Contemporary Romance Writer: How Do You Define Happily Ever After?

Beth VogtContemporary Romance, Romance, Writing 16 Comments

  Every self-respecting romance novel or movie ends with a happily ever after, or HEA in writer-speak. But if we were all sitting around my family room talking romance (lovely idea, that!) and we tried to determine the components of a HEA … well, I’m not sure we could. Spoiler Alert: I give away the endings to some books, so …

Contemporary Romance Writer: What is the appeal of Christmas Romances?

Beth VogtContemporary Romance, Romance, Writing 19 Comments

  A blog post or two ago, we chatted about how romance sells. Side note: I love when the conversation flows on this blog. I read every comment and am determined to respond to every one. After all, if you take time to read and comment on my post, I want to respond in kind. Back to today’s topic: ‘Tis …

Contemporary Romance Writer: Romance Always Sells — But Why?

Beth VogtContemporary Romance, Romance, Writing 26 Comments

Reader alert: The publishing industry has experienced nonstop upheavals for the past five years or so. Some people would say the industry is convulsing. Others would say it is dying a slow, painful death. (I’m mentioning this for those of you who’ve been walking around in some sort of daze. Or who never read the news–not even just the headlines.) No …

Contemporary Romance Writer: Do You Read Debut Novels?

Beth VogtContemporary Romance, Romance, Writing 18 Comments

  How do you feel about debut novelists? Not personally … I mean, do you read a novel by a debut author? I’m not asking for myself. Really. I have other friends wearing the title “debut novelist” too:   Lisa Jordan (Lakeside Reunion, available now!) Camille Eide (Savanna’s Gift, available Dec. 3, 2011!) Gina Conroy (Cherry Blossom Capers, January 2012) …

Contemporary Romance Writer: Disaster-ed to Death

Beth VogtContemporary Romance, Romance, Writing 8 Comments

Most stories have a certain rhythm to them — I’m thinking of something beyond the basic beginning, middle, end structure. Most stories, whether in novel or movie form, have a bad-badder-baddest structure. In other words, as the story progresses, things go from bad to worse to really, really, really bad for the characters. However — and this is a key …