Romancing the Story: Writing Romance, Storytelling, and Book Structure

"They always say start your book on a day that's different. That's called an inciting incident. That's what I try to do naturally. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't." A decade into writing her Highlander series, USA Today Bestselling Author C.A. Szarek has built a large cast of interconnected books, and her unorthodox method continues to have no hard and fast r...

"We need to see writer's block in a different way. It's really not the enemy, but...it's a sign. And usually, it's that your body and your mind are telling you something is off..." Author and writing coach, Dr. Nicole Janz, helps creatives use their writing voice with breakthroughs on writer's block and procrastination. Straightforward and detailed, we chat about...

"(Not) to dive into the core fear...that we're unrelatable that people will not communicate with us...and I think that's one of those things you see get demonstrated with monsters in the history of storytelling." Romance Author Kate Prior fell into writing Monster Romance by accident and now, has three books to show for her Claws and Cubicles series. We discuss writing creature...

"You know it is such a beloved story but the modern twist...it's really a celebration of queer joy and community...like a true Hallmark-y story nothing truly bad happens." We're celebrating the most fabulous time of the year! Contemporary Romance Author Kelly Farmer crafts heart, humor, and depth into her books and gave the premise of "It's a Wonderful Life" a ma...

"I think the key is either treat the character (animal) as a sounding board...or you treat this as another character on the same level as a human character." Writing instructor and multi-genre author, Amber Royer, incorporates all types of animals in her writing - from an octopus to a cockatoo. She directs us in how writing sidekick animals and pets typically follow the "save the ca...

"....We need time to think. We need time to research, and we need time to be creative. And so that has to go into our calendar as well." Back in episode 42, Writer, speaker, and social media consultant Kathryn McClatchy provided ways to create realistic, achievable goals and put the right timeframes in place.  Over six months later, we're doing a re-assessing of yearly goals since w...

"...What drives the conflict most are the character's goals and motivations. So you have to ask 'what is the main character's top goal in life and the focus of the story?'..." Author and Developmental Editor, Susan Sheehey writes compelling stories by embracing flaws, loving imperfections, and building external conflict. She reminds us of the great storytelling tools,...

"My book, A Beautiful Game, was...a love story and also, a love story about soccer and playing soccer." Liz Lincoln and Lainey Davis score goals when it comes to soccer romance. Both ladies write other kinds of sports romance, but in honor of the World Cup, we chat making soccer (or football!) romance accessible to the masses, writing from althetic and non-althetic POVs, and incorporatin...

"Being a pre-published author is to know exactly what your expectations are of yourself and of your writing...Like is this a career for you or do you just have that one story...?" Danika Bloom, USA Today bestselling romance author, coaches authors like she used to coach small business owners. She empowers and creates a community, so authors don't work alone. We chat tips and methods...

"...Dictating helps me get to the emotional level of my characters a little easier than if I was handwriting or typing on my laptop. It's just for me, dictation takes away a little bit of a barrier..." Heidi McCahan had an interesting path to becoming a Harlequin author and found a smart way to create leverage in writing multiple books a year - dictation. She utilized dictation for...

"...I really wanted all my characters to have this nice arc...They start at point A and then they're sort of figuring their way through it as the book goes on." Kayla Grosse can't help but write compelling characters with depth - which propelled her previous romance book into a bestseller. Now her cowboy romance, Reign Me In, rides highs and lows as the small-town character&apo...

"...when you can bring your creative brain to marketing, it explodes. There's so much great opportunity to be creative in marketing and think outside the box and try new things." Author and Speaker Carolyn Choate hosts The Financially Free Author Show and has been imbedded in the indie publishing world since the wild west of ebook publishing when Kindle first came out! We discuss ab...

"We're pretty good at (the podcast)....I have to not be afraid of like stepping out of the intentions of what it looked like....Not being afraid to step out, to do something different. Owning that like "you're good at what you do". I feel like that's where I'm at right now. " Whether you are a romance writer, reader or content creator, Bree knows the struggl...

"We kinda get hit with these overnight success stories, whether it's a writer or anyone...but what I think we don't hear about as much is the actual real toil and grind and rejection that goes into so many books and to being an author." Author Megan Tady put a lot of editing and querying into her debut, Super Bloom, and has the book to prove it! We discuss why the story of hope...

"The city is a beautiful backdrop for (character's) to live their lives in. Whereas in a small town, it's really part of the story." Romance author E.F. Dodd holds a special place in her heart for rural settings and even set her latest book, A Higher Standard, in a small North Carolina town. We chat how specific settings influence your story and tone of a book. Plus, there&apos...

"(For erotica) You have to have an escalation for how the s*x scenes build on each other, in that sense of things getting more and more serious." Cassandra Rose Clarke knows how to play with genres. She teaches writing classes across multiple genres and has written over 70 novels - working with official tie-in books like Star Trek, Halo, etc. We chat on what defines an erotica as opposed...

"If (writers) have a problem...we want to help you target that and take actionable steps. One step at a time (in) chunks so that you can actually move forward right away." Megan Haskell keeps author's stories rolling. Co-host of the Author Wheel podcast and fantasy writer, Megan delves into the importance of structuring writing time and finding the right fit for telling your story....

"You can have the emotion, the angst, and the personal intimate details of a romance, but you can also have the cerebral part of a mystery and solving clues..." Award-winning author Diane Kelly had a natural progression from romance writer to cozy mystery writer, and she's been mixing genres ever since. She discusses the difference between concocting a murder mystery and building a...

"Write like a Reader. If you don't wanna read it, don't write it." USA Today Bestselling Author Lauren Smith has written 75 books in 8 years - spanning multiple sub-genres in romance. She fully understands the trials and tribulations that come with branding yourself under one author name, as well as using a pen name for a different sub-genre. She talks about pros and cons in wr...

"You can bend the rules, but you need to know what they are first." USA Today Bestselling author Jennifer Hilt loves a good trope. So much so that she's written several books about it! In working with authors as a plotter and concept creator, she created and wrote the Trope Thesaurus, a writing reference book to help identify tropes and strengthen stories. Trope Thesaurus Romance: T...

Author Lark Green might be a nurse during the day, but she writes steamy monster romance at night. To deal with the stress of her job and a global crisis, she started writing her own HEA stories. She set a goal to have her debut, The Orc Boss, written and published in a year - all while working full-time in the medical field! We chat about what her process looked like and what she learned in her f...

WRITE WHAT YOU LOVE, LOVE WHAT YOU WRITE. That's Holly Lyn Walrath 's motto. Holly is a writer, poet, editor, and publisher of Interstellar Flight Press and always finds new ways to challenge her writing. Her creativity allows her to think outside the box with poems and short stories; along with numerous methods on getting unstuck. She teaches writing workshops and shares knowledgeable t...

Writing instructor and multi-genre author, Amber Royer, understands the heart of what makes a cozy mystery the perfect comfort read - community, characters, a little romance and a dash of murder mystery. She has done vast research on chocolate, occupations, and furry friends to bring her latest series - Bean to Bar - to life. Plus, we have an honest discussion about charting out romance subplots i...

It's always a good time to set goals! Writer, speaker, and social media consultant Kathryn McClatchy knows how to create and hit achievable goals. She'shelped many authors create realistic goals and objectives for their stage of life - and put the right timeframes in place. We'll be talking all things goal-oriented. No matter if you are looking to level up your business, writing, or...

Shayla Raquel is an author, self publishing mentor, speaker, editor, wifey, and dog mom. She's been helping authors on their publishing journey for over a decade and has writing tips to spare! We chat all things NaNoWriMo and how writers can get invested in any stage of the word count. As a former NaNo winner, Shayla divulges her current methods and tools that set her up for success. Plus, te...