Good news from the frontline

My good news is that the editor at Mills and Boon ‘LOVES’ one of the story ideas that I pitched to them a few weeks back and thinks that it is a winner.… Continue reading →

The Craft of Writing Romance

Okay.  I confess. I am a total writing craft junkie.  Can’t get enough of it.  I NEED THOSE TOOLS! [And a stylish toolbelt] I LOVE reading articles and blog posts from authors and… Continue reading →

The First Few Pages

  Apparently there are some authors start at the beginning and work their way steadily through the romance story, scene at a time, with almost no revisions or corrections. I don’t hate them. No, not at all.… Continue reading →

Writing Romantic Comedy and Michael Hague

    One of the gems I rescued from the Recycle Bin was this link to an Article by Michael Hague on Writing Romantic Comedy. http://www.screenplaymastery.com/RomanticComedies.htm Key elements from the article; THE ROMANCE… Continue reading →

2008 RWA Conference Workshop Handouts

  The Romance Writers of America Conference 2008 in San Francisco may have come to an end, but there are lots of photos of gals – and a few guys – having a… Continue reading →

How NOT to start a story

  The fantastic J A Konrath has just been reading and judging TWO THOUSAND short stories and has seen the same mistakes over and over again. Here are his pet hates: ‘DO NOT START… Continue reading →

Free Guide to Publishing Your Novel

Happy days. The wonderful and thought provoking crime writer, J A Konrath, had collected the posts from his terrific Blog into ‘The Newbie’s Guide to Publishing – Book.’ AND IT IS FREE for… Continue reading →

Blake Synder and Wedding Crashers

Did anyone see the film ‘Wedding Crashers’? It was a strange piece of Romantic Comedy which was clearly designed to appeal to the modern US male – the perpetual teenager, and the antics… Continue reading →

Using a Dilemma to drive your story

A DILEMMA. A choice has to be made between two equally bad – or two equally good- alternatives. Example. Our hero’s brother needs a life or death operation that costs serious money. But… Continue reading →

Thriller Writing Challenges

Among other things, I write Medical Thrillers. And one of the greatest challenges I find is this: HOW TO MAKE THE CONFLICT PERSONAL? What do I mean by that? Imagine you have a… Continue reading →