by hollandrae | Jun 22, 2020 | Characters, Industry, Inspiration, My Books, Research, Romance Novels
Sometimes, the beginning is the easy part. In fact, sometimes it’s the only part I know. Story inspiration comes to me in myriad ways, snippets of dialogue, a flash of a setting, a character’s tragic backstory. Sometimes it is wide brushes of character arc and plot,...
by hollandrae | Mar 16, 2020 | Editing, Industry, Inspiration, Musings, My Books
Writing is hard. On the best of days, when the phone doesn’t ring and the dog doesn’t bark and your other jobs or schoolwork or family obligations remain mercifully quiet, writing is still a challenge. And the truth is, most days aren’t going to be like that. As I...
by hollandrae | Jan 11, 2020 | Editing, Industry, Inspiration, Musings, My Books, Research, Romance Novels
Throughout the course of our artistic careers, we will evolve and grow into different habits, styles, and approaches to telling stories. Some of us are outliners, some of us are completely insane and dive right in without a second thought. Each book or story will...
by hollandrae | 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 hollandrae | Feb 19, 2019 | Editing, Industry, Musings, My Books, Research, Romance Novels
People often ask if there’s anything I would tell the younger-writer version of myself, any advice or information I wish I had known then, and the answer is a resounding yes. Start with one pen name. In fairness, I did start with one, but that was back at the tail...
