I'm late... I'm late...

For a very important date... or two... or three!

There's been a lot going on in my life lately... job change, some family stuff and some illness (you know, all the usual stuff!) and it feels like I've been constantly chasing my tail (which is why this blog is going up a little later than normal!) but tomorrow I leave for the annual Romance Writers of Australia Conference, the theme for which this year is TROPE ACTUALLY! 

(Guess who hasn't packed yet?)

I'm very excited about this year's conference as one of the special guests is my ALL TIME FAVOURITE WRITING DUO Christina Lauren (Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings) (you should have heard my squeal when they were announced!).

So, as I sat down to write this blog (late, of course!) I thought that in honour of the TROPE ACTUALLY Conference and the special guests, I'd talk about two of my favourite things - Christina Lauren and the first book they published - a workplace romance - Beautiful Bastard.

Beautiful Bastard started its life as one of the most popular Twilight fanfics back in the day - an alternate universe story where Bella was an intern and Edward the demanding asshole of a boss. It was originally written by Christina, and then re-worked by Christina and Lauren into the form it is today - published as Beautiful Bastard.

The story combines a workplace romance with a touch of student/teacher, forbidden love and enemies to lovers. It is funny, very spicy, and also quite sentimental in parts, and gives excellent grovel. Bastard is also the first of a 10 book series (five novels and five novellas) that are well worth your time (Beautiful Secret is also one of my favourites with one of the greatest grovels and sweetest make up sex scenes of all time).

What is it that makes us love workplace romances? 

IMHO, it's because they're usually smart books, with smart characters and nothing is better than 'watching' people be GOOD at something. It's like the Olympics right, watching people excel at their thing (whatever that thing might be) is hot!

It's also got a taste of the forbidden (although, as a HR professional I can tell you that in most cases workplace relationships are allowed, you just have to disclose them - which is the step at which most people fail!) and a taste of reality - as most of us have some experience of a workplace... and maybe have had a wee workplace crush!

And, finally, there are often solid stakes - be it the consequences of non disclosure, or competition over a job or something else, love in the workplace can be a challenge!

Do you also love workplace romances? If yes, I'm taking a moment here for shameless self promotion! 

I have a workplace romance novella coming out on Wednesday 14 August as part of an anthology of workplace romances called Love on the Clock. You can buy it here.

Keeping Writing Fresh and Fun!

by Alyssa J. Montgomery

I was a guest lecturer recently at a writer's course and one of the questions I was asked was, "How do you keep your writing fresh?"

It was a really good question as after having 18 books published (still very new to the field comparatively), I started out trying to keep things fresh by changing tropes: enemies to lovers; friends to lovers; second chance romances; ugly duckling heroine; accidental pregnancy etc.

Then, because particular characters simply "appeared" to me, anxious to have their stories told, I started exploring different sub-genres within the romance genre. A lover of history, I really enjoyed writing my three medieval titles (written as Alyssa James). Historical fiction presents its own set of challenges to the writer as the details have to be accurate (and I've seen some very cutting comments to authors from readers when the detail hasn't been correct!). I have learnt so much! Even the vocabulary has to be checked. For example, in Knight of Her Desire, I referred to a stretcher used to shift an injured knight, but my historical expert fact checker and friend Nicky Galliers informed me that it was called a litter not a stretcher back in those times!

 

I self-published my medieval stories and they were a lovely side-step from the titles that were being published with Escape which were very much along the billionaires/royalty lines.

I was starting to feel a little pigeon-holed and was tremendously relieved when Johanna Baker (acquiring editor who heads up Escape) told me that "rural romance is hot right now" and that I could try writing in this sub-genre. 

The difficulty was that I'd never been a reader of rural romance. So, Sue Brockhoff, from Harlequin handed me two rural romances at the RWA conference last year and suggested I "read these". I saw that rural romances had a slower pace than I was used to writing, with a lot more secondary characters and the lovely feel of community. That was a very different style and story than I was used to, but I rolled up my sleeves eager to stretch my capabilities and explore new creative horizons. Return to Hope Creek was published on April 1st this year and has been well received.

I had so much fun exploring the community of Hope Creek and meeting different people in the community that I'm looking forward to writing books 2 and 3 in the Hope Creek Series. What I have realised is that although I needed some new skills to develop this sense of community and to bring the secondary characters alive, at the end of the day the most important thing for me was to know my characters and to let them tell their story. That is, of course, vital in every story.

Changing up the genre or sub-genre can give authors fresh enthusiasm, greater flexibility and writing skills, and can reignite the passion and motivation. 

Some of my later contemporary romances included elements of suspense and I suspect that once I retire from my day job and can devote more time to honing my writing craft, I just might find my niche in romantic suspense. However, I'd also like to try my hand at a romantic fantasy; and I definitely have a regency romance already mapped out in my mind. Time will tell if I ever get to those  - time and seeing just how pushy the regency and fantasy characters are in getting to the forefront of my mind!

It's said that the negatives in changing sub-genres are a loss of established readership, difficulty building new readership and the risk of unsuccessful transition. However, I see writing as a fun task that is an outlet for my creative energy so I'd like to embrace new challenges, avoid pigeon-holing and be able to expand my skills and identify my writing strengths. I can always return to billionaire and royalty or to the medieval realm. For now, however, I'm looking forward to developing my Hope Creek Series and building into the rural romance sub-genre.

If you're an author, how do you keep your writing fresh? And, as a reader, how do you feel about authors who dabble in different genres or sub-genres?

Love to love developing my skills as a writer and constantly attempting to hone my craft

Love to laugh when I forget myself and say something that is way too modern while writing a medieval romance.

Love to learn what the reader expectations and boundaries are in different sub-genres of romance

Celebrating Love Around The World

 Celebrating Love Around The World

by Sharon Bryant

It's almost Valentine's Day. Have you planned to do something special? There are so many ways to celebrate. You might be celebrating the love you and your partner share, or the love you feel for someone you care about. 

Love Around The World

Love is celebrated in different ways around the world. I thought it might be fun to explore this a little.

Japanese women traditionally give men chocolates on Valentine's Day. They used to give inexpensive chocolates, giri choco, to co-workers though this is less common these days. Honmei choco (special chocolate which is often homemade) is reserved for romantic partners. Japanese men generally don't give women Valentine's Day gifts. They reciprocate one month later on White Day by giving gifts that are two to three times the value of what they have received.

In Germany, it's traditional to give Valentines gifts of chocolates, flowers, or cartoons or keepsakes of pigs. Pigs symbolise good luck in Germany and are just as much a part of Valentine's Day as cupids in some other parts of the world.

Saint Valentine is a patron saint of spring in Slovenia. Valentine's Day is celebrated as the time when life begins to stir again. One traditional Slovenia idea is that birds "propose" on Valentine's Day. Traditionally people walk barefoot through the icy fields to see and appreciate the changes that springtime brings.

There are so many other beautiful loving traditions: Welsh love spoons, mountainous wedding ceremonies in Thailand, a four day festival in Verona with a letter writing contest to Juliet, and mass wedding ceremonies in public spaces in Manila.

I hope you thoroughly enjoy February 14 either thinking of or being with someone you love.

How do you plan to spend Valentine's Day?

I love to love spending time with my husband, family and friends.

I love to laugh with friends and family.

I love to learn more about love around the world.