by Holland Rae | Sep 23, 2019 | Characters, Editing, Inspiration, Musings, My Books, Research, Romance Novels
When it comes to the writing process, every writer is going to be different, but I also find that I write differently and follow unique paths depending on the book. For instance, some of my books have turned out quite well after National Novel Writing Month. Others...
by Holland Rae | Sep 16, 2019 | Characters, Interview, Musings, My Books, Research, Romance Novels
If you’ve been around the writing world for a while, chances are that you’ve heard someone refer to character interviews. To the outsider, that idea may seem a little foreign and definitely strange – the characters in our fictional stories come from deep within our...
by Holland Rae | Sep 9, 2019 | Body Image, Characters, Feminism, Heroes, Heroines, Industry, Intersectional Feminism, Musings, My Books, Research, Romance Novels, Women's Rights
When I tell people I write romance novels, I get myriad responses. By far, the ones I find most offensive, (and I promise there are many offensive ones) are those people who ask, Do you ever want to write real books? Yeah. I do want to write real books. That’s why I...
by Holland Rae | Sep 2, 2019 | Characters, Editing, Industry, Musings, My Books, Romance Novels
I am not a pirate queen. I am not a duchess, a ballet instructor nor a botanist with two hot Search and Rescue boyfriends living in a cabin in the Montana mountains. I’ve never driven a BMW, captained a pirate ship or played sovereign to a county in the English...
by Holland Rae | Aug 28, 2019 | Guest Post, Heroines, Industry, Intersectional Feminism, Reading, Reviews, Romance Novels, Series, Tour
I got to sit down with my friend Moni to chat movies, vampire mythology, and her series, The Oracle Chronicles. Author Interview When did you realize or decide you wanted to be a writer? All throughout my childhood and until I graduated high school I wrote. I would...
by Holland Rae | Aug 26, 2019 | Editing, Industry, Inspiration, Musings, My Books, Research, Romance Novels
We’re gonna write, write, write ‘til broad daylight! Psh, I wish. If there was one thing I could go back and tell the writer version of myself when I first started this whole crazy career, it’s that romance writing may be a passion, but it has to be a business. Over...
by Holland Rae | Aug 19, 2019 | Characters, Editing, Industry, Inspiration, Musings, My Books
This has been a busy summer. In July, my best friend visited for a long weekend and the day he left, my cousins came to town. A week later, I left for the New York City Romance Writers of American Conference, and not four days after returning home, we took a weekend...
by Holland Rae | Aug 14, 2019 | Characters, Industry, Inspiration, Musings, My Books, Regency, Romance Novels, RWA, Women, Women's Rights, Writing
My family thinks what I do is pretty cool. They’re supportive, proud, and genuinely interested in how stories get made, how they get sold, and what, exactly, I will be doing next. That doesn’t mean they always understand it, though. Last week, we went away with the...
by Holland Rae | Aug 9, 2019 | Characters, Heroines, Industry, Musings, My Books, Reading, Research, Romance Novels, Series
As a longtime reader and writer of the romance genre, one of the most common refrains I have come across goes a little like this: But it’s so formulaic. You know how the book is going to end, why bother? It’s just a fill in the blank. Onward and upward. In fact, the...
by Holland Rae | Aug 1, 2019 | Editing, Industry, Inspiration, Intersectional Feminism, My Books, Reading, Research, Romance Novels, RWA, Writing
As a general rule, writing is a solitary sport. We communicate with our editors via notes in the margins and chat with our reads on social media, but most of our days are spent scribbling alone, coming up with ideas in the quiet space of an afternoon when the cat is...