by hollandrae | Jun 8, 2020 | Industry, Intersectional Feminism, Musings, Research, Romance Novels, Women, Women's Rights
This panel was hosted in summer of 2018, before I moved to Nashville. I briefly considered making edits to this post, but the truth is that more remains the same than has changed in these years of fighting for equal representation, opportunity, and support, and so I...
by hollandrae | Jun 1, 2020 | Characters, Heroines, Industry, Inspiration, Reading, Romance Novels, RWA, Uncategorized, Women, Women's Rights
I initially wrote this piece almost two years ago and, while a lot has changed in romance and in politics, far too much remains the same. I am no longer a member of the Romance Writers of America community, which saddens me deeply, but I am working to create more...
by hollandrae | May 6, 2020 | Characters, Editing, Inspiration, Musings, My Books, Romance Novels
Will they or won’t they – it’s the most important, infuriating question of every romance novel. Will they give into their desire now, in the dark corners of the library? How about now, in the hidden coves of the rose gardens? Will they be interrupted by a gaggle of...
by hollandrae | Apr 27, 2020 | Art, Editing, Heroes, Heroines, Industry, Musings, My Books, Reading, Research, Romance Novels
When the Twilight series hit its zenith of popularity, vampire stories, love triangle stories, and YA fantasy flooded the market. After the success of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, dystopian fiction with young, often female, protagonists, became inescapable in...
by hollandrae | Apr 20, 2020 | Characters, Editing, Inspiration, Musings, My Books, Romance Novels
(Or Why I Just Can’t Help Myself) Back in fall, I attended a writing retreat with some incredible presenters, and during one of the classes on GMC (goal, motivation, and conflict) I realized that I wasn’t making my characters’ lives nearly hard enough. Adding a...
by hollandrae | Apr 6, 2020 | Characters, Industry, Musings, My Books, Romance Novels, Uncategorized
Do you eavesdrop? If you’re a writer and you don’t eavesdrop, then you’re missing out on a treasure trove of inspiration and research. Listening to the world around you – yes, perhaps more than is polite – is a surefire way to realistically represent the world around...