Finding the perfect conflict. Now, that is a challenge. I usually write the first three chapters of my story, then go back and start figuring out what’s going on. That may sound weird, but it’s how I work. I know my characters, I know my ending, and I know the “Why” question regarding my novel. […]
Who is telling this story anyway?
Sometimes, I finish a book and I lean back… suddenly aware of the fact that I am, in fact, NOT the character I was immersed in through the pages. In my opinion, that’s one of the most rewarding things about an exceptional book. I get to *feel* like the character. So how does an author […]
Where Do I Live?
When authors write a story, they have to build the world in which the characters live. For most of my stories, I create a fictional, small town near a real, large city. Besides making a town where my characters live, I have to decide where they call home. Will it be an apartment, a bungalow, […]
Storytelling Secrets
Hi all! It’s April, spring is here….I’m just saying it is because here in Georgia we went from hiking in snow flurries one morning to sitting outside in 70 degrees the next afternoon. So maybe if we just call spring out, it will come. For good! No more cold. :) I had the honor of […]
World Back Up Day and Giveaway
Today is World Backup Day. Remember to backup all of your devices on a regular basis. You don’t want to lose that precious data. What is one of the worst things that happens to a writer? I would say the loss of all your data. Books, files, covers, research, hours and hours of work. Gone! […]
Is Any Story Really New?
Several months ago, as I scribbled down a rough concept for an upcoming book, an unpleasant thought hit me. My main characters and plot reminded me of a famous work of 19th century fiction. Horrified, I considered scrapping the idea and starting afresh. What if people judged my book as an inferior copy of a […]
The Anatomy of a Christian Romance Author
Listen up, class. I know you’re here to learn about the importance of literature in our society, but I feel it’s best to start at the beginning. Stories don’t create themselves, so we’re going to be studying the anatomy of an author. Authors are mysterious creatures, and we’ve been dissecting them for hundreds of years. […]
Making Faces
Have you ever noticed when a character makes a certain facial expression … well … a LOT? I think I notice things like that more because I catch myself doing it when I write. My characters have this tendency to lift one eyebrow higher than the other. Why? Yeah. I have a tendency to do […]
Team Work Makes the Dream Work (+ Pre-Order!)
It takes a team of people to get a story from a bunch of words to a polished book ready for public consumption. If you’ll allow me to bend the sports team metaphor a bit, even in writing we have those who play on the offensive side and others on the defensive side. I’d like […]
What Being an Asian Romance Author Means to Me (+ #Giveaway)
Maybe it’s because my family recently celebrated Lunar New Year or maybe it’s because the older I get, the more nostalgic I am, but I recently got to thinking about what it means to me to be an Asian romance author. But first, a little background about me. My parents and I immigrated from Taiwan […]