Julie Kenner's Blog, page 9

For Writers: The art and craft of DIALOGUE

This week we’re talking about the art and craft of writing effective dialogue. This is essentially an advanced workshop I gave at a writing conference a few years ago, and since there is so much information, I’ve broken it into multiple parts. Click here to watch Part 1 now on YouTube or scroll down to the embed … and then come back next week for the next installment!

Got questions? Post them in the comments here or on YouTube … or email me at jkennerinfo@gmail.com

And do let me know if you like the video format!

Happy writing!

The post For Writers: The art and craft of DIALOGUE appeared first on J. Kenner.

Tempting Tuesday Steals & Deals May 4, 2021

Six amazing reads from best selling and fan favorite authors including historical, contemporary, and paranormal books!

Lovely Pink by Raine Miller0.99AmazonNookKoboGoogle Play

 

The politics of love are brutal…but this is a nice story.

“I definitely want more from these two well-written and impetuous characters.” – Amazon reviewer

Deep Check by Kimberly KincaidFree!AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“This was steamy and sweet and I loved every page of it.” –Carol’s Crazy Bookish World

Falling for His Fake Wife by Alie Garnett0.99 (or free with KU!)AmazonWanna join Kindle Unlimited?

 

What happens when your hot boss has a hot problem? You solve it. But what if you are the hot mess of a solution?

Bad Vampire by Lauren Dawes0.99 (or free with KU!)AmazonWanna join Kindle Unlimited?

 

“I absolutely loved this book. It’s fun and exhilarating… It was refreshing to have a female lead with such spark.” ~ Rachel, Goodreads

Crossing the Line by Cynthia Eden0.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“I absolutely devoured this over the last 24 hours. What a ride. Will be re-reading soon to take it more slowly and savor it.” – Amazon reviewer

The Rake by Mary Jo Putney$1.99Amazon

 

“No one writes historical romance better.” —Cathy Maxwell

AUTHORS:

If you’d like your title to be considered for the Friday New/New-ish Release blast, just fill out this form. Don’t hesitate to send your title in early!
CLICK HERE FOR TO SUBMIT A FEATURED NEW OR NEWISH RELEASE  

If you’d like your title to be considered for the Tempting Tuesday Steals & Deals, then this is the form you want:
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A TEMPTING TUESDAY “STEAL OR DEAL”

The post Tempting Tuesday Steals & Deals May 4, 2021 appeared first on J. Kenner.

Featured New Releases April 30, 2021

Six amazing new releases, including the seventh book in my Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series, Day of the Demon. I’m SO happy to have a book in Kate’s world after such a loooooong hiatus! Plus five more new releases from fan favorites and bestselling authors

Don’t forget to scroll down for the video!

Day of the Demon by Julie Kenner$4.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“…readers will find spunky Kate hard not to root for in spheres both domestic and demonic.”—Publishers Weekly (On Carpe Demon)

Changing the Player by Jacob Chance$2.99 (or free with KU!)AmazonWanna join Kindle Unlimited?

 

“If you love a good Sports Romance, Jacob Chance brings the sexiness and adventures to the pages of his sports series.” – Amazon reviewer

Mafia King by Rachel Van Dyken$2.99Amazon

 

“Love me some Mafia Royal. Rachel Van Dyken has done it again! 5 star and a must read!” – Reads to Breathe

A Cowboy Kind of Love by Donna Grant$7.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“These stories will show you the true power of family love.” – Romance Reviews Today

A Wicked Bargain for the Duke by Megan Frampton$5.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“A charming combination of steamy, funny, and warmhearted…Frampton combines the best elements of classic Regency with contemporary touches…Frampton has written another historical romance that feels classic while also respecting the expectations of modern readers.” — Kirkus Reviews

Anchored Hearts by Pricilla Oliveras$9.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“A big-hearted, beautiful book about first love, second chances, and finding one’s place in the world. An exceptional getaway of a book!” —Emily Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read 
 

Click the image to see the video

AUTHORS:

If you’d like your title to be considered for the Friday New/New-ish Release blast, just fill out this form. Don’t hesitate to send your title in early!
CLICK HERE FOR TO SUBMIT A FEATURED NEW OR NEWISH RELEASE  

If you’d like your title to be considered for the Tempting Tuesday Steals & Deals, then this is the form you want:
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A TEMPTING TUESDAY “STEAL OR DEAL”

The post Featured New Releases April 30, 2021 appeared first on J. Kenner.

Interview with USA Today Bestselling Author Darcy Burke

I’m super excited to have USA Today bestselling author Darcy Burke on the blog today as the first guest in my Writes & Wrongs Blog Fireside Chat feature about the business and craft of writing in which I informally interview and chat with a variety of storytellers (writers, screenwriters, and more!) and folks who work on the business side of things like lawyers and editors.

Welcome Darcy Burke!

Scroll Down to watch the video!

Darcy is the USA Today bestselling author of fabulous historical romances. She’s also one of my closest friends and I’m so glad she agreed to be my very first guinea pig … um, first guest! She writes wonderful characters with wit and charm, and I can’t get enough of her books.

Join us as we chat about All The Things … including the business and craft of writing, advice for new and aspiring authors, the author life, general chit chat, our early books, characters, writing in series … and, of course, cat butts.

$2.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

Don’t miss The Forbidden Duke –  the first in Darcy’s Untouchables series!

$4.99AmazonAppleNookKobo

Darcy’s newest release!

Watch this space! Next up I’m interviewing New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff, who’s CRAVE series has taken the YA world by storm!

The post Interview with USA Today Bestselling Author Darcy Burke appeared first on J. Kenner.

Tempting Tuesday Steals & Deals April 27, 2021

Six fantastic reads. Twelve fan-favorite and best selling authors. Which one will you read first?

Sweet and Sassy by Bria Quinlan0.99AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“Best anthology group I’ve ever read. Every story is fantastic!” – Amazon reviewer

Stolen Hearts by M. O’KeefeFree!AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“M O’Keefe writes heart-gripping, breathstopping romance that leaves me thinking about the characters for years to come. An auto buy author!” — NYT Bestselling Author Skye Warren

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella$2.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“This book is a shot of pure joy!”—Jenny Colgan, author of The Bookshop on the Corner

Small Town Scandal by Kay LyonsFree!AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“I didn’t want to put it down. (…) I didn’t want to do anything until I finished it.” – Amazon reviewer

A Diamond for a Duke by Collette Cameron$2.99 (or free with KU!)AmazonWanna join Kindle Unlimited?

 

“…another hit, that will keep you glued to the pages…” ★★★★★ ~My Reading Addiction

Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley$1.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“I adore Kristen Ashley’s books!”―Maya Banks, New York Times bestselling author

AUTHORS:

If you’d like your title to be considered for the Friday New/New-ish Release blast, just fill out this form. Don’t hesitate to send your title in early!
CLICK HERE FOR TO SUBMIT A FEATURED NEW OR NEWISH RELEASE  

If you’d like your title to be considered for the Tempting Tuesday Steals & Deals, then this is the form you want:
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A TEMPTING TUESDAY “STEAL OR DEAL”

The post Tempting Tuesday Steals & Deals April 27, 2021 appeared first on J. Kenner.

Let’s Talk About (Writing) Sex and Love Scenes

All fiction writers need to know how to write emotionally compelling love scenes. After all, emotion is at the heart of every story. I’m reposting this article originally published on the Ingram Spark Blog, because this is such an important topic for writers, and I don’t want followers of my Writes & Wrongs blog to miss out!

Emotionally driven love scenes can be a powerful part of any story in any genre. And in a romance novel, they are even more key, because the love scenes can and should inform the arcs of both the characters and their relationship, letting readers understand more deeply both what is pulling these characters close… and also what is keeping them apart. So how do you accomplish that?

Many years ago, I drove across the country with my husband, and during the trip we listened to several audio books. One of them was a spy thriller—a genre we enjoy. There was action. Adventure. An alpha spy doing his super-spy thing. And a love interest (or, at least, a sex interest).

There was banter. There were sparks. And the goal in the story was for the reader to believe that this hero really cared about this woman.

Why?

Because the bad guys eventually kill the woman, thus sparking the hero to go off and “Do His Spy Thing” with even more intensity. Because he’s pissed, right?

Of course he is… but it would have been so much more effective for the story if the sex scene hadn’t been a sex scene.

It needed to be a love scene.

We needed to feel the connection between those characters, and we didn’t. The hero might as well have been sleeping with a plastic doll for all the emotion he seemed to feel for her. And that meant that the ultimate climax of the book—that drive to avenge her—fell flat.

I say all of this not to dis the writer, but to make a couple of points. First of all, every writer needs to understand what makes a love scene compelling. Not just romance writers. Second, Tab A/Slot B sex is boring (and often, so bad that it’s funny and makes the rounds on Twitter).

Love scenes are all about the characters… not just the sex.

Seriously. In writing a love scene, you have to worry less about choreography and more about characters—both in and out of the bedroom. Because how can it be an emotional experience for the reader if a) the characters themselves aren’t feeling those emotions, and b) the writer isn’t putting that emotion on the page?

That means making sure that there is a connection between the characters before they even get to the bedroom. And please note that this is just as true for bad sex. An assault. An awkward hook-up with an ex. What matters is what comes before the scene informs the scene.

I talked about this recently with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff (don’t miss her breakout  Crave series!) and she put it beautifully:

“Writing an emotionally compelling love scene is all about the connection between your characters. Whether it is a kiss in a young adult novel or a highly explicit erotic scene, there needs to be an emotional payoff for the reader. And that payoff only happens when you’ve stoked the flames between your characters—not just sexual tension, though that is hugely important, but also the emotional connection between the characters as well as the high stakes that should be keeping them apart.”

New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff

New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips agrees.

“A compelling love scene, even a one night stand, has to have an emotional component in order to snag a reader’s interest and get them invested.”

New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips

All of which is well and good, but how do you do that?

Honestly, it’s a lot like acting. Only you’re not just acting one role; you’re everybody.

You, as the author, must find a way to “break” your characters. To get into their head and convey their unique way of looking at the world to your audience, the reader.

Sounds a bit overwhelming, but it’s the best part of writing. You have to truly know your characters to feel confident in where the story is going—because then the characters are making the choices, not you as a puppet master.

To do that, you want to dig deep and use your own experiences to inform the choices and emotions of your characters.

Your experiences probably won’t align directly with what your character is going through, but you can find an emotional nugget that you can build from.

So much of sexual tension is awareness, physical and emotional. A slow burn, if you will, where the characters notice and react to each other on all levels.

So how do you relate to that? Maybe you could think about your first crush in high school? How every little movement meant something, and if she/he/they happened to catch your eye across the room, it could send your heart pounding wildly for hours.

The best love scenes tap into core emotions, so that there’s just as much heat being generated before any consummation, and, when you finally get to the love scene, the reader is just as desperate as the characters are.

Increasing Conflict to Build Tension

Phillips book Dare Me Tonight illustrates this well. In that book, the heroine is younger than the hero and from a dysfunctional family. The man she’s chosen to sleep with for her very first time at twenty-four is in business with the heroine’s brother, and so the two must keep their night together a secret.

Notice how the heroine’s emotional state—desire mixed with trepidation at her first time, longing for the hero, frustration at the secret they must keep—all play into not only keeping the heat level up, but in keeping the reader interested.

Even more than that, though, this scene—like every scene in a book should—moves the story along. In this case, by increasing the conflict.

That push/pull between what she wants and what she ultimately can’t have. She wants a hero. The right man. But considering the parameters they’ve set, how can this man be the right one?

Excerpt:

“She hadn’t been prepared for such intensity, though she should have been. Everything about Ethan Knight was potent. Tonight had the power to change her world except, as he’d reminded her, it was one night.

A night never to be shared with anyone. She’d ignored the dagger she’d experienced at being relegated to his dirty secret, telling herself she understood. Sometimes there were reasons for discretion, and with everything at stake for him with the Miami Thunder Stadium, his request made perfect sense.

Even if it dug at the very pieces of her heart that she’d glued together over the years.”

Carly Phillips, Dare Me Tonight

Internal Monologue vs. External Dialogue

Here’s another wonderful illustration from Wolff’s book, Ruined, which features two damaged characters who find it nearly impossible to trust.

“My body lights up like New Years, my fear mingling with his fury, my arousal tangling with his need. And I know—I know—that there’s no more reason to fight it. Because this is Ethan. He might have torn my heart to pieces, but he still holds me like I’m the most precious thing in his world.”

Tracy Wolff, Ruined

These scenes work so well because at this point we already know the characters. But even so, both authors remind us of the core issues for the heroines. Not because the author tells us, but because the heroine does.

But please don’t think that I’m saying that you can’t write an emotionally compelling love scene in chapter one or as a one night stand five minutes after the characters meet. Of course you can. But I am saying that you still have to set up those characters so we know what is at stake for them and why they are diving in like that. We need to see inside the characters. Otherwise it’s just choreography.

As you probably noticed, in the examples above, the heroine is “talking” to us through her internal monologue. But actual conversation can also go a long way to informing the connection between the characters.

As bestselling author Darcy Burke says,

“I write Regency historical romances and often the heroine has either none or very little sexual experience. The first time (and even after) they are together, conversation between them can be both informative and arousing, and it absolutely builds the relationship between the characters.”

Darcy Burke

Check out this excerpt from Burke’s A Duke Is Never Enough, which illustrates how the dialogue can strengthen the relationship and add heat to the scene.

He kissed her cheek, her jaw, her ear. “Tell me what you feel.”

“I can’t explain it.” Her words were breathless. “Where you’re touching me… It’s like starting a fire. The flames are there, but I need it to catch.”

He grinned. “Let’s see if I can stoke it.”

Darcy Burke, A Duke is Never Enough

Creating a Connection Between Characters

So we need the connection… how do we build it?

Great question, and again, it comes down to knowing your characters. But there are also some techniques that you can use to help reveal in an external way what is going on with your characters internally.

It probably goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway.

You need to start with attraction.

Even in an enemies-to-lovers story, there’s attraction. Maybe it’s physical. Maybe it’s even borne of revenge, but something is pulling these two people together. We’re talking attraction like in your old high school science class—something in those characters that speaks to the other and is pulling them together.

And that’s about characteristics that your characters find attractive on the deepest level. That doesn’t mean drooling about six-pack abs or going ga-ga for woman in a tight skirt.

Maybe it’s his smile—it’s tender and sweet with just a hint of amusement. Or the way she looks at everyone so directly, without ever flinching.

Maybe they’re in a convenience store and she’s in a battle with the clerk. She feels like nobody at all is on her side, when this sweaty runner she wouldn’t normally have noticed steps in to solve the conundrum, and she sees a goodness at the core of him.

Maybe he’s her business nemesis, but even though he’s the bane of her existence, he’s competent and fierce and exudes all those qualities. A warrior at his core. Not what she told herself she wanted, but you can’t hide from your ultimate desire.

So there will be awareness at that first meet, but that level of awareness is going to change as the story grows, just like it changes in any relationship—and you as the writer need to show those changes through the emotional reactions and also the physical interaction between the characters.

So how do you do that? Well, you have to get close enough to the characters to see what they see and to feel what they feel. Like I said above, it’s like acting. But here’s where I tell you about those techniques I mentioned.

Showing a Connection Between Characters1. Go deep into the character’s thoughts.2. Show their reactions—physical and verbal. 3. Physical description—but use sensual words as much as possible (more about this later).4. Think about the proximity of the characters in relation to their level of intimacy. 5. Use all the senses. 

Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape, sets out these stages of intimacy:awareness of presenceeye to eyeverbalhand to handarm to shoulderarm to waistmouth to mouthhand to headhand to bodyetc…

As a general rule, most people internalize these stages and don’t plan these steps when they write because they are in character. But if something feels off, go back and see if you skipped a step or re-ordered them. You might find that following the path increases the intensity of your scene.

Remember, sensuality comes from your senses. Practically… and linguistically!Sight: what they see, what that sight evokes, how they react. Pay attention to the words used to describe it. Not just red lips and tan skin. But lips that made him think of strawberries and sun-kissed skin that he imagined had absolutely no tan lines.Taste: the food, his skin, etc.Sounds: music, wind, the melody of voices, of wordsTouch: the feel of his skin touching her (and the reaction!!)Smell: perfume, food (remember, scents can enhance eroticism)Here’s an example from my novel,  Release Me , that illustrates a few of the points above.

This is a few moments after they’ve met; by this time, she’s already described him physically to the reader:

He takes a step back and with slow deliberation (establishes his confidence and personality) looks me up and down. His inspection seems to last for hours, though it must take only seconds. The air between us crackles, and I want to move toward him, to close the gap between us again. (awareness of presence)

But I stay rooted to the spot. (reaction, informs her character) He lingers for a moment on my lips before finally lifting his head to meet my eyes, and that is when I move. (eye to eye)

I can’t help it. I’m drawn in by the force and pressure of the tempest building in those damnable eyes. (reaction)

Excerpt from Release Me, J. Kenner

Choosing the Location of a Romance Scene

Be deliberate about the locations of your scenes. The surroundings can inform a budding love scene almost as much as a caress can.

For example, the setting can magnify a theme or a character trait. In this excerpt from Wanted, the heroine feels stifled. She wants to “fly” out into the world. She wants to let go. In this scene, the hero finds her while she’s looking out a skyscraper window. At this point, there is nothing between them but an intense attraction they are both fighting, because he’s promised her uncle that he would stay far away from her. The scene illustrates their attraction and also subtly reveals just how much the hero understands her. And how much she wants to surrender to him. To fly.

Excerpt: 

“It’s not a weakness to want to let go,” he said. “To want the thrill of taking a risk. The pleasure of feeling the rush.”

I blinked. “How did you—”

“Shhhh.” His smile was slow and easy, revealing a rarely seen dimple in his cheek. “You need it. You’ve been pent up all night, going crazy. Locked inside your grief. Go ahead, now. Close your eyes and turn around.”

“But, I—”

That finger rose and pressed gently to my lips. “Don’t argue. Just do.”

Unquestioning obedience isn’t usually my modus operandi, but to my surprise, I complied. I closed my eyes, letting the dark take me, and then I shifted, so that I was facing the glass again. If I had opened my eyes, I would have seen the night sky spread wide in front of me. Instead I saw only Evan, larger than life inside my head.

Excerpt from Wanted, J. Kenner

The setting can also highlight through contrast (a hot kiss in a smelly alley; a romantic ride in a Ferris Wheel on a freezing night when she forgot a sweater). It can even provide a catalyst for a character’s reflection.

Creating Connection… But Also Conflict

Did you notice how in most examples there is conflict?

Conflict between the characters or internal conflict, where the character is essentially at battle with themselves. That is because conflict is another key component of a compelling love scene.

Because unless your story is over, there is still something keeping these two people apart.

And it’s going to be revealed through intimacy. Conflict can feed sexual attraction—the characters are pulling apart even while chemistry/attraction is pulling them together.

Conflict also allows us to sustain the sexual tension even after the characters have made love (or come pretty dang close). So if you’re not writing a very sweet romance where the only love scene is the culmination of the book, you can continue to have that tension between the characters even after they’ve made love.

Start with conflict that is keeping the characters apart—in Release Me, the heroine, Nikki, is a cutter. Initially, she doesn’t want Damien to see her scars, and yet she is very into the seduction. So there is an internal push/pull going on with her, but ultimately, the fact that she is damaged wins out… until it doesn’t.

Later, it is his understanding and acceptance that makes the love scene that much sweeter.

But that’s not the end of the book; not even close… so we need more conflict and the story shifts.

Now it turns on Damien’s conflict.

In other words, you can resolve some of the conflict that feeds into a love scene… but you need to then add conflict back into the mix if you want to keep the tension high and the reader turning the pages—and you do want that!

Focusing on the sensuality of your language even outside of a sex scene also also increases the heat and sexual tension, and paves the way for an even more compelling love scene.

Why? Because your book is part of a relationship with your readers. You want to tease them as much as you want the characters to tease each other. It’s a bit like foreplay with the readers before you get to the actual love scene.

So think about the words you are using. Are they evocative? Pretty words that caress the senses or harsher words that talk about the characters?

As much as possible, they should be… but not in a way that makes your prose seem pretentious or a close relation of a thesaurus. You don’t want to sound like an overbearing catalog of adjectives. And the way to do THAT is to tie it to the characters. 

Putting the Pieces Together in a Love Scene

I said above that love scenes aren’t just about the choreography between the characters. In fact, one of the hottest, most emotionally revealing scenes I’ve written is the character’s first sexual encounter in Release Me … and the hero isn’t even there. He’s on the other end of a phone line as she’s in a limo. And not only is the scene scorching, but it reveals so much character about the hero and the heroine.

And the only reason that scene works is because there has been so much push and pull between the hero and the heroine in the first couple of chapters of the book.

My limo example is part of why I’m confident in saying that Tab A/Slot B choreography is very low on the list of what makes a scene emotionally compelling. Ultimately, you want to make sure all the various body parts are where they are supposed to be and no one has an extra arm, but before you get there, you need to make sure that the deeper elements of the love scene are addressed.

Dialogue: how much are these characters willing to share with each other at this point in the story, and how comfortable are they communicating?Internal reactions: what are they each feeling about making love and how is that changing their perception of their world and their partner? Physical reactions: these can be more detailed depending on what type of story you’re writing (more detailed= more steam). The point is to show how comfortable (or not) the characters are with each other and how they react to their lover’s touch, to keep the reader from getting lost in the staging.Writing a Love Scene: Getting it On Paper

So we’ve gone over the components. How do you actually get it on paper? That’s a more tricky question than it seems. The obvious answer is that you write it, but it’s not quite that simple.

Physically or emotionally intense scenes (action scenes, fight scenes, love scenes) can be exhausting to write.

If you’re working to make the scene as intense and rich as possible, it can be much more draining than other elements of writing a book.

When I first started writing, I had to go straight through, editing as I went, from word one to the very last bit of punctuation. Every day, I would read what came before and edit it. So that by the time I finished the book, it was pretty much ready to go off to my editor.

Now, I still tend to write that way… with one exception. Love scenes.

Early in my career, I discovered that I would end up spending an entire day on a love scene to the detriment of moving the story forward. But now I find that the “pushing through” process just doesn’t work for me.

What I do instead is “yada yada” the sex. For those of you who haven’t seen that particular Seinfeld episode, what I do is hit the high notes of the scene, then move on. I’ll add in short hand notes to myself about the emotional beats and physical choreography so that I will remember what was in my mind when I come back. But I’ll move through. Very rough. Very unpolished. Very minimal.

The next day, I’ll come back and edit it, layering in more as I go. And as I do, I think about the characters’ needs and motivations. I think about conflict. I think about setting. I think about my word choice. And, yes, I think about choreography. And the scene grows.

And the next day I repeat the process, adding text and cleaning up previous words. And the scene gets even better.

Sometimes, I’ll end up flying through the scene on day two. But usually it takes several passes. Either way, ultimately the scene is richer for the process. It’s a bit like blocking a play, then adding in the actor’s small nuances and character interpretations.

Then, when I type “The End”, I have a compelling love scene that is emotionally rich and moves the story along. Obviously, not everyone’s process is the same, but if you’re still looking for how you can make your love scenes more emotionally rich and satisfying, I hope you’ve found something in this article that is of use to you! 

Got comments or a question? Leave them below!

(This post was originally published on the Ingram Spark Blog. Follow the link for more great tips!)

The post Let’s Talk About (Writing) Sex and Love Scenes appeared first on J. Kenner.

Featured New Releases April 16, 2021

What would you like to read? From billionaires to vampires to sweet romance, these six new releases from fan favorites and best selling authors are sure to please!

Don’t forget to scroll down for the video!

Mr. Smithfield by Louise Bay$2.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“This book has heat and so much heart it had me swooning. I’m in love with Mr. Smithfield.” Adriana Locke, USA Today bestselling author

Captain by D. M. Davis$3.99 (or free with Ku!)AmazonWanna join Kindle Unlimited?

 

This is book 3 in the series and continues the integrated subplot introduced in book 1 and 2 and answers lots of reader’s questions around CAP and his amazing family-by-choice.

“Cap and Cher’s story consumed me. I devoured it in one sitting and man was it an emotional roller coaster.” ~ christyheartsbooks

Vampire (1001 Dark Nights) by Rebecca Zanetti0.99Amazon

 

“Wow I just read it one sitting. Buckle your seatbelts for a crazy ride. I enjoyed the book so much. These alpha males that are in Rebecca Zanetti world are hot.” – Amazon reviewer

Kobe, Bad Blood (Blood Roses Book 1) by Danielle Norman$1.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“This story is chock-full of grit, suspense, passion, romance, violence, twists, and drama. A wonderful beginning to a series I know I will follow.” – Amazon reviewer

One Wright Stand by K. A. LindeFree!AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“The Wright Brother is full of wealthy rugged men, drama galore, and lots of rip roaring sex to keep things hotter than a Texas summer!” –Jillian Dodd, USA Today bestselling author

Every Time I Fall by Lexi Ryan$2.99AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“This book was truly inspirational, and a reminder of the reasons why I read romance.” – Amazon reviewer

Click the image to see the video

AUTHORS:

If you’d like your title to be considered for the Friday New/New-ish Release blast, just fill out this form. Don’t hesitate to send your title in early!
CLICK HERE FOR TO SUBMIT A FEATURED NEW OR NEWISH RELEASE  

If you’d like your title to be considered for the Tempting Tuesday Steals & Deals, then this is the form you want:
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A TEMPTING TUESDAY “STEAL OR DEAL”

The post Featured New Releases April 16, 2021 appeared first on J. Kenner.

Writing Lessons From Riding a Bike

On Monday, I took a break in my workday to go for a bike ride. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, the air smelled fresh with spring. It was the perfect day, and I decided to go out and enjoy it.

Sounds great, right? Well, it was. But here’s the hitch—I haven’t been on that bike in months. I even bought a mountain bike about a month ago (because I really, genuinely enjoy biking and wanted to start riding on trails) and I haven’t been out on it at all! Crazy, right?

(And, yes, this ties into writing … I promise!)

Now, I’m no where close to a professional cyclist, or even a very experienced one, but last year I was easily hitting about twenty miles in a ninety minute workout. So there I am, zipping down my favorite route, but without as much pep as I had months before, and not even breaking an average of 14mph. I was more aware of my muscles, my cadence wasn’t as fast, and I needed a significantly easier gear to get up some of the hills that this time last year I’d completely mastered.

All of which drove three things home for me:

I need to get back in a regular riding schedule, even if I’m mixing street or trail riding with riding the Peloton inside on days when I only have time for a quick spin.Skills decline if they’re not used regularly, and not just in cycling.Repetition and habit are your friend.Setting your mind free is a good thing—both your mental health and your creative soul.

And guess what? Each and every one of those points not only has relevancy to the writing life, but also addresses some of the most common questions submitted through my questionnaire. (Want to submit? Just click this link: bit.ly/JK-WritingWed )

Questions like these that folks have sent in:

I can’t seem to get past the first chapter, what should I do?I get busy and then I don’t write. Do you have advice?I want to write a book, but it’s so daunting. How do I even begin?

All legitimate questions and concerns that almost all creatives—or anyone tackling a project—for that matter, can relate to. But guess what, you can tackle all those things. (Trust me! I’m a cyclist!)

When you exercise, you work muscles, you build endurance, you burn fat.

When you write regularly, you do the same. It sounds silly to some, but you really are exercising your “writing muscle” when you sit down to write. Do it regularly, and you will build and hone that muscle. You may have to start slow—goodness knows I can’t even do ten pushups!—but if you do just a small amount each day, you will build endurance and you’ll be able to write more and more and more.

And the bonus is that exercising that muscle doesn’t just mean you can sit at a desk and write for a longer period of time, but that you are gaining skills to actually make you a better writer.

You’re learning craft.

You’re learning why one sentence sings and another falls flat.

Why one character leaps off the page and another just slumps there like a soggy paper towel.

You’re learning how to keep going.

Most of all, ultimately, you’re learning what it feels like to finish a book. Because if you do this—if you move forward and don’t sit down each day and rewrite the same scene—you will finish. And in the life of the writer that is a significant point of change.

There is power in finishing, even if your first book will never be published. Because you got to The End, you know that you have the power to take what you learned in the process and apply it to the next book. And the next, and the next.

You’re getting stronger as a writer. You’re adding miles, and those miles add up to experience that can’t be gained by not writing at all or by massaging the same first chapter over and over again.

Big Takeaway: Move Past That First Chapter

(I know so many aspiring authors who will never see their book for sale because they spend months and years revising the same first chapter. Don’t do that. Just don’t. You are not prepared to do that until you’ve honed your skills, and you can’t hone your skills until you get past it. I’ll never hone my skills as a cyclist if I ride exactly the same route every single day.

Move. Forward.

In order to be a writer, you have to write. But you don’t have to burst forth like Athena from Zeus’s head, fully armed and ready. You can take small steps and still get to the end.

And the bonus? Every day you take those small steps, you get stronger. And soon you’ll be writing pages, just like I’ll be back up to twenty miles.

I’m not saying that you have to sit at your desk for eight hours a day and force the words to come. It works for some writers—it might work for you. It doesn’t work for me. (I sit. I move around. I do other things. I sit and write. I scribble notes on postcards. I write. I outline. I edit. But I show up for the work.)

That’s the key—Show Up For The Work.

You do that enough, and you will learn what process works for you. (ProTip: Your process isn’t a static thing. My process has changed many times over the twenty-one years I’ve been writing professionally. So long as you’re getting the work done, try not to stress. (Easier said than done. Writers are not known for being low-stress).

So what exactly does “Show up for the work” mean?

That depends on where you are. If you’re a writer on deadline, it means show up and get enough good words written so that you will meet your deadline.

If you’re aspiring to publish a book, then showing up for work means getting into a regular habit of working on your story—and getting words down. Yes, there is value in thinking—and we’ll get to that in a bit—but you need to exercise those writing muscles.

Here’s some interesting math: A novel can be as short as 40,000 words (less than that, and it’s considered a novella). If you write only 250 words/day, you’ll have a draft of a novel in two hundred days. And each day that you write 250, you’ll get more confident and more skilled, until you’re writing 1000 or more words per day. (And no, I’m not going to say what a “good” word count is. That depends on too many factors, including the author. But stay tuned; it may be the topic of another column).

Bottom line: Just like I had lost ground in biking, you’ll lose ground in writing if you don’t do it every day. Ideally more than just a ten minute burst before breakfast, but if that is all the time you have, then use it.

Write. Everyday. Day. Make your writing time sacred.

Here’s another ProTip: Don’t worry about writing “clean” yet. Just get the words down. Going back to my cycling analogy, if I want to ride a Century (100 miles in a day) then I’m going to have to get a lot better and faster. But I don’t have to study interviews with cyclists who’ve won the Tour de France. I just have to ride and keep adding time. Eventually I will need to hone my skills. Learn better shifting, what to eat for that kind of ride, how to deal with cramps, all sorts of things I don’t even know about now. But what I do know is that if I’m capping out right now at less than twenty miles, those are the things I need to worry about. Not yet.

Same for you: Worry about the writing. Not the editing. Not yet.

Here’s a bonus if you do that—that story you’re stuck on? Ideas will start to flow. I promise you. I’ve written well over a hundred books, and never once have I written a book where something Incredibly Important And Key To The Story didn’t come to me during the process of writing. I could have spent a thousand years noodling it or making notes about who my character is or what the plot was, and still never known that Key Thing. Why? Because story begets story.

Takeaway: Write even when you’re not sure what is going to happen next. Just write. Skip ahead in the story. Write a conversation between your character and her neighbor where she reveals what’s on her mind. Maybe you’ll end up tossing all of those pages, but even so it’s worth it when you get in the groove and learn more about the story. And you will.

Bottom line: Hop on that writing bike. You don’t have to write a chapter a day. You don’t even have to write a page a day. But you do have to write each day, and the more you hone that habit the more good things will follow like stamina (soon you will be writing a chapter a day!), story ideas, and best of all—you’ll be developing your writing muscles.

So take these ideas out for a spin and keep me posted on your progress!

Happy writing!

The post Writing Lessons From Riding a Bike appeared first on J. Kenner.

Tempting Tuesday Steals & Deals April 13, 2021

From Royal suspense to Medieval love to Cape Cod romance, this collection of fan favorite and best selling books is too good to pass up!

On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen$1.99AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“Georgie’s high spirits and the author’s frothy prose are utterly captivating.”—The Denver Post

The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian$1.99AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“In a crumbling castle in Cornwall, two inauthentic men from vastly different registers of Regency society find in each other an authentic and passionate love. Another exquisitely written, deeply romantic novel from Sebastian.”

— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen$1.99AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“A dusting of magic, the aroma of sugary cakes swirling through the breeze, and a girl who unwittingly brings change to a town of misfits make for a sweet summer story filled with hope and forgiveness.”—Beth Hoffman, author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Misadventures with Lauren Rowe by Lauren Rowe$2.99AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“Once again, Ms. Rowe has managed to make me fall in love with her quirky, lovable characters!” – Amazon reviewer

Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale0.99AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“A deeply emotional, heartrending love story . . . a tormented hero and engaging heroine, dark pasts and midnight fears, eloquent prose and page-turning pacing . . . a masterpiece of romantic fiction.” —Romantic Times

Two Hearts by Melody GraceFree!AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“A roller coaster ride of pure emotion… beautifully written.” Blame it on the Rain Reviews

AUTHORS:

If you’d like your title to be considered for the Friday New/New-ish Release blast, just fill out this form. Don’t hesitate to send your title in early!
CLICK HERE FOR TO SUBMIT A FEATURED NEW OR NEWISH RELEASE  

If you’d like your title to be considered for the Tempting Tuesday Steals & Deals, then this is the form you want:
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A TEMPTING TUESDAY “STEAL OR DEAL”

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Featured New Releases April 9, 2021

What are you reading? Looking for amazing fan favorites? Bestselling authors? Hot new releases? You’ll find all that and more in this month’s nine scintillating selections. Enjoy! (And can I just say that as someone who loves Dragon Con I had to one click Zoe Rosenthal!)

Don’t forget to scroll down for the video!

My Almost Ex by Piper Rayne$2.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“My heart is still racing after finishing My Almost Ex.” – Lorraine, Goodreads Reviewer

Southern Heart by Natasha Madison$3.99AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“This is a sweet and emotional small town, slow burn romance. Southern Heart is also a second generation romance as Chelsea is Beau’s daughter. Mayson and Chelsea’s journey together will keep your heart swooning until the very end. There are plenty of cameos from all your favorites too.”
MissPetiteBrunetteBookBlog

Montana Cowboy Daddy by Jane Porter$4.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“I was hooked on this book from the first page. The story felt real from the emotions the characters went through, to the action during the rodeo, a close-knit family that will do anything for each other and the amazing Utah scenery. It is the perfect addition to the Wyatt Brothers of Montana series.” – Amazon reviewer

Wilde Child by Eloisa James$6.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“James displays her signature humor…[in] a story as wild as the heroine’s family name and one that will reward romance fans who want a funny book about an unusual heroine.” – Kirkus Reviews

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson$14.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“Chilling, thought-provoking, and hauntingly written, Mother May I kept me on the edge of my seat with its breathless race against time.”  —  Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl from Widow Hills

Zoe Rosenthall is not Lawful Good by Nancy Werlin$4.99AmazonAppleNookKoboGoogle Play

 

“Zoe’s journey of self-discovery is a nerdy trip through pop-culture easter eggs that will have like-minded readers smiling knowingly with each allusion… A charming story of a closet nerd realizing her full potential and finding her fandom family.” – Kirkus Reviews

The Devil I Hate by Jillian Quinn$2.99 (or free with KU!)AmazonWanna join Kindle Unlimited?

 

“If I could give more than 5 stars I would! This book is like nothing I have read before!” ~ Goodreads reviewer

Forever in Cape May by Jennifer Probst$4.99 (or free in KU!)AmazonWanna join Kindle Unlimited?

 

“Probst’s entertaining take on the friends-to-lovers trope hits all the right beats, enhanced by well-shaded characters readers will immediately love. This irresistible finale does not disappoint.” —Publishers Weekly

Headhunter by Kristen Proby$4.99AmazonAppleNookKobo

 

“This book was nothing short of INCREDIBLE and one I didn’t want to end! Kristen Proby has proven she can write just about anything and turn it into UNPUTDOWNABLE PERFECTION!! If you haven’t started this series I highly recommend you grab it now!” – Amazon reviewer

Click the image to see the video

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