Making Villains Real

Making Villains Real

What makes a villain? Does someone like the mustache twirling character from cartoons come to mind? Or perhaps it’s Mr. Goldfinger (pictured here)? Is your villain a thoroughly evil character or just someone who wants to ensure your protagonist doesn’t get what they...
Do your characters have to grow?

Do your characters have to grow?

It’s an honest question. You might think that because I’m a romance writer and one who is always talking about goal, motivation, and conflict that I would be standing here screaming “Yes! Characters must always grow. They must always learn something and develop as a...
When do you write?

When do you write?

 I’m sure I’ve written on this topic before, but somehow, I can’t find it, and if I can’t find it, that means that you can’t find it. So, I’ll tackle it again. I’ve been thinking about this recently because I’ve been swamped with Other Work (i.e. editing, formatting,...
The All-Important Newsletter

The All-Important Newsletter

A newsletter is a lot more important than a lot of new authors realize. Here’s a list of all that a newsletter can do for you. Writing a newsletter makes you think about who you are in your writer persona. Who you are in real life is not necessarily who you are online...
Succeeding

Succeeding

How do you know when you’ve made it? How do you know when you have succeeded? What is your definition of success? This can be with anything in your life: your marriage, your full-time job, your tennis game, whatever! But, of course, what I’m talking about right now is...
Author Websites

Author Websites

My sincere apologies to you! I did not have time to write a blog this past week because I was preparing a talk for the Washington Romance Writer’s Retreat this weekend. Therefore, for my blog today, I’m going to direct you to my talk PowerPoint...