Romance the genre

Have you noticed the number of genre’s in the romance field. It’s amazing how many sub genre’s there are. When setting up for your book to be published they ask what genre. You have to make sure you hit it right.

One of the first publishers I looked for in a romance was Avon. They always had a great selection. I remember years ago you had historical, contemporary or series. The historical covered anything not contemporary. Now you have the different time periods. You have so many sub genres. What’s funny is some of them are so new that I have to google them to see what they include.

When publishing you have to make sure you put your work in the correct genre. Then let’s don’t forget tagging. That’s for a whole new blog post.

But for me romance is romance. Everyone needs a little romance no matter how you get it. I’ve been reading romance since I was a teenager and it’s still the same. Now you just have a lot more to choose from. I used to sit and wait for the next book to come out, but now you just go to your favorite book site and choose from thousands and thousands in every subject you want. If you tried to read everyone of them, you’d never make it.

If you want to check out some great romance and reviews go over to avonromance.com. They offer a great selection of romance and commentary that keeps you intrigued. I’ve enjoyed being a contributor on their site. I know you won’t be disappointed.

As always, great writing and May God Bless YOU…

A Love Never Lost

A Love Never Lost is my longest book to date. I enjoyed writing this book. It covers romance, suspense, mystery and horses. Who doesn’t like a cowboy romance with a twist?

It’s available on Amazon, Smashwords.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Diesel, Apple, Allromanceebooks.com, Google Play and Sony. Check it out. It’s available in paperback and ebook.

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July and a safe one.

As always, great writing and May God Bless you…

Where would you write?

It’s an easy question when you’re daydreaming. If you had the choice, where on this wonderful earth would you go to write your novel?

Here’s my list of places I’d love to go to write and it can’t be local:

1. A small mountain town in the Swiss Alps.

2. Montana ranch

3. London

4. Paris

5. The Caribbean

6. Greece

7. Bavaria

8. Salzburg

9. Scotland

10. French Countryside

What’s your writing location wish list? Have you ever thought about it? Sometimes the place you are inspires you. Maybe you’re happy in your comfy chair located at home, or you dream of a tropical oasis or maybe a villa in France, but where do you dream of?

As always, good writing and may God Bless You…

How do you take it?

Take what? Well as I fixed my first cup of coffee this morning I had a thought. We’re all different. Some like their coffee high octane, completely black with no cream or sugar just straight coffee. Some like artificial sweetners and cream. Some like real sugar and no cream. As for me, I take it with one pack of Splenda and a little french vanilla creamer. That’s what it takes to get me going…

It’s the same with reading. As a writer I’ve come to know so many different types of writing. It’s amazing how many genres of writing there is. In romance you can find so many genres. I sat and tried to figure them all out. What’s hard is to figure out which one your work fits in.

I’ve had to learn what heat levels meant. That was fun. I’ve had to learn what tags were and how they relate to your work. Some readers only read certain heat levels or from certain tags. It’s always interesting to look at the percentages.

I had a reviewer tell me one of my books would have been better if it would have been given some tequila and heated up. She gave me a great review, but thought it needed more heated scenes. As you know, I write my books on a lower heat level.

My editor laughs when I see a new genre come out and I have to go what’s that. Especially if it’s a abreviation. Sometimes I’m sorry I ask the meaning 🙂 But my opinion is this. Everyone needs something different and that’s what makes the writing world go round. If we all wrote in the same genre and heat level, it would get really boring and we’d be out of business really quick.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Romance and the writer…

Ok, so you know I’m a romance writer. I love romance. It’s a very important part of m life. I strive to bring as much romance as I can to the reader in every word I write. But sometimes writing romance and living romance are two different things.

When you live romance it’s ingrained in you and everything you look at you see a romantic element. Of course some people laugh at me when I say things like that. It’s important to bring romance about in everything. In today’s world of terrorism, crazy weather events, and financial woes romance is not easy to bring about.

One of the key elements is to be open to it. If you close your mind to it then that’s that. Whether you’re married or not romance can come along and surprise you. Maybe it’s as simple as a smile across the dinner table or a look in the car. But give it a little try. I know I’ve blogged several times about romance, but it’s an important element of our lives. Well, that’s my opinion.

As for romance in writing, people pick up a romance novel for several reasons. Sometimes it’s for the sexy cowboy on the cover and dreams it brings on, but a lot of times it’s to get a feel for romance. Romance can bring on a happy feeling, if just for the moment you’re reading it. So when I’m writing I try to bring a little romance into even the simplest chore. My characters have to have a romantic flare.

Maybe the reader has no romance in their lives and they need this to get through the day. You may be saying why. If you have a marriage with no romance, the spark’s gone, maybe for just a moment you can have hope. Maybe the story can inspire you to create a better environment for romance.

So, go home tonight and cook a romantic dinner or bring home take out and light a candle. Maybe after the kid’s go to bed. But bring about some romance and see where it leads. It could lead to some secret smiles over the breakfast table 😉

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Saturday writing time…

I’ve been looking forward to Saturday since last Saturday 🙂 Saturday morning is house cleaning time at me house. I do laundry while mopping, vacuuming, scrubbing bathrooms and straightening our week long mess.

But Saturday is also a time for writing. As a writer you try to find time to write. Sometimes when you work a full time job and have other obligations and passions, it’s hard to find enough time to put words in your laptop. Well, I love to write on Saturday. After the house is clean and everyone is ready for a nap, I’m ready to write.

Today is no exception. I always start with checking my book sites and social sites. That way I’ve got everything behind me as I start work. As I sit in my swing on the front porch, a light breeze blows across lifting my spirits. It’s not too warm yet here in the south.

With this being a holiday weekend, I plan on doing a lot of writing.I have several works in progress. There’s one thing to know as a writer, the only way to sell it is to finish it and publish it. The more you publish the more you have to offer.

So, hope you have a great weekend and hope it’s very productive.

As always, Good writing and May God Bless You…

The lure of Romance…

In today’s world of divorce, affairs, depression, terrorism, disasters and just plain out life, we’re looking for a way to escape. A lot of people use reading to do this. A large percent of the books read are romance. Maybe it’s the thought of true love, untainted love or even that dream of another life.

When I sit down at my laptop I try to get lost in the moment. I want my reader to feel the same way. If you can’t get lost in the moment as a writer, then how can you get a reader lost in the moment? I want to get my reader into another world and away from the worries of life. Just for a moment to give them something to dream about…

Romance has always carried me away to another place. Sometimes it’s to another country, another time period or just to see life from someone else’s eyes. As I read a book, if it’s a good descriptive book, I try to immerse myself in the story. I try to get lost in the lure that’s romance.

Everyone needs a little romance in their life. Maybe it’s not your thing. I spoke with a friend not too long ago that said she can’t stand to read a romance. She reads only mystery and science fiction. She said she wanted to read my books but was afraid she’d be too critical. I talked her into reading one of them. Well, she’s now into the third one. I smiled as she told me how she liked the first one. “I thought it would be just oozing with silliness and lovey dovey stuff.” I laughed and told her that not all romance books are that way.

Some people do put a stigma on romance books. They think that only housewives and lonely people read them. They’re so wrong. Some of my best fans are business women, teachers, and even some men. The men are the funny ones. I have to say that I was surprised at the amount of men that read romance. So, as I say everyone needs a little romance added to their life.

So go out and pick up a romance novel today and add some spice to your life, your marriage or just to be taken away from the business of life for just a moment.

As always, Good writing and May God Bless You…

Time… A writer’s Nemesis…

Time. We all wish for more time in the day. I don’t know how many times I’ve been working on something and wished for 25 hours in a day instead of 24. Someone told me the other day that I had too many irons in the fire, but I don’t agree.

I love to be busy. It’s a good thing since I’m a wife, mother, Accountant, Children’s Minister, Author and self publisher. Wow, what a list 🙂 Sometimes it’s overwhelming, but then again it’s rewarding.

Everything I do is because of a passion. I’m not the type of person to jump into something that I don’t like to do. Some aspects of my passions are not my favorite things to do, but that’s the nature of the beast.

As a writer you need a little time everyday to put pen to paper or fingers to keys. I love writing and don’t always have those precious minutes to write. I usually write at night when my son is watching television or playing his musical instruments. My husband is usually reading or watching television as I tap away. Some people say, how can you write when the television is blaring in the background, well it’s easy. I go into a world of my own when I write. It’s really scary sometimes how immersed I get.

So, make a plan. Sit down and work out a schedule of your passions. Make sure you give ample time to each one. That’s my goal this week to set up a schedule for writing. I’m going to set aside a little time each day to get that done. It may sound crazy, but in my busy life I need this to stay sane…

First and foremost I have to make sure to put in time for my family and especially for my faith. I have a prayer time everyday which helps me to get through my day. If you don’t you need to try it. It sets the tone for the day.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

P.S. Continue to pray for Oklahoma.

Crying doesn’t show weakness, but strength…

I’ve talked several times about how I cry easily. It’s just a trait I have. A sweet love song, a romantic movie, a faith filled gospel song, or just a memory brought back to life.

In my opinion crying never shows weakness, but the strength to endure. When a song brings on a memory it’s the strength of heart to let your emotions open up. When a sweet romantic scene in a movie brings on emotions, it’s the strength of that emotion that brings on the tears.

Sometimes a sweet memory gets brought on by a smell, a song, a person, or just memories in general. This can bring on a silent tear that also comes from the strength of the memory.

Maybe you think differently, but I can tell you this, it’s the strength that we hide that brings on the tears. The strength of the memory that pours out as life’s sweet tears.

A good author can bring on tears in just a few words. I’ve cried reading before. A book that brings on tears usually get’s read several times and put to memory.

So let those tears flow and show your true strength.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Why is romance such a big draw?

Have you ever wondered why the biggest genre being sold in books is romance? It’s a huge market in any way. People are constantly looking for romance. In most cases people leave no stone unturned.

This is my thoughts on this phenomena. I think that everyone wants some kind of romance in their lives. It could be in their marriage, in their relationship with someone or just simply in their lives. Maybe it’s the fact that a good romance novel can take you to another place and let you live through the characters for a little time.

Sometimes people just need to read about it. It makes them feel better about things in their lives. Maybe it’s just the feeling of getting lost in someone else’s life. Do you need to get lost for just a little while? It’s a safe way to go to another world, to leave your own troubles for just a moment.

I know personally that I love to get lost in a good book. Especially if the book has a sweet romance or the promise of romance in it. It draws me in and makes me smile. I catch myself sometimes looking forward to picking the book back up to get to the next part. Have you ever been so into a book and just had to read through the night because you were so drawn in? Yep, I recognize that look, you have. What’s worse is when it’s a week night and you’ve got to get up early the next day, but you can’t help yourself 🙂

So pick up a romance today. Even men can get into a good romance novel. Men write great romance too.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You….