Hey, it’s been a while since I did a master list for writers! You love them, and I love them, too. So here’s a list of settings to help you in writing a cozy mystery novel! (Full disclosure: I’m an acquiring editor in the cozy mystery genre in my day job.) Sometimes the setting itself can inspire an intriguing plot
Category: Writing Matters
Hey friends! Last week, I shared a few of the worst romance tropes, in my opinion—but plenty of people love those tropes, so it wasn’t meant to be taken too seriously. This week, I’m sharing a list of romance cliches I love. Wait a minute, you might be saying. Aren’t cliches bad? Eh, not really. Readers can enjoy romantic tropes
It’s not surprising that I have an opinion about the worst romantic cliches. In my day job, I’m often thinking about sweet contemporary romance tropes, and as a recovering workaholic, I’m planning to read a lot more romance—all genres, especially historical and paranormal—on my own time again. However, it’s no more than that: a personal opinion. And because so much
Hey friends! As I’m writing this, the next #PitMad event is this week. (You can find upcoming dates here at the Pitch Wars website.) What is PitMad? It’s one of the Twitter pitch contests where you can pitch your novel in one tweet. If an editor or agent likes your tweet, it means they’d like to see the novel. These
Hey there! Even though this list is called “best Instagram hashtags for authors,” the ones that are best for you will depend on who you are and what you write. The list will probably make you think of other writing hashtags, too. I wanted to write this post because I’m always interested in the benefits of social media for writers.
Hi, friends! Today I have an article on the Writer’s Digest website called “Forced Proximity: 50 Reasons for Your Characters To Be Stuck Together.” I’ve blogged before about how helpful it is to a romance novel plot to give your couple an actual reason to see each other a lot, and as I explain in the article, forced proximity can
I’m sharing a very basic character development worksheet today because I think it’s one great way to get to know your characters better! There are some very complicated worksheets out there, but even a simple one like this can lead you to better insights and even inspire plot points. I’m also sharing a trick for making a character lovable