Regency romance, romantic mysteries, & writing tips too.
With NaNoWriMo on the horizon, and coming up fast, you’re remembering your dream: to write a novel. Last month our group discussed NaNoWriMo and stress. Our writers’ group includes authors who’ve been traditionally published, as well as self-publishing authors. It also includes aspiring authors who want to write, and would, if the whole idea of … Read more
Worried about editing fiction? In one recent meeting of our writers’ group, several members were struggling with editing their novels. A big challenge when editing is story flow. That is, avoiding lumps and bumps which stop the reader. It’s vital to avoid bumps on a micro level, when the reader has a “huh?” moment because … Read more
Can writing apps improve your writing? Although they can’t write for you, they can get you organized and smooth the writing process. A big benefit: the best apps can increase your motivation, while cutting down on procrastination. A few months ago, our writers’ group chatted about writing apps. We all had our favorites. However, some … Read more
A few weeks ago, in a writers’ group meeting, we discussed using social media for book marketing. Several authors used Instagram, others used Pinterest. It became a heated discussion: does social media sell books? Book marketing on social media: does it help you to sell more books? One author was adamant: social media, she said, … Read more
Over the past few months, I’ve found myself a little bored with current Regency romance. So, I decided it was time to enjoy myself by rereading the gold standard in Regency romance: Georgette Heyer. The Regency romance standard: Heyer’s heroes Nothing beats Georgette Heyer’s heroes. For example, here’s Charles Rivenhall, from The Grand Sophy: “The … Read more
Looking for easy book marketing ideas? Most authors never realize that there’s a powerful and free option: publicity. Publicity sells books. Last year, one of our writers’ group members got these results from one press release published on her website: Six book reviews in various print publications; A dozen online reviews; and An article in … Read more