I’ve been working on blurbs for some upcoming releases these past couple weeks, so the topic of this week’s Pen to Pen post by gay-romance writer Clare London has been fresh on my mind. She’s got some great tips for luring in new readers with the power of your words. And since you’re a writer, isn’t that what you were born to do? … Read more
I spent last week revising a young adult story that had been lazing around on my hard drive, so the topic of this week’s Pen to Pen column by Ginna Wilkerson has been on my mind. Wilkerson recently published the young adult urban fantasy Buried Secrets, for which she had to reacquaint herself with the ways that teens talk—not only now, but also three centuries ago. Read her advice and try out the easy-to-follow checklist. … Read more
Romance author Valerie Ullmer provides fiction writers with practical tips on creating memorable characters & story arcs. Includes resources and downloadable worksheets. … Read more
Chris Eboch, author of more than 40 books, offers practical advice on improving the pacing of your stories so reader won’t want to put them down. … Read more
This week in Pen to Pen, I’m happy to have Mary Caelsto, author of Perfect Author Newsletters, coaches other authors in improving their websites and newsletters. Check out her list to make sure you’ve got all five of these must-haves on your website. … Read more
For this week’s Pen to Pen Column, Liv Rancourt has stopped by to talk about the ins and outs of researching historical romances. The process is fresh in her mind, as she’s just released Aqua Follies, a gay romance set in the water ballet scene of 1950s Seattle. You didn’t know there was a Seattle water ballet scene? That’s not all her book covers, and keeping track of the historical trivia was quite the task. She has some great advice for digging up the details that movies and history books might not tell you. … Read more
A lot of writers swear by distraction-free writing apps to help them get their work done. I’ve never tried one before, but probably should have, given how often I accidentally click away to Facebook in the middle of writing a story. So I was interested to see today that AppSumo is offering lifetime access to BlankPage for only $25. Access to the app usually cost $10/month. I decided to check it out. … Read more
Welcome to Pen to Pen, a new weekly feature on my writing blog where authors stop by to talk about things they’ve learned along the way. Kicking the series off is K.S. Trenten, a wonderfully creative author of queer fantasy that I met when we both were publishing with the now-defunct Torquere Press. Today, she has some advice for those of us who have experienced rejection. And since that’s pretty much every writer who’s ever tried to get a story published, what she has to say will help a lot of people. … Read more
If you’ve perused my blog or social media accounts, you already know that I adore Sam Thorne. We both recently had stories in the multi-author anthology Sexy to Go Gay Romance. Her contribution, “Rebuilding the Future,” was filled with the things I’ve come to love about her stories: well-intentioned but socially awkward heroes, deep characterization, and a knack for bringing out the humor of everyday situations. Oh, and adorably besotted protagonists. When Sam’s characters fall in love, they fall hard — just like in real life. … Read more