So, perhaps optimistically, I thought I would do Camp NaNoWriMo last month. With my wedding over, being back from holiday, and getting over being sick, I thought things might settle into routine. This represents how my July went really well, actually! (rasik / Pexels.com) Reader, how very wrong I was. Editing Strikes Again Something that often happens in the summer is that I end up with a bunch...
Flight of the Omega Preview
The following is an excerpt of Flight of the Omega, a standalone mm omegaverse novella. Preorder Omega on Top Stay on trend and read Glitterati Omega on Kindle or Kindle Unlimited now! I It was late, the landscape almost pitch black, when Jack made his way home from the forest around Midlothian Ranch. It had been a long, trying day, starting with the fact that part of the fence had broken and the...
Why Consent Is Imperative in Romance Novels
In the romance genre, the subject of consent is sometimes murky and often contentious. The power dynamics of relationships demand that writers explore it.
Copyright Exists to Protect Creators
All right, before we dive in here: I’m not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. Don’t take it that way. Don’t take anything I say here as gospel, because law is one of those things that thrives on “gray area” and interpretation. (I mean, why do you think lawyers can argue totally different things?) What’s this? A banhammer? (Sora Shimazaki/Pexels.com) That said, I’ve worked in rights...
Yes, Fanfic Is Real Writing
Every once in a while someone comes along and decides to shit all over fanfiction. Usually, fanfic gets knocked as being poor quality writing, somehow of little to no literary value. It’s incredibly interesting to me, as someone who cut her teeth on fanfic, who did a degree in English lit and read lots and lots of litfic and “the canon,” and as someone who writes romance novels now. There are a...
How Romantic Love Becomes a Tool of Patriarchy
Recently, a friend was ranting to me about a favorite TV show. They were upset with the direction the writers went with a couple of the characters. A female character had to choose between leaving her family, friends, and career so she could move across country with the man she loved. As it turned out, one of the male leads at her work—her partner—finally confessed to her about his romantic...
Let’s Make Reading Joyful Again
Some people insist that kids should read "real books" because they forget reading is about joy, not some phony intellectualism. We're just better at reading some media than others.
Introducing Cad
Riding the Dragon centers on Cadfael Lewis, an ex-soldier turned farmer living on the planet Librae. Cadfael (Cad for short) hasn’t had it easy, and meeting up with Drake doesn’t make things easier for him. A Broken Soldier Cad is what most would call “a broken soldier.” (Cad tends not to think of himself this way, except when he’s feeling down on himself.) A rather horrific incident with a...
Of Theme Songs and Stoners: The Official Hook, Line & Sinker Playlist
I’m one of those writers who incorporates music as an integral part of my writing process. (Actually, music is just an integral part of my life.) I’ll sometimes orchestrate scenes to particular tunes; I use different tracks to evoke the appropriate mood. And sometimes, music doesn’t speak so much to the plot as it addresses a character. Ty Metzler, the MC of Hook, Line & Sinker, is very much...
Hook, Line & Sinker
Chapter One Ty swayed on his feet as the train rattled and clanked over the trestles, high above the Hudson. He clutched the bar tighter, longing for the familiar ache in his fingers, the cramps that came on after hours of practice, the endless melodies of a symphonic suite played over and over until perfection was achieved. He felt nothing, which wasn’t unusual; he hadn’t practiced at all today...