If you have spent any amount of time in Romancelandia on Twitter, you are probably familiar with the following topics: What’s a rom com? Is this Women’s Fiction disguised as Romance? Cartoon covers — do they suck (or not)? First off, a disclaimer. This essay is not intended as a…

Hi friends and followers! A quick note to tell you a bit about my debut women’s fiction/romance novel LOVE, LISTS, AND FANCY SHIPS. Some of you may know I have a novel coming out with Berkley (an imprint of Penguin Random House) this November, but I realized that some of…

It’s okay if you’re not very good yet. Everyone starts somewhere and you ABSOLUTELY can improve. It’s hard work, and you have to want it and put in the hours, but you CAN get better. ⁣ Small progress is still progress. Every word you write is one that didn’t exist…

There is no right time to get into writing. Always wanted to write? Then do it. It’s not like you have to sit at a desk for an hour every day. Just write for ten minutes. Five even. Write one sentence. You could have an entire year off to write…

⁣ 2000–2009: Write a story about a kid farting. It amuses your 4th grade teacher. You like how your words made someone feel something. Continue writing. Write weird werewolf and Dragonball Z inspired stuff in middle school. In high school, enter your angsty teen poetry phase. Your creative writing teacher Freshman…

Sometimes when I am writing a novel, or chapter, or scene, or sentence, I’ll get a feeling. It’s a niggling sense that SOMETHING is off. To the untrained eye, this character, or scene, or chapter is okay. The writing itself maybe even good. But YOU sense that it isn’t…right. For…

The painting was a wedding gift from my husband’s uncle. A well-known artist in Miami’s Wynwood Art District, Uncle Lou had painted it himself. Whenever someone in Mike’s family gets engaged there’s always talk about what kind of painting Uncle Lou will give them. Like when Derek, Lou’s son, married…

1. It is too easy. Sometimes it falls into your hands so that you don’t even notice. You accept a ring, set a date, and hire a wedding planner who guides you in the do’s and don’ts of addressing invitations. Your fiancé’s mother finds you an office job that will…

1. Ensure it’s the proper time of year. January is preferable. The trees should be bare, and the ground, though hard and frozen, should still be pliable. 2. Be in the proper emotional state. You should be sad and anxious, but with no definable cause. Be a sophomore in college…