Romance Writing and Publishing Advice

100 Internal Conflicts for Your Romance Story

March 13, 2021

Every story must have external and internal conflict. External conflict comes from the world around your main characters, and internal conflict is rooted in your

50 More Romance Writing Prompts

March 9, 2021

I recently posted a list of fifty romance plot ideas to help you get inspired to write your next romance novel. Below are fifty more story

What Is Copyediting?

March 8, 2021

Table of Contents Prospective clients often ask what is included in a copyedit from me. The answer is a number of things—so many that whenever

Romance and Its Subgenres Explained

March 5, 2021

Table of Contents The romance genre is one of the most prolifically read and written. It seems deceptively simple at first, and those unfamiliar with

How to Write a Romance Book Description

February 25, 2021

You’ve written a romance—maybe it’s 25,000 words, maybe it’s over 100,000—and now it’s time to publish it. If you’re like most authors, the few hundred

Best Book Cover Designers for Romance Authors

February 24, 2021

Before I became exclusively an author and editor, I was also a graphic designer, and I still do all my own graphic design work, including

How to Write a Romance Novel: The Setting

February 23, 2021

Table of Contents Repeat after me: World building isn’t just for fantasy authors. In fact, it’s for every author, even those writing contemporary settings. I’ve

50 Romance Writing Prompts

September 11, 2020

For many writers, myself included, coming up with an idea for their next romance novel can be difficult. Looking for inspiration can feel like waiting

Romance Writing Simplified: Love Interest = Antagonist

February 26, 2020

Many people have the misconception that antagonist and villain are synonyms, but the function of an antagonist is not to be evil. Instead, the antagonist

Romance Writing Simplified: Writing Sexual Tension

February 25, 2020

If you write romance with heat, sexual tension is an essential story element for creating suspense and excitement in the reader. To create sexual tension,

Romance Writing Simplified: Character Motivation Comes from Backstory

February 24, 2020

Most story problems, in my experience, come down to a lack of effective character motivation. Oftentimes authors (I’ve been guilty of this myself) will make

Romance Writing Simplified: Conflict in Romance Stories

February 23, 2020

Every story, regardless of genre, needs conflict. And this conflict must be relatable and believable to readers or the story falls apart. Romance readers in

How to Write a Romance Novel: The Idea

February 16, 2020

Table of Contents A lot of people (including myself) will tell you that story ideas don’t really matter. There are no original ideas, after all.

A Romance Novel Outline Template

May 20, 2019

In a previous blog post, I discussed the six essential plot points (and one optional plot point) readers expect to see in a romance novel.

10 Sexy Character Traits for Your Romance Heroes and Heroines

May 13, 2019

Table of Contents In a romance, your reader has to fall in love with your characters. It helps if at least one of those characters—usually

How to Write Interrupted Dialogue

May 6, 2019

Table of Contents As a writer, I love dialogue. As an editor… Well, my feelings are a little less fuzzy, especially when it comes to

M/M Romance Tropes is Now Available in Kindle Unlimited!

May 5, 2019

Do you want to get better at using romance tropes in your M/M stories? Or maybe you’d just like to have a comprehensive list of

Bullet Journal Spreads for Writers

April 29, 2019

Table of Contents Recently, I have gotten really into bullet journaling, and it has honestly changed my life. If you’re not familiar with the concept,

Character Planning with the Zodiac

April 22, 2019

Table of Contents One of the most challenging parts of writing fiction is crafting characters who feel like real people. And if you’re someone who

The Plot Embryo for Romance Stories

April 15, 2019

Table of Contents Dan Harmon, the man behind Community and Rick and Morty, created an explanation of story structure called the Plot Embryo or Story

How to Use Commas

March 5, 2019

Table of Contents When I first started writing and publishing fiction, which was when I first encountered editors, the two pieces of punctuation I struggled

8 Things Nobody Tells Authors about Professional Editing

January 28, 2019

Table of Contents I threw myself (and all my free time) wholeheartedly into romance publishing in 2015 when I indie-published my first short story. Since then,

Best Craft Books for Fiction Writers

December 17, 2018

My name is Lyss, and I’m addicted to writing craft books. I’ve been consuming books about writing since I was a kid going with my

6 Pieces of Terrible Writing Advice Authors Won’t Stop Giving—and What You Should Do Instead

December 13, 2018

If you’ve spent any time at all in the online writing community, you’ve heard some if not all of these writing tips. Authors, even the

8 Simple Rules for Designing a Great E-book Cover

November 17, 2018

Table of Contents Graphic design is a skill that requires a lot of practice to master, and making book covers isn’t as easy as some

How to Create Your Self-Hosted Author Website with WordPress

November 2, 2018

Table of Contents I’ve been creating websites since I was a teen. At first, I did it all by hand using HTML and CSS. I

Horror Romance Subgenre: Tropes in Horror Romance

October 31, 2018

A trope is a well-known story convention or plot device. You can find many examples of tropes at TVTropes, a comprehensive tropes wiki. If you

Horror Romance Subgenre: Villain as Romantic Hero

October 1, 2018

If you’ve read the last post in this series, you may be thinking: how in the heck can a scary villain also be boyfriend (or

Horror Romance Subgenre: Two Types of Horror Romance

September 30, 2018

In my last blog post, I discussed the building blocks of romance story structure and how the genre of the external plot is what signifies

Horror Romance Subgenre: The Romance Part of Horror Romance

September 24, 2018

In 2015, I decided to stop being a bad writer. I was working as a UI/UX Designer at a soulless corporation and hating every minute

Horror Romance Subgenre: Introduction