July has swept many changes into my world. Instead of writing, I’m editing. I’ve sent rejections to writers. But while I dashed their dreams, I gave them tips on what they needed to study and hopefully encouraged them. I’ve learned that editors aren’t mean wannabe writers who want to rewrite my book. I didn’t really […]
First Impressions: And the Greatest of These is Love
by: Staci Stallings One of the things I think is strange about my writing life is how clear certain scenes are when they come out of me and how those scenes never really leave my memory. Each book seems to have a few of these, and often, years after the book is finished and I’ve […]
Single Parent Characters
One of the many favorite aspects of writing contemporary romances is the unexpected twists and turns God gives when I write. Although I have a skeleton plot for each book sketched out, little details emerge that catch me by surprise. Often those small things develop and take a life of their own. One example is […]
Interview with Laura Hodges Poole
Julie here! I’m so excited to introduce you to my friend, Laura Hodges Poole. You might remember a few months ago I interviewed Laura Hilton from the critique group we belong to. Laura Poole is also in that group. Laura has a new release, and I loved it from the first chapter I critiqued. I […]
Introducing Myself
Back when the Inspy Romance Blog started, a friend of mine asked if I was interested in joining. At the time, I was on another group blog, had one of my own, and was up to my eyeballs in deadlines. I declined. Over the years, I checked in with Inspy Romance several times and was […]
First Love
I was looking for inspiration when I read Krista’s post about Will and Hanna from The Engagement Plot. She mentioned the sparks and conflict between them, and how it made for characters close to her heart. I started my new romance, Anchored, and I think I need to start over because I’m just not feeling […]
Book Review: Calming the Storm by Melanie D. Snitker
A marriage of convenience isn’t exactly what she had in mind. After a rocky start, Rachel Peters finally has her life on track. Then a tragic accident takes away her sister and leaves her to raise her niece, Kendra, alone. About to lose custody of her last blood relative, Rachel is desperate to prove she […]
Author Interview: Mary L. Ball
I love to read as much as I love to write, and when I can, I love introducing readers to authors I enjoy. It’s my pleasure to present Mary Ball to you through an interview. How did you start writing romance? (Shoulder shrug) It seems that I can’t write a book without a budding relationship […]
The Office Romance
With summer winding down, I’m finishing up a middle grade novella with our teenaged daughter, but I’m already gearing up to start my rough draft for my newest contemporary romance series, Surrendering Opinions. This will be a 6 book series about “The Connor Six,” sextuplets kept in the national spotlight because of tragedy. Each sibling […]
Stuck in the Middle
When I first took this picture in Holmes County, Ohio, last summer, I had many ideas about how to use it. The swampy muck invokes so many thoughts for a devotional, but since this is romance, I can make this picture tell a story about writing contemporary romance. At least I can share how this […]