by hollandrae | Sep 30, 2019 | Characters, Musings, My Books, Romance Novels
“I impaled my friend’s ex-husband on a fence post during a tornado,” Beverly Jenkins tells us. “He doesn’t know. He’s still walking around living and breathing like he hasn’t been dead and buried.” The year is 2016 and keynote speaker Beverly Jenkins is telling the...
by hollandrae | 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 hollandrae | 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 hollandrae | 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 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...