another genre. What they really want to know is if I’ll write books in a genre that gets more respect. I never have to think about my answer. It’s always no. I just don’t ever see that happening. I am first and foremost a reader, and I truly love the romance genre. And like all romance readers, when I open a book, I want to feel intense emotion, strong attraction, and I want to fall in love.

When I look back at my life, I see that I have always preferred romantic books and movies. I might not have known that Sleeping Beauty was a romantic tale. I just knew that I preferred it over Hansel and Gretel. In the seventies when I sat glued to Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, I didn’t know it was a romance, only that when Cinderella and Prince Charming locked eyes and sang “Ten Minutes ago” my young heart squeezed a little. And when Stuart Damon traveled the kingdom, glass slipper in hand, searching for Leslie Ann Warren and her delicate white foot, I fell in love.

When I got older and began to read more adult fiction, I preferred Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice to Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary. I preferred books that left a good feeling in my soul rather than the weight of depression. Unlike Anna who threw herself under a train and Emma Bovary who ate arsenic, neither Jane Eyre nor Elizabeth Bennett were punished for being strong women who used their heads and followed their hearts. Instead, they were rewarded in the end and lived happily ever after.

It’s true that the romance genre does not get the respect it deserves, but that’s okay. I don’t need the respect of those outside the genre to know the worth of my books. I know what I write, and I know the importance of my books in the world. I know the value of escaping into a good book–no matter the genre. I know that there is hardly anything better than turning off the nightly news and escaping into a fantasy world of Regency dukes, vampires, or hot hunky cowboys.

I also know that the romance genre flourishes and will always flourish because it fulfills a basic need in all of us to feel the power of love. And long after I am gone, long after we are all gone, the strong tradition of romantic storytelling will thrive because it has always thrived. There will always be a basic human need to escape and to be reassured that good really does triumph over evil and that love conquers all.

Do you love paranormal romances? Regencies? Whatever your preference, there’s an online resource for you. We list ten reader resources here, but we’d love to know about more. Share your favorite in the comments.

Good Ton
A place for Regency lovers to get lists, learn the lexicon, and chat with other readers and writers on a message board.

Historical Romance Club
Terrific resource for readers of historical romance. Includes interviews, reviews, and a message board.

ParaNormal Romance (PNR)
Excellent resource for lovers of paranormal romance. This site features book reviews, author interviews, and more.

PBW’s E-book Challenge
Download any of these e-books—free! It’s a wonderful way to try e-books or to discover a new author.

Readers Helping Readers
Are you trying to remember the title of a book you read? Say what you remember about the story and see if another reader knows the answer.

Romance Book Covers
This site offers romance-themed wallpaper, screen savers, and more.

Sheikhs and Desert Love
Comprehensive site devoted to romance novels featuring sheikhs. Site includes message board, list of authors, and editor picks.

Special Title Listings
Use this site to find books that fall into certain categories, including road romances, shotgun weddings, virginal heroes, and dozens more.

Vampire Genre
Love vampires? Get recommendations and find new favorites at this site, where you’ll read reviews of contemporary vampire romances.

We Really Dig Romance Novels
A collection of lists, reviews, and author interviews.

This list is not an endorsement of any site and should be used for informational purposes only.