Tag: Writing

The Critique Process

Before I published my first book, I decided that I wanted to be seen as a professional that produced top quality work. I want my readers to trust me. I want them to see my books and think, “Oh yeah, Melissa Pearl, she writes good stuff.”

In order to get that kind of response, I need help from those around me. I am a big believer in constructive feedback. For me, it’s the best way to ensure that I produce quality work for my readers.

Over the past couple of years, I have refined my process. I thought I’d share my current process in case any of you would find it helpful 🙂 Continue reading “The Critique Process”

The Historical with Romantic Elements

Guest post
by Frances Burke

I love ‘Historicals’, but in recent times this category has become divided into sub-genres, with the emphasis almost totally upon the emotional conflict. The old Historical Novel wasn’t intended to be a Romance, as such, but a novel set in a historical time frame with Romance as one, sometimes major element.

Today the term covers everything from erotica to sweet Regency, with some historical data thrown in. (Apologies to those writers who do their research, although still allowing the love story to overwhelm other aspects.)

I am proposing another, more specific category: “The Historical With Romantic Elements”. It would cover many genres – adventure, thriller, fantasy, paranormal, you name it. It would follow no pattern but the one in the writer’s mind, allowing her to bend rules and take flights of fancy, use any time frame and as many major characters as were consistent with the length of the novel and common sense. And the romantic element might be relatively small, or even relegated to a sub-plot.

A Historical With Romantic Elements (herein to be known as HWRE) would be distinct from Historical Romance and Historical Saga in that it tended to concentrate heavily on research, with the setting detailed and imprinted with colour and texture. Background would be all-important, with bonus points for an unusual setting. Georgian and Tudor times, for instance, are so well documented and used that research almost falls into the lap. With many other periods, it takes hard work to understand the intricacies of politics, wars and social upheavals and to weave these into a story without overloading the reader with detail. Continue reading “The Historical with Romantic Elements”

Writers Write

For those of you who never bothered to read my bio, I’m a long time martial arts practitioner who writes quite a bit about all facets of fighting and martial arts, including the sport of MMA, or mixed martial arts, popularized by the Ultimate Fighting Championships. I bring this up because I had an interesting conversation recently with a producer from ESPN television who called to pick my brain for an upcoming story relating to MMA.

Toward the end of our conversation, he asked me why fighters are willing to appear in some of the smaller MMA shows that don’t necessarily have a high standard of safety regulation or medical care. I came up with various reasons but my main response was an old cliche, which nonetheless remains a truism: fighters fight. That’s what they do and if given the opportunity to fight, they will take it regardless of crappy circumstances.

One might also say the same about writers. Someone who is serious about writing will write, regardless of whether it’s inconvenient or difficult. Given a chance to do it for money, they will often write on subjects they don’t have much interest in because… well, it’s a chance to write for money! The same way someone who is a true fighter (or at least wants to believe they are a true fighter) will take any opportunity to jump in a ring or cage in order to practice their craft – even if they’re overmatched or the safety precautions are less than adequate – because that is what they do, writers will, quite simply, write because that is what they do and they really don’t want to do anything else. Continue reading “Writers Write”

Quiche, Coffee & The Morning Pages…

Guest post
by Mira Prabhu

It’s the Manhattan winter of 1992, less than three months since I’ve left my mate of fourteen years, losing, in one fell swoop, all the solid props of my life.

To stay financially afloat, I take on freelance administrative gigs in arguably the planet’s most frenzied and high-stakes city.

Weeks are busy, but weekends are poisoned with a high-octane cocktail of anxiety, guilt and confusion; I cannot seem to extricate myself from the tangled nest of viperous thoughts that paralyze me into a state of chronic despair. Have I done right in placing personal integrity above the comfort of family and economic security? Continue reading “Quiche, Coffee & The Morning Pages…”