The Unconventional Guide to Writing a Good Romance Novel

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What does it take to go about writing a good romance novel? Well first, let me throw out the disclaimer I am no way, shape, or form an expert in writing, but it’s a part of my daily life, and besides I know more now than when I wrote my first novel five years ago. And to be honest, I still pick up valuable tips when I stumble upon them.

Even as a novice writer back then, the one thing I knew for sure when I became an independent author was my genre would be romance. I love reading it. Readers get deep down, invested in a romance novel, one of many reasons the genre is so popular. They love the concept of two attractive people meeting and falling in love, are ready to go through boxes of Kleenex when the male and female go through their conflicts and struggles, and can finally breathe again at the end of the story when the love-birds work everything out to live their happily ever after.

So how do you begin a good romance novel? Well, think about story ideas you can write about for your novel, if possible, something that would spark a reader’s interest. After you figure it out, the next move is to work out your storyline. Try thinking about it in different phrases (e.g. beginning, middle, end) and mapping events out. It helps a lot.

The information below are a few ideas to steer you in the right directions.

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I need inspiration for my storyline. How do I get it?
You can base a storyline off real-life experiences or something you made up. This is where you get creative and let your imagination soar. Still, if you find yourself at a loss, think about things that have triggered your interest, and why it did, such as books, magazines, tv shows, and movies just to name a few.

What is the age group of your audience?
Determine if adults or tweens will read your romance novel. It doesn’t matter which one you pick, just remember your novel should be age-appropriate for the reader.

Point of View.
When you’re creating your story you should consider what point of view you are writing. I prefer writing in third-person point of view, but choose what’s comfortable for you.

Think about the main character.
The main character tells the story so you want this person to be interesting so he/she engages with the reader (e.g. Joe of Caroline Kepnes’ book/Lifetime Movie YOU).

What type of romance should I write?
By this I mean there are subgenres of romance (e.g. historical, contemporary, time travel, etc.) For example, the subgenres of my stories are interracial romance, which is the partnering between different races; paranormal, these deal with vampires, werewolves, and other undead; and/or urban fantasy, which is good vs. evil. Though writing in different genres may not be the norm, my belief is you should write however you want and do what works for you.

These suggestions are starters to head you in the right direction. I hope you found it useful.

 

 

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Just a quick Update

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Sunday was a busy day, but I made time to work on Trial of Marriage 3. Slowly but surely, I’m making progress. Since this is the final book of the series, it’s kind of sad to have the story ending because I’ve really enjoyed the characters. Nevertheless, I’m striving to make sure that all loose ends are cleared up and thoroughly explained. I really wanted to have the book ready by Mother’s Day; however, I’m afraid that’s not going to happen. But, I’ll keep you updated, and I’ll have a better feel about the release date around the middle of May.

The fact that someone other than myself enjoys reading my books means a lot, so thank you for your support. Oh before I forget, I wanted to mention that you should sign up for my website mailing list at www.rlynnarchie.com.  I plan on doing spontaneous giveaways and freebie stuff for my mailing list participants.

Talk soon, and enjoy your day!

R. Lynn

FREE 4/16-4/18 ~ Trial of Marriage (Interracial Romance eBook)

Click Here & Get Your Copy Today

Trial of Marriage
Trey Moretti has it all, dream job, loving wife Angelique, and finally a baby on the way. What he does not plan on is his past sneaking up on him. Gradually things start to unravel as Trey fight to keep his family intact. But when that last big skeleton is finally out of the closet will it mean the end for Trey and Angelique?

**Warning, story contains profanity and scenes of sexual content. Intended for mature readers only.**

 

 

Now Available – Love vs. Career

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VISIT MY WEBSITE:  http://www.rlynnarchie.com

 

 

 

 

Get a Free copy of my eBook – Trial of Marriage from 11/28 -11/30

I thought I would do a Black Friday special for the weekend.  My romance novel Trial of Marriage is free for the entire weekend. Go grab you up a copy!!

Trial of Marriage

Description:

Edited Version – Second Edition

Trey Moretti has it all, dream job, loving wife Angelique, and finally a baby on the way. What he does not plan on is his past sneaking up on him. Gradually things start to unravel as Trey fight to keep his family intact. But when that last big skeleton is finally out of the closet will it mean the end for Trey and Angelique?

**Warning, story contains profanity and scenes of sexual content. Intended for mature readers only.**

US – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AP5NQ4C
India – http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00AP…
UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0…
DE – http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00AP…
FR – http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00AP…
ES – http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B00AP…
IT- http://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B00AP…
NL – http://www.amazon.nl/gp/product/B00AP…
JP – http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B0…
BR – http://www.amazon.com.br/gp/product/B…
CA – http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00AP…
MX – http://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product/B…
AU – http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B…

Happy Holidays,

R. Lynn Archie

The Falling of Grace by Marisa Oldham Cover Reveal

Yesterday I attended the cover reveal for The Falling of Grace by Marisa Oldham. I’m sharing it with you today.

 

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Here is a behind the scenes look at how the cover came together, in Marisa’s  words:

Shooting The Falling of Grace cover…

As a photographer, and the writer of The Falling of Grace, I had a definite vision in my mind of what I wanted the cover to look like, down to the colors and mood. I knew pretty much what I wanted the model to wear, what I wanted her hair to look like, the time of day to shoot so that I got what I wanted, and what elements I would use to bring in the concept from the original book cover.

My first obstacle was getting in contact with baby Grace. Although, I did think I needed someone older to play Grace’s part this time around, once again my mind was stuck on one idea. Thankfully my dear friend Heather Smith ended up being the angel that she is and helped me move. This sounds weird, but as a photographer I watch people and when I looked at Heather from behind and at her side profile, I knew she would make the perfect Grace.

The second obstacle was finding the perfect outfit. I dream cast Candice Swanepole as Grace and there was one particular photo of her that really stood out to me as “TFOG Grace.” When we start TFOG Grace is no longer a naive seventeen year old girl, she’s a successful woman of 24, she should dress with style, but in such a simple way that it comes off stunning. I pictured her in leather pants. Heather didn’t own leather pants. That didn’t stop us. The day of the shoot, which neither of us even planned on shooting that day, we stopped at several thrift stores and found the perfect pair of faux leather pants…complete with little G’s – for Grace (really it’s cause they are Guess). I literally paid $5 for these perfect pants…which BTW you don’t even see in the shot I chose for the cover – LOL.

So, like I said, we had no idea we were shooting that day. I just called Heather and asked, “Are you busy? Want to shoot today?” Something in my gut told me it was the right day. I was a tad disappointed because I had decided that the mood for the cover should be dark, this book is not all hearts and flowers, and it was sunny, but the clouds were abundant and I knew this would make for a killer sunset.
After very little preparation, off my sister and I went to the “oak tree” to meet the model. Heather got stuck in traffic due to an accident and the clock was ticking and the light was fading.

As I was shooting, laying on the ground, trying to get the shot right, I can’t deny how disappointed I was. None of the shots looked right. I had Heather too far away from me for one, thanks to my sister Carraine this was quickly corrected, but the light was simply hideous. The colors that were bouncing off the field were reflecting onto the tree and making it yellow and I was just downright pissed. I’m pretty sure I got a little teary.

Then…off to our left we saw lightening and heard the thunder. I’m not kidding, it was like a miracle. I’ve never seen a storm like that in the 9 years I’ve lived here and never in my life have I seen a sky like the one I saw that night. I really don’t have words to describe what the sky looked like and how intense it got as we kept shooting. The wind picked up and the sky seemed to bleed (perfection) and Mother Nature gave me exactly what I was looking for. While her pose didn’t come out how I envisioned it, I think it really expresses the angst Grace feels in this book. As you saw I brought in the star element from the original book concept to signify The Falling of Grace.

Here are some STRAIGHT OUT OF CAMERA behind the scenes shots to show you what the sky looked like without post processing.

 

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The Falling of Grace is in the process of re-editing and coming soon. Here’s a teaser from the book.

 

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You can connect with Marisa on Facebook

 

 

Why Is It Like Pulling Nails To Get A Book Review?

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Come December 2014 it will be two years since I began writing. All in all, I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts and stories, but one thing I’m still struggling with is getting book reviews on Amazon.

It puzzles me because my books get a decent amount of sells. In addition, even with giving away free copies I still only manage to get between five to ten reviews. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the ones that take a moment of their time to leave one. Yet, I remain amazed when I see other self-published authors such as myself getting huge numbers of reviews and it really peaks my interest in learning what their secret is in achieving such a productive response?

I do know that Goodreads is a good source and they have groups that offer read for reads or book swaps in return for an honest review; unfortunately, with my busy schedule that option just won’t work for me.

Honestly, I don’t think readers realize just how valuable their input is for authors. Their response helps a lot because it reaffirm if an authors book have gone in the right direction or not. In reading up on this topic I came across a few great tips that readers should know:

  • Don’t be afraid of being honest. Do, however, remember to be helpful (and not mean). Don’t just say “it sucks” but tell everyone why it sucked.
  • Don’t give away the ending of the book. You can allude to it very vaguely (“the ending surprised me”) but don’t say specific plot details.
  • You’re not being graded. Write a review as long or short as you want. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece of art—think of it more as a conversation or what you might tell people you know about this book.
  • Make sure that you read the book before you review. This seems like it should be obvious but… it’s not.

I can only speak from my standpoint but if you’ve experienced the same or can shed some light on the question I would love to hear from you.

R. Lynn

 

The Falling of Love Book Tour – Marisa Oldham

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I would like to welcome romance author Marisa Oldham to my blog. This is the first day of her book tour and I will be asking questions about her book The Falling of Love, as well as, thoughts behind her Dreamcast selection of characters.

Marisa, What inspired you to write The Falling of Love?

I’ve had Grace’s story in my head since I was about fifteen years old. I think growing up over the years, watching and experiencing how tragic love can be, was a huge inspiration to me.

Did you know from the beginning it was going to be a series? Yes. I actually did. If I hadn’t broken the story up the book would’ve been about 900 pages or more. I always knew what the beginning, middle and end of the story would be. It just works for it to be a series of 3.

What’s your favorite part of the book? The sweet love between Grace and Ian in the beginning really touches my heart, but I’ll admit, I love the drama towards the middle and end of the book. I think that THAT is what makes readers fall in love with this story and really tugs at their heartstrings.

What was the hardest part to write in the book? Ian’s changes and the turmoil he goes through. What I put Grace through. Sometimes I think I’m too hard on her character.

If you could have dinner with one character out of your book who would it be? Why that character? Ian – the simple answer, because he’s hot and even though he makes poor choices, when he’s himself, he’s amazingly loving and romantic. I wish what I wrote would magically appear before me in the form of my dream guy. I think where a lot of readers will really fall in love with Ian is in The Falling of Grace, book 2.

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Tell us about your Dreamcast and why you choose who you did?

Grace was easy to cast – she’s supposed to be one of the most beautiful women in the world. At first, I was thinking Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, but then my sister said that Candice Swanepoel was a better Grace. I agreed with her because Candice possesses an innocence while still looking like a sex goddess. That is Grace to me. I was lucky to find a photo of Candice when she was about Grace’s age in TFOL.

Ian was probably one of my most difficult to cast. He’s a cross between a young Axl Rose and Jared Leto. I was using Bartek Borowiec, a male model, for a long time, because for young Ian he was perfect, but he’s too feminine looking to be Ian. Jared Leto is more how I picture Ian at an older age. For now, he’ll have to do because there is no one else out there that looks like Ian.

Jaden is also hard to cast because he’s a mixture of guitar player Izzy Stradlin, Trent Reznor, Richard Fortus, and my friend and musician Paul Kenny. They all could pull off playing Jaden. I chose Izzy for this dream cast. I may choose one of the other gorgeous men for the TFOG dream cast.

Michelle is the most difficult of them all to cast because of her wild curls. I see her with the face of Miranda Kerr, but I’ve found very few photos of Miranda with curly hair. The other day my sister said that Megan Fox with curly hair would make a great Michelle, which is true, but for now, it will have to be Miranda Ker and you’ll just have to imagine her with wild curls.

James always looked like James Hetfield to me. So he was easy. I wonder how the lead singer of Metallica would feel about me casting him to play Grace’s overbearing brother? LOL.

Brandon and Bailey were easy to cast. I just looked for a beautiful, young redhead and a handsome young red-haired boy. I think they’re pretty perfect.

Micah is a little hard to find photos for because he’s covered in tattoos but rocks a 50’s greaser style. I managed to come up with a few different photos for him, but they’re all different men.

All the others in my dream cast were very easy to select. I knew what I was looking for when I was searching for Ian’s dad, John and his mother Rose. Eddie is even named after who I think he would look most like and that is Eddie Vedder. Can you tell I love rock n’ roll?

RLA: I would like to thank you for stopping past and I wish you all the best on your tour Marisa.
MO: Thank you for hosting me, it’s been a pleasure.

The Falling of Love is available on Amazon.

Marisa’s Social Media Link:

Marisa’s Website            Facebook               Twitter              Goodreads

Mother’s Day Reading Blitz – All Books $.99

Mother’s Day Reading Blitz Sale Starts Today!!

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My book, Trial of Marriage and over 70 others by 60 female authors, will be ONLY .99 cents from May 9-May 11th for the Mother’s Day Reading Blitz! There’s all different genres for you to choose from. Please share with your reader friends!

CLICK HERE

Love vs. Career: Pre-Release Copies

I’m excited to be releasing my new interracial romance eBook Love vs. Career. I’ve gained so many followers over the months that I wanted to do something to say thank you. As a result, I’ve decided to give away twenty free pre-release copies to the first ones to respond during the week of July 15th. All you have to do is click here to email me or use info@rlynnarchie.com. In the subject field, put “Pre-Release Copy” and in the body please state if you would like a PDF, Mobi, ePub, or Kindle format. Take a look at the description below.

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Marissa Andrews thinks her life is on target after graduating from college summa cum laude and landing her first successful marketing job. She feels happy with her dream job, along with light-skinned, caramel hunk James, her older boyfriend “slash” boss. Things for her are not looking too shabby.

Unfortunately, everything praiseworthy does not always stay that way. And, when James’s freshly college graduated daughter Becky steps into the picture and starts working for her dad, with her comes nothing but trouble, topped off by a nasty attitude. The strong woman that Marissa is factors into a decision to walk away from a job that she loves because the drama isn’t worth it.

It is a move that brings unexpected consequences into her life. If there is one thing that she has learned from her partnership with James, it is that work and personal relationships entwined are bad karma, and definitely should not be combined. A golden rule that she vows to live by from here on out.

Only, one thing she does not know is that sexy green-eyed entrepreneur Roaman Stuart is about to make her acquaintance and put that promise to a test.

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~Read a Chapter Sample~

“Marissa, calm down!” James shouted trying to take control of the situation. She was pissed because the three main accounts she managed, he wanted handed over to his daughter Becky.

“Today is the day I’m either going to quit or lose my job. There’s no way in hell I’m letting those accounts go to your daughter! Do you realize all the time and energy I put into signing those companies? I’d be a fool to let them go — and let me throw in you’re the bigger fool for even suggesting such a thing!”

“Excuse me, but I am in the room. Don’t speak as though I am invisible!”

Marissa ignored Becky and continued her enraged explosion. “Look, I understand she’s your family, and how proud you are she graduated from college, but she doesn’t have the knowledge to keep these accounts afloat.”

“Marissa, I made this decision …”

She quickly cut him off. No way was Marissa interested in his explanation. “Your decision James? To what, ruin this company? She’s new to this profession and has much to learn. Give Becky some of my smaller accounts and let me mentor her so that she can learn the ropes.”

“Mentor? I don’t need mentoring. Listen sweetie, my dad is your boss, as well as CEO of this firm, so he can do what the hell he wishes! The fact that you’re sleeping with him means nothing, so turn yourself around, and retrieve the files he asked for, pronto!” Becky demanded.

Marissa wanted to knock the sarcastic smirk off of her hot pink stained lips. Marissa prided herself on being able to handle stressful situations, but this arrogant hussy made her blood boil. It took a lot of willpower to not grab a hold of Becky’s scrawny neck, and strangle the living hell out of her. She wanted to reason with James, but if he was going to allow his daughter to talk to her in such a disrespectful tone, then this was not the workplace in which she should stay. Marissa had graduated from Reuters, the top university of her field. Not only was she valedictorian of her class, but she graduated summa cum laude with a Masters in business and marketing. That alone made her heavily sought out with offers from multiple firms that wanted her on their team. Out of her top three job offers, it was James’s employer, Wayne Advertising and Marketing (WAM) that she decided to accept. At the time, James was only an executive director; however, he carried himself with dignity and ran the company respectively. WAM was highly sought out for its work and expertise. About two years after she became a part of the company, the founder, Mr. Wayne, decided it was time to semi-retire being he was getting up in age. James had been such an excellent protégé Mr. Wayne promoted him to CEO, a move that permitted James to oversee the agency in his absence.

“Becky, please step out and give Marissa and I a moment to talk.”

She eyed Marissa evilly as she slowly walked out the office. Her long, silky black weave with cherry red highlights swayed back and forth as she strolled out and closed the door behind her. Marissa knew her hair was fake because Becky changed the length and color just about every other month. Plain and simple, his daughter only worried about being a fashion whore. The sleeveless black mini dress she wore was not at all professional attire. It had a sexy dress quality with a triple-layered short skirt and a surplice neckline that displayed a sassy, stylish look. The dress was perfect for clubbing, not so much for the office.  As long as Becky looked sharp she knew that James wouldn’t say anything. He stepped in front of Marissa and held her waist as he looked down into her angry brown eyes. She was not the typical girl he dated because not only was she gorgeous from head to toe, but she had brains. He had dated many women of all different races, but this African American beauty had an influence on him that he thought was not possible again by any woman.

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Love vs. Career officially goes on sale July 26th, and will be available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.