Romancing the Story: Writing Romance, Storytelling, and Book Structure

"(It) started as a blog, Unleashing the Next Chapter, to document my stroke recovery and unleashing is a nod to the fact that I had just gotten Gizmo (service dog)...to (now) having a boutique marketing agency..."

Kathryn McClatchy is an authorpreneur and consultant who lived two distinct lives: one before strokes and one after. She reveals what it took to rebuild a life in the aftermath of multiple strokes and ...

"....Whenever you are going to write disability or anytime you're going to write outside of your lived experience, first you have to ask yourself: Do you already platform and support this community?"

As a romance writer with a disability, Melissa Whitney writes fantastic HEAs for non-typical protagonists - who have disabilities and neurodivergences. In the discussion, we explore the nuances of creating authe...

"...I certainly hope that (this book) reaches the people who do, for one reason or another, feel that the world has just been so unfair to them and why can't it pick on somebody else for once..."

After both her parents died, Courtney penned those tragedies into a debut book, When Happily Ever After Fails. In the book, she proves all tragedies can be rewritten, and happiness can bloom where you least expect i...

"...as we're solving problems in our own stories, we're creating problems for the other stories that (Lark and Catrina) had to work in... It made for some really creative outcomes." - Lucy Limon

As critique partners and writers with complementary strengths, romance authors Lark Green, Lucy Limon, and Catrina Bell devised a plan for a holiday novella series where a one author took a different book. We ch...

"They always say start your book on a day that's different. That's called an inciting incident. That's what I try to do naturally. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't."

A decade into writing her Highlander series, USA Today Bestselling Author C.A. Szarek has built a large cast of interconnected books, and her unorthodox method continues to have no hard and fast rules of writing. We chat a...

"We need to see writer's block in a different way. It's really not the enemy, but...it's a sign. And usually, it's that your body and your mind are telling you something is off..."

Author and writing coach, Dr. Nicole Janz, helps creatives use their writing voice with breakthroughs on writer's block and procrastination. Straightforward and detailed, we chat about what causes procrastinati...

"(Not) to dive into the core fear...that we're unrelatable that people will not communicate with us...and I think that's one of those things you see get demonstrated with monsters in the history of storytelling."

Romance Author Kate Prior fell into writing Monster Romance by accident and now, has three books to show for her Claws and Cubicles series. We discuss writing creatures as an allegory for diffe...

"You know it is such a beloved story but the modern twist...it's really a celebration of queer joy and community...like a true Hallmark-y story nothing truly bad happens."

We're celebrating the most fabulous time of the year! Contemporary Romance Author Kelly Farmer crafts heart, humor, and depth into her books and gave the premise of "It's a Wonderful Life" a make-over with LGBTQIA+ char...

"I think the key is either treat the character (animal) as a sounding board...or you treat this as another character on the same level as a human character."

Writing instructor and multi-genre author, Amber Royer, incorporates all types of animals in her writing - from an octopus to a cockatoo. She directs us in how writing sidekick animals and pets typically follow the "save the cat" rule. Plus, how an...

"....We need time to think. We need time to research, and we need time to be creative. And so that has to go into our calendar as well."

Back in episode 42, Writer, speaker, and social media consultant Kathryn McClatchy provided ways to create realistic, achievable goals and put the right timeframes in place.  Over six months later, we're doing a re-assessing of yearly goals since we're both embarking o...

"...What drives the conflict most are the character's goals and motivations. So you have to ask 'what is the main character's top goal in life and the focus of the story?'..."

Author and Developmental Editor, Susan Sheehey writes compelling stories by embracing flaws, loving imperfections, and building external conflict. She reminds us of the great storytelling tools, goals, motivations, and ...

"My book, A Beautiful Game, was...a love story and also, a love story about soccer and playing soccer."

Liz Lincoln and Lainey Davis score goals when it comes to soccer romance. Both ladies write other kinds of sports romance, but in honor of the World Cup, we chat making soccer (or football!) romance accessible to the masses, writing from althetic and non-althetic POVs, and incorporating real events - like the W...

"Being a pre-published author is to know exactly what your expectations are of yourself and of your writing...Like is this a career for you or do you just have that one story...?"

Danika Bloom, USA Today bestselling romance author, coaches authors like she used to coach small business owners. She empowers and creates a community, so authors don't work alone. We chat tips and methods for launching yourself a...

"...Dictating helps me get to the emotional level of my characters a little easier than if I was handwriting or typing on my laptop. It's just for me, dictation takes away a little bit of a barrier..."

Heidi McCahan had an interesting path to becoming a Harlequin author and found a smart way to create leverage in writing multiple books a year - dictation. She utilized dictation for her latest release, One So...

"...I really wanted all my characters to have this nice arc...They start at point A and then they're sort of figuring their way through it as the book goes on."

Kayla Grosse can't help but write compelling characters with depth - which propelled her previous romance book into a bestseller. Now her cowboy romance, Reign Me In, rides highs and lows as the small-town character's emotional journeys are...

"...when you can bring your creative brain to marketing, it explodes. There's so much great opportunity to be creative in marketing and think outside the box and try new things."

Author and Speaker Carolyn Choate hosts The Financially Free Author Show and has been imbedded in the indie publishing world since the wild west of ebook publishing when Kindle first came out! We discuss about the details of books l...

"We're pretty good at (the podcast)....I have to not be afraid of like stepping out of the intentions of what it looked like....Not being afraid to step out, to do something different. Owning that like "you're good at what you do". I feel like that's where I'm at right now. "

Whether you are a romance writer, reader or content creator, Bree knows the struggles that comes with growth ...

"We kinda get hit with these overnight success stories, whether it's a writer or anyone...but what I think we don't hear about as much is the actual real toil and grind and rejection that goes into so many books and to being an author."

Author Megan Tady put a lot of editing and querying into her debut, Super Bloom, and has the book to prove it! We discuss why the story of hope, grief, and starting a-ne...

"The city is a beautiful backdrop for (character's) to live their lives in. Whereas in a small town, it's really part of the story."

Romance author E.F. Dodd holds a special place in her heart for rural settings and even set her latest book, A Higher Standard, in a small North Carolina town. We chat how specific settings influence your story and tone of a book. Plus, there's discussion on how to av...