Tag: romance

  • My First NaNoWriMo, or How I Wrote a Novella in a Month

    I’ve posted before about NaNoWriMo, but until 2020, it was one of those things I’d thought about but never attempted. I was usually busy, and more crucially, I’ve never been fast. I’ve completed novel manuscripts, but writing 50,000 words in a month seemed like a daunting task. I was happy to cheer on other, more…

  • Book Review: Romancing the Page

    I just finished a novella collection that combines keen publishing industry insights with charming f/f romance. Presenting Romancing the Page! Written by fantasy author Laura Lam (Pantomime, False Hearts) writing and self-publishing under the open pen name Laura Ambrose, the three novellas in this series spin love stories between writers and publishing employees in the…

  • Lessons on Writing Relationships… from Romance Novels

    Feedback on the first draft of a fiction manuscript I’ve been working on for a while, while positive in other aspects, suggested that the characters’ relationships lacked a certain spark. So, while working on the second draft, I turned to a genre that models relationship writing: romance. Romance writing is a realm where constraint fuels…

  • What Real Love Is and What We Mistake for It

    Co-written with Kacie Berghoef As Valentine’s Day rolls around, we are surrounded by images of love. Some of these are commercial, like sentimental cards and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. Some of them are idealized cultural expectations, such as flowers or romantic dates. The prevalence of these images reminds us of an inner truth: that we…