Louise Fuller's Blog

Win a signed copy of Blackmailed Down the Aisle!

.goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px;
font-style: normal; background: white; }
.goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; }
.goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink {
display: inline-block;
color: #181818;
background-color: #F6F6EE;
border: 1px solid #9D8A78;
border-radius: 3px;
font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: none;
outline: none;
font-size: 13px;
padding: 8px 12px;
}
.goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover {
color: #181818;
background-color: #F7F2ED;
border: 1px solid #AFAFAF;
text-decoration: none;
}


Goodreads Book Giveaway







Blackmailed Down The Aisle



by Louise Fuller

Giveaway ends May 29, 2017.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Win A Signed Valentine Copy Of Claiming His Wedding Night!

.goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px;
font-style: normal; background: white; }
.goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; }
.goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink {
display: inline-block;
color: #181818;
background-color: #F6F6EE;
border: 1px solid #9D8A78;
border-radius: 3px;
font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: none;
outline: none;
font-size: 13px;
padding: 8px 12px;
}
.goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover {
color: #181818;
background-color: #F7F2ED;
border: 1px solid #AFAFAF;
text-decoration: none;
}


Goodreads Book Giveaway







Claiming His Wedding Night



by Louise Fuller

Giveaway ends February 14, 2017.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Five top tips to help you write your first romance novel

Writing a romance novel can be a daunting, time consuming process. Every stage from initial idea to final manuscript has moments when it seems like your time would be far better spent buying shoes or watching 80’s music videos.

And why bother anyway? It’s a hugely competitive market so you might as well just give up and watch EastEnders…

I know just how you feel. I felt exactly like that two years ago when I was struggling to get my first book accepted by Mills & Boon. But getting your romantic novel published is not just a fantasy. It is an achievable goal. The proof? I have just finished the synopsis for my fifth book.

So to celebrate, I thought I’d give you five of my top tips to help get you started.

1- Read as many romances as you can. And make a pile of those you love, and those you don’t. Try and work out what it is you like and don’t like. Is it the writing style? The plot? The characters?

Get a marker pen or some of those fluorescent sticky notes and highlight the bits you like. I found that really helpful.

2- Make sure you write for the right series. By that I mean write the books you like to read. If you enjoy reading about doctors finding passion and love then write medical romances. I like larger than life Alpha heroes- billionaires with sexy and sophisticated stamped all through them like a stick of rock. So that’s what I write.

3- Read a guide to writing romance.  Okay, they do point out the obvious- don’t have too many secondary characters, conflict needs to be internal NOT external etc. But they are really useful. Try and think of them as being a bit like the ‘pirate’s code’, not rules but guidelines.They really help if like me you’re one of these people who need telling. And then need telling again.

Personally I would give a huge thumbs up to Kate Walker’s excellent 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance or A Straightforward Guide to Writing Romantic Fiction. Both are written in an easy to read style, and immensely practical with something to write about sections at the end of every chapter.

The example synopsis is worth the cover price alone.

4-Be brave. Let somebody else read your work. It can be your partner, a friend. Or another writer, if you know one. If not, another option, is to send your manuscript in to the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA). They run a new writers’ scheme every year details of which can be found on their website.

I didn’t do it myself but I’ve spoken to writers who have and they really rated it.

5-Set aside a part of the day when you can write WITHOUT INTERRUPTION. That means you keep your phone on silent, you don’t read texts or even answer the front door. I have six children and three dogs and personally I like to get up early before they do. At least that way I can write without somebody asking me where are my shoes/lunchbox/homework/planner etc. Or without dribbling all over my feet. (That’s the dogs. My children used to dribble but now they argue and leave all the lights on).

Finally write something. Anything really is better than nothing, and it might just turn into the first draft of your first published book. But don’t be afraid to junk it all. Remember writing a romance novel is like falling in and out of love. Sometimes it’s best for both of you if you say goodbye, press delete and start again.

Hope some of that is useful. And good luck.

 

Romance when you need it!

Okay, it’s November. It’s raining and the boiler’s stopped working. Again.

What you need in your life is romance! And until Tuesday (November 15th), Harlequin are offering you the opportunity to escape the rain and the cold with the man of your dreams, for free.

Just go to Romance When You Need It and download a free e-book from any of their 17 series from historical to medical, suspense to sagas.

Harlequin are also offering the chance to escape for real with $10,000 in travel gift cards towards your dream getaway up for grabs. Which is very unfair because as an author I’m not allowed to enter and I really, really wanted to visit some of the places in my latest book, Claiming His Wedding Night, which is set in Florida, the Caribbean and Venezuela.

Good luck!

It’s decision day in the USA!

Today, America has gone to the polls to choose the 45th American President, and I’m just as interested as the rest of the world to see who voters pick to lead their country for the next four years.

I also have a more self-indulgent reason for following the campaigns of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Politics and politicians offer great inspiration to writers. There’s power, corruption, scandal, betrayal, and of course sex. But how do Donald and Hillary match up to their glossy, fictional counterparts in television shows such as House of Cards, and movies like White House Down?

Personally, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Harrison Ford so if the President is actually Indiana Jones in a suit, I’d definitely vote for him. And of course, his whip is an actual whip.

But who’s your favourite fictional President? Is it actor David Haysbert playing David Palmer in 24 with the sort of espresso voice that makes the ice cream in your affogato melt. Maybe you like Bill Pullman in a flight suit fighting off aliens in Independence Day. Or perhaps you have your own idea of who you would cast as the leader of the Western world.

Let me know who would get your X in the box. And, more importantly why.

 

Hi there!

I’ve just created this site, so now for the hard bit… writing something vaguely interesting!