I recently gave workshops on Research for Writers, (at Women Writing the West and Surrey International Writers Conference) and rather than do printed handouts, I am posting all the information here so it is readily available and clickable.

Library Love

Librarians to follow on Twitter: @surlyspice

, @superwendy

Bowling Green State University Pop Culture Library @BGSU_PopCultLib

BGUS also has an “Ask Us” feature on their website.

New York Public Library: @nypl and @askNYP

This hashtag on Twitter can be a great way to find answers to really obscure research questions: #AskALibrarian

Finding Research Books:

In my recent workshop, The Character Arc, for Women Writing the West and the Surrey International Writer’s Conference, I referenced several books and a blog post/video that I would encourage everyone to check out.

Books:

Build Better Characters by Eileen Cook

Writing the Breakout Novel and The Emotional Craft of Fiction, both by Donald Maass

The Character Arc  by K.M. Weiland

Write Your Novel From the Middle by James Scott Bell

Blog/Video post:

How to Plot Your Novel in One Page

More Books:

Because more books is never wrong. Am I right?

Here is a list of my … Read more »

If not, no worries. Believe me, the second half of a book is always quicker to write, especially with that shining light of “The End” glowing ever closer.

And if you have absolutely no clue what I am talking about then you aren’t neck deep in NaNoWriMo

, or National Novel Writing Month. I’ve been dabbling in it this year, but only from the sidelines as a coach and teacher. No offense, but it is a lot more fun to watch from the sidelines like some NFL coach.

Here’s me:

“Yeah, Writer, I know that hit … Read more »

The theme for the #Romancestagram hashtag over on Instagram this month is “Romance Retellings.” I have to say, this is one of my favorite themes so far, both as a reader and a writer.

Every month as the themes are announced, I scan to see if I have any books or favorite reads to share, and usually I have one or two, but this month is an embarrassment of riches. Or should I just confess–like most romance authors, I simply love retelling a classic

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, a favorite fairy tale, or giving a new spin to that … Read more »

Why are you going to a conference?

If the first thought that pops into your head is “to sell my book” then you are going for the wrong reason.

At least IMHO. I think I’m the only person I know who has ever sold a book at conference. Oh, and Gerri Russell with the American Title contest. And even then, the decision to buy those two books had been made weeks earlier–not at conference.

Believe me, editors do not wake up in a strange hotel, surrounded by hordes of ready-to-be-published authors and think, “wow, I could buy all the books … Read more »

You can never presume that you know how things were done in the past. Never. Take something ordinary like skiing.

You’ve been watching the Olympics, or perhaps you actually ski. I used to. So I know how to do it. And most likely how it was done 120 years ago. I mean, it’s skiing.

Or do you?

Because as much as you think you know a thing, you’ll be researching along and come to a picture that sets all your beliefs, your descriptions of skiing on their ear. Drops you in a snowbank, on your head and laughs at your … Read more »

Since I am getting this question a lot lately, I’ve decided to start talking about what I’m working on–since it is not a romance. Not per se. It is more of a historical fiction. And a quirky one at that. The story is set at the turn of the century (1907, thereabout) in a very fictional mining town in Wyoming.

Yes, that is a bit of a departure from Regency England. Okay, make that a HUGE departure from Regency England.

But I had to write this book. This story. It has been rattling inside my head for about 7 years, … Read more »

One of the most overlooked parts in romance novels is the M word: Marriage. We write and write about the parts that lead up to that commitment

, but how often do books look at what happens after the “I do” except in romances that are slated as “Marriages of Convenience.”

I never set out to write Six Impossible Things as a Marriage of Convenience story–it isn’t by my way of thinking, more of a “Marriage-That-Had-to-Be”. In fact, in my original synopsis Roselie and Brody marry where weddings usually occur in historical romances, about two pages from the ending. … Read more »

Counting Down to 20

So when I got to this point in my writing, I decided I wanted to write about a collection of spinsters from a small village who had no hope of ever getting married. They weren’t great beauties, they weren’t fabulously rich, or well-connected. Just ordinary girls from a village.

I could see this trio of friends so clearly: Tabitha-smart, kind and hard-working, Daphne–all full of opinions and grand aspirations, and finally, Harriet–loyal to a fault, utterly sensible and a secret romantic. Okay, maybe not so secret–but don’t tell her brothers, they would tease her to the … Read more »

Countdown to 20

Sometimes books just belong together, and these three, HOW I MET MY COUNTESS #13, MAD ABOUT THE DUKE #14, LORD LANGLEY IS BACK IN TOWN #15

, isn’t so much three separate stories but one large bit of inspiration, connected by a web of links to so many of my other books that at times it made my head swim, and at their heart, these three books are about finding friendship in the most unlikely of places.

Inspiration

As I was writing Love Letters from a Duke, I had come up with a detailed family … Read more »