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Tropes to Love and Tropes to Hate

I love how passionate people get about tropes in books. Every reader always seems to have one or two tropes that they hate or that get a very visceral response from them.

Mine is enemies to lovers. (no ganging up on me if you love this one)

I’m just really sensitive to the idea that you shouldn’t fall for someone or even sleep with someone who isn’t nice to you. Period. Full stop.

But I wrote the first Beautiful Shame book that’s technically enemies to lovers. So…

I was talking to another author the other day and they love anime and manga and all kinds of fun naughty things, but they hate the accidental pervert trope that can show up on a regular basis in a lot of other genres.

They ranted for a long time about how frustrating it was when it was done badly (and they think it’s nearly always done badly lol).

Then I had to confess I started a book for Patreon that’s got the accidental pervert trope. He doesn’t realize he’s a Peeping Tom and it might take him a while to grasp that he’s made some very questionable decisions.

But they forgave me for playing with their most frustrating trope and said it sounded like I did a good job with it. (lol it was a fun conversation and nothing stressful so no worries)

It got me thinking, though. We all have such incredibly different ideas about what makes a good book and what makes a bad one. I love how there is always that “but” and how some authors can do a trope that drives us crazy and we’ll read it because they wrote it.

But I like the way they did it.

I’ll only read that trope if this author does it.

I love how different we are and how no two people will ever read the same book and see it the same way. Something I love might drive you nuts and something you love might make me crawl into a blanket fort (looking at you dark readers and shaking my head lol).

I love how for every author who writes a book going “no one will read this” there’s always a reader who’s head over heels for the story.

I love how when you find that trope that you love beyond all others, there is always going to be a writer who gives you another wonderful story.

Have fun reading all your favorite tropes and stories this holiday season, and feel free to comment and tell us your favorite tropes.

December 14, 2023

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A Helpful Kenzie and A Nosy Town – Secrets and Kisses Now Available!

Stefan and Boyd are finally here!

It feels like I’ve waited forever to be able to say that Secrets and Kisses is live. I’m terrible with being patient, and it’s been painful waiting for you to be able to see how cute these two are and how adorable the librarian is.

Stefan (our adorable librarian) is slightly confused about little stuff…Kenzie has been his main real-life example of what a little is…so he’s pretty sure he can’t be one.

Boyd isn’t sure what’s going to happen when he tells the librarian about dragons and all the curious stuff in town.

The townspeople aren’t sure what’s going to happen once the librarian is clued in and they’re fabulously nosy about all of it.

Oh, and don’t worry, Kenzie shows up to be wonderfully helpful too. (That sounds scary just typing it out lol)

I can’t wait for you to see what happens next in the most fabulous town in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Buy on Amazon

Stefan
Magic. As a librarian, Stefan knows there’s magic in books and imagination, but it isn’t until he moves to the mountains of North Carolina that he realizes people can come with magic too…well, the locals at least seem to come with magic…and fascinating relationship dynamics he thought were just on TV and in books.

Boyd
Dragons. Somehow, the council gave Boyd the job of telling the new librarian that dragons and mages are real. He’s not sure who he pissed off to be the one to scare the adorable librarian into leaving town, but he’s not happy about it. A man as sweet and shy as the town’s new librarian can’t have any idea about what the locals are hiding or what kind of thoughts Boyd has been having about him, can he?

When people aren’t as innocent or grumpy as they seem, a curious librarian and a slightly grumpy dragon will learn that love is even stronger when there’s a bit of magic involved.

December 8, 2023

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Series or Standalones? – Figuring Out How All The Pieces Fit

When writers get together to talk craft and practical things like marketing, there are always a thousand variations of questions debating writing a series or writing standalone books.

But one thing I don’t think I’ve really heard authors mention in those discussions is how hard figuring out all the pieces in a series is.

Where do all the side characters fit?

Who goes with who?

Why did someone random just show up and start wanting attention?

What are they talking about?

For me, the questions seem endless when I’m trying to put together a world like my dragon universe. I can answer all kinds of weird questions about the characters and what’s going on in the lore, but sometimes it’s figuring out who matches with who that’s the hardest part of putting the puzzle together.

Hmm…you two look like a good match so you must go together…nope.

That can’t be right, you don’t fit at all…oops, should’ve paid more attention.

What are you talking about?

Like this interaction between Stefan and Boyd:

“Hmm, I might have to figure out some good ways to let you get the best gossip out of me.” As his eyes went wide again, I kissed his nose. “I wonder what kind of sexual favors I should trade for the story about why Ms. Candice can’t go into the bakery without all hell breaking loose.”

His mouth fell open. “She needed cookies last week and had to go all the way into the city because everyone would know she bought them from Walmart otherwise.”
He was the cutest thing.

“See?” I shrugged as he seemed to be considering how much the story would be worth. “I know what I’ve got.”

I did nearly everyone’s taxes and did the books for most of the businesses in town. I knew where every body was buried because no one could keep their mouths shut when they sat still for any length of time.

Stefan nibbled on his lower lip, staring up at me. “You have to tell me why Mr. O’Neil doesn’t like the smiley man who never orders anything but chicken tenders. No one will talk about it but everyone goes silent when they’re in the diner at the same time. It’s driving me crazy.”

I nodded decisively. “Deal.”

Who’s Ms. Candace? What is the problem with Chicken Tender Guy? Why doesn’t Mr. O’Neil like him?

Why is Chicken Tender Guy called Smiley Man instead of Chicken Tender Guy? I have so many questions.

And this is the hardest part of writing a series…I’m the one who’s supposed to find the answers and that just seems mean.

But I will push through and do my best to interrogate everyone about chicken tender/smiley man, and we’ll eventually figure out what happened at the bakery, and who the sexy man at the playdate party that Stefan talks to belongs to…because he’s definitely a Daddy…but whose is the big question.

Yep, series are hard sometimes.

Share in the comments: What’s your favorite? Do you like series? Standalones? Long series? Short ones? A series of standalones?

December 4, 2023

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Falling In Love With Reading

I hated reading as a kid. The books were boring and I just refused to do it and it was driving my mother insane. So she made the executive decision to bribe me with romance novels. She’d paperclip the naughty parts and tell me to skip over them, and I was such a goodie-goodie I did.

Some of the first characters I fell head over heels for, and who felt so real to me, were from Jude Deveraux.

She had the Montgomery family and their stories spanned probably several hundred years, but the ones that stand out to me now are about the old Highland castles and sexy lairds to more modern times in the American West.

I had so much fun reading those books over and over, and I can remember being stretched out on my bed as a teenager deciding that when I wrote a book, the last name I used would be Montgomery. If I could’ve jumped into a world and became part of their family it would’ve been that one.

I read those books so often that when my mother first learned I’d written a book, her first guess was that I’d written one of those old Highland, sweep her off her feet love stories.

Nope.

I might’ve loved those guys but my imagination took that passion and love in a little bit of a different direction.

SHARE IN THE COMMENTS: What kind of books did you first fall in love with? Who were you first obsessed with as a reader?

November 30, 2023

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Confused Little and a Grumpy Dragon – Pre-Order Secrets and Kisses Now!

The cover for Secrets and Kisses is finally ready to show you and I love how it turned out.

I love all these covers, but Boyd glaring at everyone from the cover is too cute. He’s such a grump with the locals but he’s a softie when it comes to the cute librarian Stefan.

He’s even willing to bribe his cute little with the good gossip, which delights Stefan.

They’re so funny together and I love how his thoughts are so different than Talon’s. But seeing him work through figuring out his little side is sweet too. His real-life example of what a little is has been Kenzie, and he doesn’t feel anything like Kenzie, so we’re just going to say that Stefan is slightly confused with where he fits into the Daddy and little world.

If you want to see more Kenzie shenanigans and to see what he and the librarian have been reading, Secrets and Kisses will be live on December 8th.

And if you’re curious and can’t wait…check out the first chapter of Secrets and Kisses.

Buy on Amazon

When people aren’t as innocent or grumpy as they seem, a curious librarian and a slightly grumpy dragon will learn that love is even stronger when there’s a bit of magic involved.

November 27, 2023

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Why Do I Write? Why Did I Want to Become a Writer?

Why do you write? Why did you want to become an author?

I’ve gotten variations of this question a lot and it boils down to a few reasons that can be summed up in a few different ideas: it was very practical, it was so much fun, and it was a way to show my family I wasn’t as stupid as they thought.

After my divorce when my kids were still in early elementary school, I had traditional skills to fall back on as a career. I’ve sold insurance in several states and I’ve been a teacher, but managing traditional full-time jobs with young kids wasn’t easy. (As I’m sure a lot of you know.)

For a long time, I was very lucky and my ex and his new wife helped out a lot, but as both of their mental health deteriorated, their ability to help me did too. (oh the drama I could tell you) But that left me doing all of the heavy lifting and trying to decide the best way to handle our future since staying around my ex wasn’t good for them or me any longer.

Right around the time all that drama was getting stirred up, I was talking to one of my sisters and we were discussing different career paths that would let me be home more with the kids. I mentioned writing and she kind of groaned saying it was time for me to put up or shut up about it.

I might’ve mentioned wanting to write since I was a teenager.

It always felt like a very big, impossible dream, though. Authors were people who were published through publishing houses and wrote about highland warriors or dirty billionaires. Neither of those were remotely like the ideas stirring around in my head. But as I started poking around what being an author would look like (because I’m a planner in everything but the actual writing), I realized there were independently published authors. (and that some of the authors I was currently reading were self-published…that was such a surprise lol)

That led me down a wonderful rabbit hole of research and questions to figure out, but the more I discovered, the more reasonable it actually felt. So I did it. I wrote my first book. I made a list of all the random things I’d like to write and just dove in. It was a novella and I’ve learned so much since then, but it’s been the best decision of my life and one of those turning points that changed everything.

I’ve had the time to be there for my kids and to prove to my family that my dreams were not ridiculous and that I am smart, too (I come from a whole family of everyone being Type-A overachievers with stupidly high IQs so they’re not always very nice.)

I love that I’ve been able to be there for my kids and to show them that you can make your dreams a reality, and I love that I get to play with the people in my head for a living. I can see myself doing this for many years to come (although it’s weird figuring out what things will look like now that both my kids are in college), and I’m very grateful for every reader who helped me along the way.

You guys are the best.

As for what I would say to a new author starting out on this journey…you can do it…research, plan, read, and have confidence. There is room for everyone, so dive right in.

Everyone starts somewhere and like I recently told someone close to me in my real life, every author starts somewhere and just putting those words down on paper for the first time makes you amazing.

November 13, 2023

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