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

Freya Marske dazzles readers with her immersive worlds and has the credentials to show for it! She's an international bestselling author, winner of the Romantic Novel Award for Fantasy, and a Hugo-nominated podcaster. She discusses methods in building meticulous, literary worlds readers want to lose themselves in and how to balance a story that does so much with its premise - think Edwardian...

Patrice Caldwell holds many esteemed titles already -  children’s book editor, literary agent,  Forbes’s “30 Under 30” media list, and Publishers Weekly Star Watch honoree - and she hold a distinct passion for uplifting diverse voices in the publishing industry. She discusses the process of pitching, curating, and editing a YA paranormal romance anthology - titled Eternally Yours - with fifteen of...

Kayla Grosse started off writing scripts but found her calling as a bestselling author of romance. Her rockstar romance, I Like You Like That, is hitting all the right chords with an empowered plus-size heroine and a sizzling love story. We get real about plus-size representation in media, the influences behind her empowering female protagonist and writing a character that embodies confidence and...

It's all about tropes! Aimee Walker is a new author and qualified editor - providing all levels of editorial services to authors of romance and women's fiction with clients across four continents. Pulling from her knowledge, clients and resources, she created a top trope book that gamifies tropes found in your favorite contemporary romances. We talk on the importance of tropes and how th...

LJ Keys is an intuitive woman of many talents - writer, poet, and tarot reader. Over the years, it has become clearer where she should be in her spiritual journey. Part of the journey is helping writers with their writing through tarot! She provides a tarot reading for my characters to show how tarot can be used as a writer's tool and how to structure and interpret tarot for writing. Connect...

Eight books into her Highlander Time-Travel series, USA Today Bestselling Author C.A. Szarek is well-acquainted with the trope. She divulges the interest in Scotland that worked its way into her series and creating (and breaking) your own rules as a writer in a sub-genre based in magic. How does she keep track of all the HEAs in a Highlander family tree and how all the books are inter-connected? S...

Professional book blurb writer and coach, Jessie Cunniffe joined the show for a second time to walk through a blurb audit with two voluntary blurbs - one a women's fiction and the other a spicy romance. She talks through the highs and revisions of the blurbs to help gain more readers. Whether you're working on the blurb for a new release or looking to revise from your backlist, Jessie wi...

Melissa Bradford may be a Spanish teacher by day but moonlights as a freelance proofreader and copyeditor ready to turn rough drafts into polished, publishable material for indie authors. She helps walk me through the editing titles (alpha reader, beta reader, proofreader) to clarify when authors need them during the revision process. During our chat, I learn of her business as a proofreader, her...

Rebecca F. Kenney writes spicy fantasy romance about sassy, strong women and hot guys with tragic backstories. As a successful self published author, she knows her way around writing a story and she was one of the early adopters to Amazon's new platform - Kindle Vella. During our chat, we talk about her stories on KV and she bestows all the writing in-and-outs for authors looking to navigate...

Shannon Reber is a Mystery, Paranormal, and Fantasy writer. She was born a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . or her imagination was anyway. She lives in western New York with her husband and a wide variety of both real and imaginary friends who often battle it out for dominance in her head. Her coming-of-age paranormal mystery series - Madison Meyer Mystery - is about a young genius wh...

Khushi T Saha is an indie romance writer, has lived on both coasts of the US, and is a first generation South Asian. Drawing on her own experiences, she weaves tales of interracial relationships, India, and the South Asian culture and traditions - using her skills to completely immerse romance readers.   Her romance series - The Liberated Series - became a cathartic project to convey the triumph a...

Poppy Darling, romance fan and writer, loves a good romance novel. They thrill her, and they were her secret obsession. Until, she decided to become Host of the Confessions of a Closet Romantic Podcast. Like most romantic readers, she finds a sense freedom in the romance genre - being able to define what love, connection, and sex mean to her.  Most of all, she aims to celebrate her love of the gen...

Audiobooks are a booming business with less obstacles than ever before. While many indie authors face the burning questions: Should they narrate their own books or find a narrator? And how do authors find the right narrator for a book? CJ Critt, SAG-AFTRA Actress and Narrator, walks through the process of narration and let's us peak behind-the-mic for the work that goes into voicing an audiob...

Award-winning author Kate Forsyth knows her way around a re-telling. With a Doctorate of Creative Arts in fairy tale studies and an accredited master storyteller, she has written several books re-contextualizing fairy tales and myths. She lends insight into her process of writing a re-telling and how to pull from the original tales to create a compelling story for a modern audience. Kate's mo...

Clarissa Gosling , author of  "Dragons of Kaitstud" and "Lost Princess of Starlight"  YA fantasy series, has always lived more in the world of daydream and fiction than in reality. But faced the problem many author do: How do you find the time to write? On top of being a busy mum and living abroad, she is also an admin for the 365 Writing Challenge, an international writing sup...

It's a spicy book blurb summer! Professional book blurb writer and saving grace for authors, Jessie Cunniffe, joined the show to spill all the tea on writing the perfect book blurb for your book - talking the ins and outs of creating a dynamite blurb that sells your book for you. Below are links to freebies and the paid courses mentioned on the episode - along with discount codes for the podc...

Writer, speaker, and social media consultant Kathryn McClatchy talks about her passion of engaging and encouraging Authorpreneurs and what that term means to her. With a background in business, she plans to help authors take their book business to the next level with some great advice on where to start. We also discuss our latest collaboration on Twitter Spaces, #AuthorpreneurSpace, where we get i...

Denise Giddings is a romance writer and lover of all things romantic.  From writing short stories to a stand-alone novel to a series, we talk about complex characters with flaws and how the passion for writing can encourage learning the craft. We also discuss some of the inspirations behind her latest release, Contradictions, and the importance of showcasing  African American characters.  Contradi...

It's a surprise episode filled with writing retreat wisdom and fun "quickies" - lightning round author interviews. Hear all about what makes writing retreats special and why they're important to each writer. Plus, learn about what projects authors work on during a writing retreat and their best practices! Find Kimberly Packard here: www.kimberlypackard.com https://amzn.to/3sQ3I...

Cindy Kehagiaras is a romance writer and Gen-Xer that's been waiting to write Two Princes, her debut novel, for 30 years. Now on her "5th Life" as she tells it, we talk a bit about the inspirations behind her debut's 90s-setting romantic adventure, the online writing community, and entrepreneurism in the current publishing landscape.  She also divulges a little bit on her next...

E.L. Lewis (or Liza) is a romance author, Wattpad Star, and a natural storyteller with an active imagination. We discuss how her Wattpad journey started, how it's going and how the publications of her 3 novels came about. Vanessa Holden, a manager from Cherry Publishing, also joins us to talk as part of an indie publisher of romantic fiction. Liza's books are published through Cherry Pub...

Sarah Kil is a graphic designer, self-starter, and an open-book when it comes to talking about the business of covers. She tells me all about her venture into book covers, what trends are emerging, and how a cover impacts marketing. While heavily rooted on romance, she designs for other genres, but she's still a hopeless romantic at heart! Find Sarah here: https://www.sarahkilcreativestudio.c...

Tex Thompson is a ruckus-raising professional speaker, writing instructor, and all-purpose extrovert. We discuss all about series and sequel writing - including linear writing, entry points, and the importance of the first book in a series. Find Tex here: https://www.thetexfiles.com/ Facebook - @texianne Twitter - @tex_maam The Seven Deadly First-Page Sins : https://www.thetexfiles.com/classes Res...

Shayla Raquel is a wealth of knowledge for indie publishing. She teaches me a thing or two about acquiring book ambassadors, marketing tools and how to create better content as an author. SHAYLA'S BOOKS 📚 🐛💕 https://amzn.to/3NADtFH Find Shayla here: https://www.shaylaraquel.com/ Twitter - @shaylaleeraquel Instagram - @shaylaleeraquel Pinterest - @shaylaleeraquel Shayla's Amazon Tricks...

LJ Keys waxes poetics on perceptions and gets personal about how Before I Sleep: Poetry, Prose, and Peculiarity, her first book of poetry, came into being. Find LJ here: https://ljkeys.com/ Twitter - @ljandthekeys Instagram - @ljandthekeys Facebook - @ljandthekeys Special Shout-Outs: Luc Bardi - illustrator - @gabeathran Rob Halhead - cover design - @rob_halhead Stephen Parolini - editing - www.no...