Kellyn Roth's Blog: Kellyn Roth, Author, page 11

Interview with Victoria Lynn, Author of Once I Knew

Hi there! I’m running late on everything, and this is one of those things, but I really wanted to share this lovely interview despite the fact that I’ve got a book coming out this weekend (!!!) and also owe you several blog posts (*coughs*).

Victoria Lynn is without a doubt one of my favorite Christian author notwithstanding the fact that I’ve only read one of her books – and that was not her most recent one! (That’s on my TBR, but I had to put it off when I started a new job in June!) I met her in person at one of the Glory Writers retreats in February, but I’ve followed her on Instagram (and before that, known her from Goodreads and in private writing groups) for years!

She is an amazing, creative, godly woman who I am privileged to know. I’m so impressed by her work ethic and professionalism (I mean, look at me! *gestures to self* I have so much to learn!), and more than that, by her tremendous passion and heart for the Lord!

Anyways, let’s get into the interview!

Welcome to Lilacs & Reveries, Victoria! Could you tell us a little bit about “Once I Knew” and the kind of stories you write in general?

Thanks so much for having me Kellyn! Once I Knew is a non-magical fantasy, subtle in the romance and heavy in the suspense. It’s a kingdom adventure about a soldier who loses his memory, the farmer’s daughter who takes him in and the fallout thereof. I love writing Christian stories that go beyond just entertainment and speak life and hope to the weary souls reading them.

How did God lead you to discussing the topics you post about so passionately on social media?

It’s definitely been something I prayed a lot over. I’m a very passionate person, but I’m also very careful and thoughtful about what I say when it comes down to it. I still have some very strict things for myself when it comes to what and how I post things, but I’ve felt the call to educate and speak on things like abortion and human trafficking since a very young age. God put them on my heart before I was even a teen and it made no sense for me to be so passionate about a topic so young aside from God impressing it on my spirit. I also have always had a huge passion and gift for encouraging others so those gifts kind of intersect on social media. I’ve felt the desire to treat it as more of a ministry than anything else and it has been really fulfilling to see God use my words to speak life and hope over the body of believers.

What’s your biggest tip for young Christian creators trying to find their own niche for serving God through their work?

Be willing to be vulnerable and humble before the Lord, asking Him what HIS best and HIS vision is for the gifts and skills that He has given you. I feel like people forget that He truly cares about the passions He has given us and they are His first. All we have to do is seek and knock and ask and sometimes I think we forget that. Serving God with your work comes from a place of working WITH God in those areas.

What is the biggest thing you would say about your writing if you were able to reach back and share something with your younger self?

I’m honestly not sure I would change a thing because God truly knew exactly what He was doing in regards to how my writing journey has gone so far. But I think I would tell my younger self that it’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to reach the end of yourself and realize that you don’t have it all or know it all. That’s what community and the Lord are for.

What’s the biggest thing you want readers to take away from Once I Knew?

I hope they feel filled with hope and life. I pray that they are encouraged and feel filled up and empowered in their walk with Christ. And I also hope they enjoy the story as well.

Thanks so much for having me Kellyn! It was such a joy!

About the Interviewee

Victoria Lynn has an insatiable desire for truth, light and beauty.

Traveling to destinations of beauty created by our Heavenly Father, reveling in creative pursuits that fill her with joy, or pouring her heart into words of life are some of her favorite things to do.

She seeks to bring the life giving words of the Savior to a dark and broken world that desperately needs to know of His sacrifice.

A writing and publishing coach, author, journalist, seamstress and creator, she loves spending time with any of her 8 siblings, exploring her native state of Michigan, and sewing gowns fit for a princess.

HER WEBSITE

About the Book

When a kingsman with a broken body and a lost memory shows up on Violet’s doorstep, she is caught between the compulsion to do what is right, or the natural reaction: to do what is safe…which does not involve caring for the wounded soldier.

With hidden pasts, a web of secrets spun to keep them safe, a tyrannical rule growing ever harsher, and the responsibilities weighing on her, Violet feels as though the world is caving in around her. Who will rise up to stand against the evil chancellor, and what will become of her if the kingsman is found?

VIEW ON AMAZON

Well, that’s it for today! I’m ever so happy for Victoria – and amazing by her hard work and how God is working in her life! What an awesome God we follow!

TTFN!

~Kell~

P.S.

Do you know Victoria Lynn? What’s your favorite thing about her? Have you read Once I Knew?

Introducing the New Characters in A Prayer Unanswered (+ ARC Signups!)

Today I have an exciting announcement—ARC signups for A Prayer Unanswered are open! And this time, I’m doing paperbacks! This link with all the info on that is here, but I’ll explain more later.

However, I wanted to do something other than just talk about the new arrivals to this series. What better way to do that than a good, old-fashioned character panel? As I did with The Dressmaker’s Secret, the characters will be chatting about their lives and answering some questions!

Specifically, these will be relatives of Peter Strauss. Note that there are spoilers for books as recent as At Her Fingertips in this post! So if you want to avoid that, don’t go any further.

Welcome to the Stage, Characters!

A panel of characters sit behind a long table with various beverages before them. The host, Ominous Narrator, sits in a box above the stage.

Ominous Narrator: *taps the mic* Hello, everyone! Welcome to the panel of New Arrivals to the world of The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy. Also called “the Rubyverse.”

Lilli, stirring an excessive amount of sugar into her tea: Which I suppose you won’t explain?

Ominous Narrator: No, I will not. Maybe some day. Anyways, today we have a lovely group of ladies and gentlemen. Why don’t you all start by introducing yourselves? Go left to right, please.

Essie: Oh, lovely. You’re making me go first?

Riley, nudging her: Just go, pumpkin.

Essie, glaring at him for “pumpkin” and the nudge: What do I even say?

Ominous Narrator: Could you give your relation to Peter Strauss, a little about yourself, and how you figure into the story? And maybe a fun fact?

Essie: Fine. I’m his cousin. His first cousin, through his maternal aunt. My name is Estelle Elaine Farjon because my mother hates me, but I go by Essie. I’m an American first, a Virginian second, and a Frenchwoman somewhere down the line.

Riley: I think we’re more Irish than French. It’s really watered down French.

Essie: Shush. Wait your turn. I’m the youngest of my siblings, and I figure into the story because I follow Riley around for no reason whatsoever. I have nothing else going on right now. And a fun fact … hmm. Did you know that in some parts of Asia, elephants are used in executions?

Ominous Narrator: I meant a fun fact about yourself.

Essie: Oh. Well. I always carry a weapon. *nods at the audience* Keep that in mind.

Riley: All right, then. I’m Riley Farjon. Essie’s older brother—Peter’s first cousin and, of course, best friend. He practically adores me. I don’t have much to say about myself other than that I’m a husband and father and frankly, a wonderful friend. Fun fact: I’m the reason Peter broke his arm twice. Not proud of it, but he is dreadfully clumsy. Mads, you go ahead.

Maddie, clears throat shyly: Good morning! I’m Maddie, and this is Polly. *shifts the baby slightly on her lap* I’m Riley’s wife, and I grew up with Peter—he was practically my brother, and we’re all good friends. I don’t have any ‘fun facts’ to share, but I suppose I’ll say that I’m generally the person who reads Peter’s books first, and I’m quite happy about that. Well. Um, Aunt Lilli?

Lilli: Of course! I’m Lillian Grace Strauss, though Lilli is fine. I’m Peter’s mother. He’s such a good boy – a wonderful man, now, I suppose – and I’m so proud of him! Just seeing his life unfold has been such a blessing, and Alice, of course, is wonderful for him, and—

Chris: Lilli, can you just get on with it?

Lilli: Oh, all right. Well, let me think. One fun fact. I frankly don’t feel any of you have done a good job of this, so I want to do better. But just one? And how do I know if it’s fun?

Chris: Lilli.

Lilli: I’m thinking! Give me a moment, darling. Oh, I know! Peter was my first baby and—

Chris: Good. Now you’re done.

Lilli: Chris, I was going to tell a story.

Chris: Try writing a novel. I’m Chris. Peter’s father. I’m in the book as his father. As for a fun fact, I don’t think it’s fun, but my parents immigrated from Germany when I was a child.

Lilli: I suppose you could call it fun, but—

Chris: Now it’s Dahlia’s turn! Go on, Dally.

Dahlia: Mama’s going to be mad at you.

Lilli: *sighs* I’ll forgive him, if only because he’ll have to hear it later.

Dahlia: All right. Well, I’m Dahlia, Peter’s littlest sister. Though I’m practically grown up now. I’m so happy Alice is my new big sister—because Caro has been so annoying since she got married—and a fun fact is that I have always had a kitten since I was five years old, but now I don’t have a kitten since Flick STOLE my last kitten—

Flick: It’s not my fault that Annie prefers me.

Dahlia: Hmph. *folds arm across her chest and pouts*

Andrew: My turn now. I’m Andrew, Peter’s brother. I’m in the story a bit because I’m his brother. A fun fact about me is that I work for my uncle, and while there, I only speak German. Which is strange because we only speak English at home. It sometimes can be confusing. Terry.

Terry: Right, right. Terrence Tappet. I grew up with Riley, and we tend to move around together now. Mostly because I can’t let him and Peter off by themselves or they’ll die. A fun fact is that I was always responsible for bringing Peter and Riley food because they have this tendency to not eat if unsupervised. Thankfully, Maddie keeps them fairly well-fed nowadays.

Flick: Mmhmm. All right, honey. Well, I’m Felicity Tappet, but I go by Flick. I’m Terry’s wife, and I also follow Riley around, though perhaps to a lesser degree. A fun fact about me is that my cat adores me.

Dahlia: *sticks her tongue out at Flick*

Caroline: *glares down the table at Dahlia* My turn. I’m Caroline Webster, Peter’s younger sister. It goes Peter, Andrew, Caroline, and then Dahlia, in case you’re curious. I’m married, and this is my baby, Barnie. *gestures to the child in her husband’s arms* Isn’t he sweet? And a fun fact about me—I’m Peter’s favorite.

Dahlia: You are—

Barnaby: *clears throat* I’m Barnaby Webster, Caroline’s husband, and this is Barnie, our baby. And a fun fact about me is that I believe violence is never the best option. Let’s move on.

Ominous Narrator: Great. We’ve got you all. Thank you all for coming on and introducing yourself. We won’t be doing a full interview today because there are so many of you, but hopefully that’ll give the readers out there an idea of who’s new on the street! Catch you all later!

Further ARC Information

Are you interested in receiving a copy of A Prayer Unanswered (book 5 in The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy) in exchange for an honest review?

CLICK

Read on for information about paperbacks, audiobooks, and more!

For the first time ever, I’m officially offering PAPERBACK ARCs in addition to my normal eARCs (and audiobooks, when they’re available sometime in the autumn) for US residents.

The form contains more information about that. They are somewhat limited, and preference will be given to certain people over others.

If you’re only interested if a paperback is involved, you can check that option in the form. You can also increase your chances by reviewing on more platforms!

About the Book

As Alice Strauss enters her first year of marriage—full of optimism and determination—she finds herself wholly unprepared for reality. In a new country, with a new family, she struggles to find her footing. Difficult relationships and situations batter her, but she is determined to establish a perfect life with the man she loves.

Unfortunately, perfection seems just beyond her reach. An unexpected tragedy flings Alice out of control, and she struggles to rise from the ruins. Her world is full of spinning variables and agony beyond anything she has ever experienced.

However, there is hope—in a God who loves her and a future established for her since before time began. Yet the devastation of Alice’s life seems beyond even the touch of grace.

Haven’t read earlier books in the series? That’s okay! I can send you ebook or audiobook copies so you can catch up. Remember, there’s no review deadline, so you have time!

If you’re ready to sign up, click this link.

TTFN!

~Kell~

P.S.

Do you plan to sign up for an ARC? Also, do you have a favorite character from the series – and do you think book five will change that?

One Good Day Oughta Do Me Some Good

It’s been a challenging couple weeks. I won’t lie, despite the fact that my mother (hi mom!!! I’m on the internet!) and possibly a couple of my employers may read this.

Thankfully, in general my employers (and mother) are familiar with my penchant for the dramatic, so hopefully they’ll be understanding of the desire to rant. But I wanted to talk about something related-ish.

I want to talk about how one good day can turn around a bad year. And how we need to embrace positivity. And all of the related things.

There’s been a lot going on. Health problems, lots of stress in all the various relationships, differing pressures from differing people, a fortnight-long cold, a new job that’s really knowledge-intense, managing three jobs and figuring out the scheduling, gas prices making my frequent hour-long drives difficult, not getting to see Matthias for a month or so …

And then there are other little things. Issues with my new laptop not installing the programs I need to format my novels. Problems popping up with my edits. Having puppies that we can’t sell despite having a waitlist of 20+ people (the economy, y’all).

We’re even looking into home owning these days, which involves figuring out allll the different monetary things I’ve never had to worry about (because believe it or not I’m so upstanding & debtless that I can’t be trusted, lol). Right now is not really a time when I feel like adding one more thing, but it’s kind of a good distraction, too.

There’s a lot of things that I could complain about. A lot of things that are making it hard to maintain a positive attitude.

You see, I’m not naturally the most positive person in the world. I definitely live in the moment, but in the moment, I am often dealing with depression, anxiety, stress, inability to focus, and so on.

That kind of bogs me down. For instance, as I’m writing this, just getting basic stuff done this morning due to the amount of stress I was feeling was … exhausting. I finally did get moving (and that never fails to help me!), but I was cognizant of the fact that time was wasted and brains were not used.

Part of the time, I just have to give myself grace. I know how out of whack my hormones are today – I know how exhausted I am – I know how little I have left to give in certain categories. (Am I the only one who runs out of energy in certain areas before others? My house-cleaning energy tends to go first, and my writing energy last.)

I’m also a heavily-ambitious person, so the best I can do is rarely enough. For me, perhaps, but I feel I also have been disappointing others lately, and I hate that.

Tonight my plan is to unplug a little and watch a movie with my husband. (Writing this the night before it posts, because you know #LastMinuteForTheWin)

I’ve learned to do this more often over the last month because first, it lets me spend time with my husband in a way I understand, and two, it forces me to take a break … again, in a way understand.*

*I’m not the kind of person who really needs frequent rest so much as a different type of stimulation, and for some reason, watching a movie is one of the few things that fits that bill.

I think part of it comes down to understanding yourself. Understanding what you can take and how one good day, as mentioned in the title, can make a huge difference in a bad month.

I understand that I’m a person of the moment. I live day to day, moment to moment, and little steps DO help me in a way that nothing else does. Moving helps me. Exercise helps me a lot! Doing things that make me feel confident and competent are huge bonuses for my energy.

Granted, I shouldn’t need any of this, and I’m cognizant of that fact, too. We need God. In the most desperate of times, He is enough to sustain us.

Thankfully, He also gave us brains that have tricks that can help them work, and my tricks are especially easy to find out, so why not discover them?

I went up to a Republican conference with Matthew (at no small inconvenience to my brother who drove me up late lol) a couple weeks ago, despite me being sick and also girl-sick (some day we will go on a trip when I’m not on my period but apparently that’s not any time soon).

I found a lovely little walk along the river (same one by my house). Matthew went on it with me one night, and then I spent most of the next day walking it by myself.

It was really good for me to get that much exercise in, and I also had some time to think about what I wanted to do when I got home and how I wanted to handle the next few weeks, which by all accounts were going to be difficult.

I hate how difficult it has been, but at least, I knew it was going to be. I’m not surprised. Disappointed, maybe. I have been on a negative slump since mid-May. Nothing seems to work for me, and that exhausts me greatly.

That said, it again comes down to the little things. The walk helped. We also hiked Beacon Rock – and then a friend and I have been jogging every so often – and that same friend (Bailey) and I have also gone on a few small adventures together.

These little things make life feel more real and more doable, but there’s another part to it, too.

For instance, a couple weeks ago, I got two days home when I’d only been expecting one – and during that time, I got the apartment cleaned, a lot of miscellaneous writing work done, and also made serious headway on the trainings for my new job.

That was also the day I went on the small adventure up Mt. Hood with Bailey (finding the pond you see to the right and hopping in it despite the rain and the fact that the signs suggested it wasn’t a great idea) and went for a jog with her, which helped. I always feel better when I’m on the move.

And you know, I could let myself get bogged down by my circumstances. I can’t be on the move because we can’t find a better place to live where I can safely go outside, have more than a few hundred square feet to move around in, can have a dog to play with, can have friends and family over.

Yet I’m figuring out ways around that. Figuring out how to exercise, to spend time with friends, to work around my schedule, to prioritize my husband – even if the circumstances for doing that couldn’t be less ideal.

More than that, I’m focusing on deepening my relationship with God – even when I’m a little frustrated with Him.

I could say that I feel like He’s just not furthering my plans, like He’s making everything more difficult, like every step forward is getting stuck.

Yet there are so many positive things, too. I have a lot of hope for my new job. I will soon be back with Matthias. In the end, my health struggles (and Matthew’s) are probably for the best, but I also know what steps to take to fix them.

Long drives give me time to think – learning new things is never bad – broken relationships force me to turn to God. Well, really, everything forces me to turn to God.

And I understand a little more every day and am able to do a little more every week.

The other fact is, of course, that God’s ways are so far above our own. He oft-reminds us that “I am the Lord, the God of all flesh.” Is there anything too hard for Him? Of course not.

I don’t know everything – or much. I’m of average intelligence and certainly of below-average faith. I do my best; sometimes that isn’t good enough, and that’s a simple fact.

Thankfully, our worth is not determined by what we do, or we’d all have given up or become idiots long ago.

Lately, I read a post complaining about Emily Dickinson’s famous poem: “Hope is a Thing with Feathers.”

The post rambled on and on about how hope is not anything as fragile as a little bird, crooning softly in a tree. Hope is a sewer rat that’s seen some things.

Bitter or experienced though the poster may be, I disagree. Hope is still a thing of beauty and wonder.

That’s how hope survives – not by living in the dirt, but by rising above it.

Not by being a rat, but by being a bird.

Not by sitting in the darkness, but by seeking the light.

Not by looking at the storm, but by looking at the Savior.

Never would I imply that hope comes simply from an emotional response. In fact, quite the opposite. Hope comes from being firm. From standing up for the light, for what’s right, and turning away from the dark, the evil.

From taking small steps and being faithful to your calling.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

Thank You, God, for never asking anything of us in exchange for hope. May we have the strength to grasp it!

TTFN!

~Kell~

P.S.

What are your thoughts on my thoughts? Would you add anything? I’m sure I was not super thorough. Also, do you like yogurt and granola, because I do now. I would’ve said “gross” a couple weeks ago, but now I’m really liking it.

What Enemies to Lovers ISN’T

I had some bad news a while ago, and I need to write something like this to keep my mind off of it, so here’s this. Enjoy.

Okay, let’s do a better introduction. Today I wanted to talk about something I haven’t really been able to discuss in a while because I haven’t had any great ideas. Inspired by Grace Johnson’s recent guest post on my blog (and all her related talk about enemies to lovers), I decided to tackle the subject of the romance “genre,” such as it is. (Read that guest post to see why I put the word “genre” in quotes!)

And specifically, I want to talk about one of the most famous and infamous romance tropes—enemies to lovers!

Boy meets girl … and falls in hate

Enemies to lovers was founded by the great Jane Austen in her novel, Pride & Prejudice. Now, I don’t know for sure if that was the first novel you could officially call an “enemies to lovers” by definition of the trope (technically, Taming of the Shrew, I guess? Though that falls more into the 1930s/40s comedy trope that I mention below), but it was certainly the first story in literary format that has stuck with us long enough to be considered the beginning of said trope.

This is the true example of how to do this trope correctly, and if you’re not familiar with it, you should avoid this trope.

No … seriously. She does it SO well.

What is Enemies to Lovers?

According to this website:

Enemies to lovers trope is when two characters start off as enemies and, over the course of a book or series, end up in a romantic relationship. These ‘enemies’ have to overcome their differences or misconceptions about each other, and in the process, they fall in love.

A few examples of “enemies to lovers” include:

The most recent season of the (mature, erotic, you-should-avoid-watching-it) show Bridgerton (though this season wasn’t really smutty except for like one scene but that’s a conversation for another day).

You’ve Got Mail (and the earlier The Shop Around the Corner).

Mary and Matthew in BBC drama show Downton Abbey.

Leslie and Ben in the comedy TV show Parks & Rec.

And … a lot of other novels, movies, and TV shows that I can’t seem to remember. It’s used a lot. Sometimes it comes across better than others.

Further, this trope was used in a lot of 1930s-1950s screwball comedy romances, one way or another. For instance, His Girl Friday, High Society (or Philadelphia Story, the movie the musical was based on), even Bringing Up Baby to a degree, and … gosh, so many. It’s a whole THING.

(And I hesitate to even include these ones, because a lot of them are more “one-sided love.” In High Girl Friday, Cary Grant’s character wants Rosalind Russell’s character to come back to him even as he teases her. Same with High Society & Bing Crosby’s character, still in love with his ex-wife, played by Grace Kelly – and Philadelphia Story, which again features Cary Grant in a similar role opposite Katharine Hepburn. In Bringing Up Baby, though Cary Grant’s character HATES Katharine Hepburn’s character (kinda), she has a bit of a crush on him. And that’s probably the more common trope of these types of movies. But I still feel a lot of the hate-to-love stuff comes through in these movies. I learned a lot about writing that kind of dialogue from Rosalind Russell and Grace Kelly and Cary Grant!)

There’s been so many renditions of this trope that it sometimes feels old … or just annoying. I mean, come on, guys! Besides, it’s grown more popular among YA audiences lately, meaning … well, it’s kind of become immature.

According to this blog post,

“The enemies-to-lovers trope encapsulates the entertainment value of drama and messy relationships. Readers love the enemies-to-lovers trope in YA fiction because its entertainment and messages are appealing. From the ridiculous arguments to the passionate hatred, the enemies-to-lovers fiction trope thrives on messiness.”

As I’ve talked about on my Instagram lately, I am also attracted to the messiness … but goodness, sometimes it’s too much.

You know why?

Because it has to be done right.

How Enemies to Lovers Works

I argue that there’s a certain reason enemies to lovers sometimes falls flat in fiction—and sometimes doesn’t. And it all has to do with the CONFLICT.

Namely, if the hatred comes from personality traits that the character quickly correct, it … doesn’t work.

I mean, hating someone for their personality alone is a human thing, but when it comes down to it, it’s also something that both forbids romance and shows a lack of maturity in the hater.

Enemies to lovers, more than any other trope in romance, thrives on that tension—that “I want you but I can’t” element that hits a certain part of our heart that we can’t. In some ways, it’s replaced the “our families/circumstances won’t let us” (Romeo & Juliet, etc.) as we move from a society valuing the physical into one valuing the mental.

It always starts with literature/other art forms, right? And it’s no surprise that the first rise of such plot lines came in the early 1800s and rose in popularity to be a common theme in 1930s/40s movies (meh, but we’re going with this line of thinking, so no reality #MyWayortheHighway).

It’s further no surprise that it’s grown to be more popular in YA romance and inspirational-ish, Hallmark-ish romance, which are arguably the two least mature subgenres of romance on the market at the moment.

(Who am I kidding? This movie was JUST before that YA/Hallmark trend, and it is amazing, and I love it, and I recommend it to everyone because it is SO GOOD. ALSO, this is the best roll I have ever seen this guy in and you know I hate him. Matthew Goode is so good in this movie, Amy Adams is charming and awesome, and it’s just … it’s another great example of this trope. I’ll stop now, but I love Leap Year. #IRELAND)

But I digress.

Because you know, folks, it DOES appeal to the immaturity of us. The desire to just spite someone who we have a bad opinion of—to allow our “pride and prejudice” to overcome even our extreme attraction and longing for some other person.

Yes, we will be be coming back to Pride & Prejudice a lot in this article, but you probably knew that coming in.

THAT HAND TOUCH, y’all. That’s what enemies to lovers is. It’s that FEELING that they NEED to be together but are just too STUBBORN and we HATE them and just GAH.

However, despite the innate immaturity (and we are all immature, so I mean that in the most positive way—EMBRACE THE IMMATURITY OF HUMANITY IN YOUR WRITING!), this trope is far from dead. It has classic roots. It’s not leaving.

So what then? Well, let’s break the trope down to help us understand it a little better.

The Roots of Enemies to Lovers

Enemies to lovers tends to follow a fairly simple structure that is imitated by most romances.

To quote Romancing the Beat:

“Whatever is keeping your characters from falling in love … is what your book is about.”

So in an enemies to lovers romance, the HATRED is at the center of your story. Keep that in mind as I go over these “story beats,” semi-inspired by Romancing the Beat and mostly inspired by “me defining things however I want.”

Act 1:

Opening/Beginning:

The main characters are introduced. This is generally a short-ish section, and in most romances, we get a point of view scene from both characters to establish their “normal war.”

Inciting Incident:

In most romances, this is the “meet cute.” That’s another way of saying, “I shoved these two human beings in a room. Now what?”

This can either be their first meeting or it can be a point where their hatred grows stronger in an enemies-to-lovers romance.

Reaction to Inciting Incident:

How do they feel about each other?

Eh, they probably … they probably don’t like each other? Hate’s the game.

First Plot Point:

They hate each other, but they are a part of the same world. They can’t get rid of each other. There’s a lot of ways this can happen – they can be stuck in the same room, the same crowd, or better yet, the same project/goal/job.

Act 2:

Obstacles

They’re still saying “no way!” as Romancing the Beat puts it.

However, not long after that, they get an idea this could work. Generally, characters will be influenced by either an outside force or something new they glimpse in each other during these obstacles to be drawn toward each other.

In less civilized novels, this generally includes some hardcore “I just wanna have sex with this person” but that’s too course for us, now, isn’t it? Our characters would like to have a normal relationship with each other – and that includes attraction eventually leading to desire – but that shouldn’t be their main motivation, as in real life.

Pinch Point #1:

BUT NO. IT’S NOT WORKING.

The pinch point is a reminder of the antagonist’s forces, and in a romance, that’s, “Oh, my gosh, here’s this thing that means we can’t be together!” Whether that pleases your characters or not is up to you …

More Obstacles

Maybe. Just … maybe.

Their desire is deepening. The tension is there. The chemistry is overwhelming. Will they/won’t they? But even while this happens, of course the main plot (whatever that may be, because remember, you do need to have a plot!) is heightening, too.

Midpoint:

This can happen in one of two ways.

Either they want each other to the point where their temptation causes them to do something dumb (see below, usually, or something related like one of those “kisses that changes everything” scenes) or they find out something new about each other.

In a lot of smutty novels/movies, this is where the characters become unnecessarily intimate. But in our books, we can avoid that, right? At least, unless it’s an arranged marriage/marriage of convenience romance, in which case I will forgive you for making an allusion or two. Because reality is a thing. #DearChristians #BelieveItorNot #YouAreaProductof #SomeSortofSmut*

(*Not that sexual encounters in their proper place are smut, but the line between what I’d define as lust and what I’d define as longing can be a thin gray blur, so for now, I’ll be facetious and offend enough people to get them to click off just because #ICan #SoWhyNot) (p.s. when I was an immature child, I used to say one of my slogans was, “Why not?” and what I really meant by that is, “Why not cause a little chaos today?” And I sometimes wake up and choose Insanity. So there ya go.)

Midpoints are challenging and are literally the centerpiece of the story, so consider reading some alternative materials on this (like those on Helping Writers Become Authors) to learn more!

Obstacles:

Yet we run back into the obstacles again! There’s so much going on, and the characters are tossed about as per normal.

Pinch Point #2:

Another reminder of the antagonistic force and why they can’t be together. This can also come right after the midpoint!

(Physical) Disaster:

This should NOT be “oh, no! We can’t be together!” Usually it’s something that changes the protagonist’s life, crumbles their goals, or makes something BAD happen, basically. More on this later, if I think of it.

Act 3:

(Mental) Disaster:

All is lost. This reaction to the physical disaster, which I’ll reflect on more later, really shakes the characters’ world.

Realization:

This can also come after the grand gesture, but I feel like it’s more powerful if the character comes to a separate realization about their own struggles entirely separate from their love interest. After all, let us never say that romance “completes” us. Only God can do that. (Remind me later to do a whole blog post on Bridgerton and why it’s not the smut that makes it a bad piece of filmography, despite the fact that the smut is overwhelming, especially for a longing-for-purity-in-culture audience like moi, in the first season. Spoiler alert: it’s the whole “you complete me” thing.)

Grand Gesture & Happily Ever After:

What it sounds like! They’re together, and ideally, they have children.

Where Pride & Prejudice EXCEEDS

Because just “succeeds” isn’t enough.

Note: I decided to use the not-entirely-accurate-to-the-book’s-plot-but-accurate-to-the-book’s-vibes 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, but the book roughly follows this structure, too. Also, this means that watching Pride & Prejudice and setting timers to determine when plot points are. So yeah.

Act 1:

Opening/Beginning:

We introduce the main character, Elizabeth, and through her family’s discussions and a lot of awesome shots, how she thinks and how her family thinks and just … everything is brilliantly set up here, from the societal norms to the main goal of Mrs. Bennet to Mr. Bennet’s eccentricities to the individual personalities of Lizzy’s siblings.

(Also, every time you spell it Lizzie, a single gentleman in possession of a large fortune dies, so keep that in mind.) 

Inciting Incident:

Technically the inciting incident here is really the fact that Mr. Bingley and his entourage are here. However, if you want to set up an official inciting incident for the romance subplot, that’s the moment that Lizzy says, “I would not dance with him for all of Derbyshire, let alone the miserable half.”

Reaction to Inciting Incident:

Obviously we all know that Lizzy IMMEDIATELY starts just harassing Darcy. Even though he looks like a dying puppy. But to be fair, he totally deserves it.

First Plot Point:

This surprised me during my research, but the first plot point is technically Wickham telling Lizzy about his version of Mr. Darcy’s involvement in his life. This thrusts Lizzy firmly into the second act which she (mostly) spends hating Darcy.

The other thing to keep in mind is that everything before this is SETUP. Jane Austen (and Joe Wright) is just SETTING THINGS UP, yet so many things happen. So seeing act 1 as introduction gives you a rather offish impression.

Act 2:

Obstacles

Lizzy is embarrassed by her family at the Bingley’s ball, is disappointed that Wickham is not present, and of course encounters the obstacle of having that lovely hate-dance with Darcy. Which is just glorious.

Pinch Point #1:

This is her family being embarrassing at the ball, causing Lizzy to actually comment on it! Which I think is a big deal for her. It also endangers Jane’s relationship with Bingley.

More Obstacles

Amongst Lizzy’s obstacles during this section are Mr. Collins proposing and then being rejected, and the Bingleys’ and Mr. Darcy leaving Netherfield.

Note how, without officially challenging Lizzy’s perspectives, there are some things about this that shake Lizzy’s pride and prejudice, of which I am convinced she has in equal balance. She must rethink her relationship with her friend Charlotte, for instance, and watch her beloved sister be rejected, and wonder if her impressions of Mr. Bingley were incorrect all along.

Also, Lizzy spends way too much time on a swing. This I freely admit.

She then travels to visit Charlotte where even more can happen to mess with Lizzy and introduce her to a broader world that the one she’s created in her own mind. This includes meeting Lady Catherine and her daughter, discovering that Mr. Darcy is there, and probably thanking her lucky stars that she’s not married to Mr. Collins.

Midpoint:

The weird thing about this movie is that the proposal scene is usually right in the middle, but in this one, it’s actually a little late, unless I’m incorrect. I can’t find the exact minute mark because the credits mess with the total runtime and I may have accidentally messed up my timer, but I think it occurred around 67 minutes when it should’ve been at 63 minutes, give or take.

But around 63 minutes, Lizzy is just playing the piano and then it transitions into her writing a letter to Jane and then of course we get Mr. Darcy awkwardly showing up at Charlotte’s house for like 20 seconds before he FLEES. Which doesn’t feel midpoint-worthy, at least to me. However, since it does lead directly into the midpoint, I guess it works.

But no, the real midpoint here NEEDS to be Elizabeth finding out from Col. Fitzwilliam that Mr. Darcy separated Jane and Bingley and then presumably bragged about it – and then the rain proposal, which I consider to be the primary midpoint that shakes the protagonist’s world! The letter that follows directly afterwards changes, well, everything.

Obstacles:

After this, Elizabeth is a little unsure how to proceed. The midpoint is supposed to make you reflect, and she does indeed reflect (even before receiving said letter). The other thing is that Lizzy then stands up to her father and realizes he doesn’t really care about his daughters a whole lot, and she comes to have a more realistic view of him, her mother, and her siblings. #FindingtheThematicTruth

I’m also reminded of how much I love Lizzy’s aunt and uncle. Her going with them on that lil’ vacay is so much fun and of course gives us some of the most beautiful shots in the movie.

Pinch Point #2:

At around 84 minutes (1 hr 24 m), we should have our second pinch point. On one of my timers, which is the one I’m closest to trusting but which is probably not accurate still, Lizzy’s arrival at Pemberly & subsequent “oops” happened at 1:20, which I think is pretty close. (At precisely the above minute mark, Lizzy sees Darcy with Georgiana and then is caught staring at them like a weirdo, and really, this also works.)

Also, I find it hilarious that they devoted FOUR minutes to exploring Pemberly. But I can’t blame them because it is beautiful.

Basically, this serves to give our protagonist another good shake, often prodded on by the midpoint. Both of those fit the bill pretty closely!

(Physical) Disaster:

At 1:29, Elizabeth finds out that Lydia has eloped with Mr. Wickham, which is six minutes early, but oh well. I guess we needed more time for the Mrs. Darcy scene. For which I thank Joe Wright profusely.

Here is one place where I feel like Jane Austen rises above other enemies to lovers romances. At this point, Lizzy doesn’t HATE Mr. Darcy. She’s actually starting to come around to him. If Lydia hadn’t eloped, she might have given him another chance just based on what all he learned.

Usually the physical disaster in an enemies-to-lovers romance will include a conflict directly between the protagonists rather than in the story at whole. And this sometimes works. Sometimes.

But I personally feel that this cheapens the experiences of the midpoint and beyond. And I personally hate the romance trope where the main characters fall out at the 75% mark. So I prefer this kind of exterior conflict greatly. Besides, it also takes us out of the realm of emotions.

The 75% mark in a romance should remind us that there is indeed a world bigger than our main characters, and big things are happening. For my sanity, romance writers, if nothing else! Especially since in the next point …

Act 3:

(Mental) Disaster:

In the mental disaster, sometimes called the dark point, the character has to THINK about how STUPID they were and FIX THEMSELVES.

Elizabeth realizes she has neglected her family by not telling them about Wickham and that Mr. Darcy is probably a good egg but because of that family neglect, she’s lost her chance with him when she could’ve snapped him up even though he was kinda right and her family does suck.

Though we don’t get to see it, Mr. Darcy also probably has that same realization (similar, anyways, with realizing he should’ve taken Wickham out). And then, as we know, he reacts. But we don’t find that out until later …

Realization:

The realization technically comes after the grand gesture in this story, which works really well. However, Lizzy is already pretty convinced that Darcy is a peach before this because of Darcy’s letter, etc.

This also ties into some of the “mental disaster” scenes where Lizzy stands there wanting to die while her mother cries then sees how helpless her father is then sees how her mother’s demeanor changes after Lydia’s marriage. And just … everything about this brilliantly shows Lizzy what a fool she’s been and what the real truth is.

Grand Gesture:

Darcy’s grand gesture here happens off screen, but honestly, it’s just as effective to learn secondhand of his saving of Lydia. (Though I also hope Lydia is miserable forever, because I hate her. But that’s beside the point.)

Happily-Ever-After:

They get married! And Lizzy is Mrs. Darcy! *swoons*

I’ll also add the K.M. Weiland’s writing advice blog/website, Helping Writers Become Authors, has a great story structure breakdown here of the novels.

Other than fitting seamlessly into the structure, Pride & Prejudice actually bucks a lot of the traditional tropes of enemies to lovers and romance in general, which makes no sense because, again, this book is foundational to the genre! (How did Austen do it?!)

One thing in particular to note: Bridgerton Season 2 (that smutty romance series on Netflix) contains a lot of tropes and also some misunderstandings of tropes and ALSO a lack of structure that has made the second season a bit underwhelming.

That’s my most recent example of how things could be done wrong. Because much as I came to love Anthony and Kate, the series fell into one of the most common problems and barely gave us any time with them as a couple. In general, they either hated each other or insisted (for reasons they didn’t explain well, probably because of cuts/rewrites due to the whole Covid-19 filming stuff) that they couldn’t be together. Which was frustrating. And not in a good way.

Sometimes it’s good for a romance novel or movie or TV show to be frustrating. However, a lot of enemies to lovers romances have a tendency to take it too far.

But they also try to cram a lot of physical attraction and longing into it (in Bridgerton‘s case, lusting, no matter how they try to define it as “love”) that doesn’t make sense.

A generous dash of physical attraction between every romantic pair makes perfect sense and is in fact necessary. However, there’s a point at which it stops being enemies-to-lovers and starts being Romeo & Juliet but stupid and, as mentioned before, only determined by personal structures that are usually ill-explained and make us thoroughly dislike the main characters. Which seems to happen a lot quicker than most writers think.

Anyways, now that I’ve talked about all that, let’s get into some fixes.

Ways to Fix the Enemies to Lovers Trope

(Note: you can combine these features to take them one at a time. I believe any of these five will sharpen your enemies to lovers romance!)

1: Make it “rivals to lovers.”

This is so cute and builds in the stakes. Maybe your two main characters are rival bakers at a contest or they both want their younger sister to marry the same guy or … well, there’s a lot of options here. This also takes the conflict off of simply personal stakes, especially if there are driving motivations behind their individual goals.

2: Make sure the reason they hate each other MAKES SENSE.

Don’t just make it a personality thing. Please. That’s so annoying. And if it has to be a personality thing, resolve it quickly and let your trope fade. The conflict has to make sense and not make us hate the characters.

Because “enemies to lovers” should not be between our female lead and the reader, no matter what romance writers try to tell you. They should have faults, yes, but we should understand their motivations and root for them even so.

3: Don’t make it an all-the-sudden give in … but don’t let it drag on, either!

Let them struggle. Make them HURT. Let them be TORN. And when they do give in, make it make sense. However, you also don’t want to drag it on so long that everyone is caught in six seasons of absolute idiocy that has no real reason besides to drag the story on.

Sometimes it’s not going to make sense for two characters to be enemies throughout the entire story – and that’s okay. Relationships can grow and evolve faster than you planned. And clinging to a format just because isn’t the way to go at all.

4: Make sure they feel awful.

Do you remember how guilty Elizabeth was after she realized Darcy wasn’t a jerk – just a socially awkward child? That’s what we need! It’s important for characters to feel guilty after they act like idiots and make proper amends. (That’s part of what the “grand gesture” is, but even if that doesn’t happen in precisely the same format or doesn’t have anything to do with the main conflict of the story, it still can mend fences between your characters.)

5: Remember this trope has its roots in satire.

And tropes always become most annoying when they ignore the fact that they were rooted in satire (see Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, and other plays Shakespeare used to make fun of people like the chaos hobo he was). So, therefore, have fun with it!

My biggest problem with a lot of enemies to lovers romances is that they just feel ridiculous and childish. The main characters usually blow things out of proportion and act ridiculous.

However, so do people in real life! So remember that the purpose of this trope was originally to poke fun at the rigid seriousness, the prides and the prejudices, that so many of us hold on to when we ought not to.

And with that thought, I’ll leave you.

TTFN!

~Kell~

p.s.

What do you think of the genre? And what would you like to read about next?

Reviving Dares Despite the Immaturity Thereof | June 2022 Dares

Many years ago (in August 2016), I started a trend on my blog called “Dares.” (See my cringey first-ever post and explanation of the name here.) Every month, I’d post a wrap-up of the previous months and “dare” myself to do a list of things in the month to come.

It was actually kind of fun. And totally suited to my personality.

Now, I stopped doing that for a variety of reasons. As far as I can tell, this was my last Dares post (May 2020), which checks out, but I could be wrong. Also, literally no one commented on that last post, so y’all should go over there and pretend to be from 2020 and make me feel popular again.

UPDATE: actually, I was wrong – I posted a Dares post at beginning of June 2020, even though it was an irregular Dares post. But I like my joke about everyone commenting on my old post so much that I’m leaving it in. Kassie Angle commented on that post, so the joke doesn’t work.

I further DID wrap up my June and July at the end of July-ish, so it wasn’t a loose thread. I just suddenly stopped calling them Dares. I guess I was too mature for that in 2020.

Good thing I’m even less mature now.

Also, I found this post which means I am now FOUR years post-graduation, and I cannot believe that.

FURTHER EDIT:

Okay, I guess in October I also called my goals “dares.” I just didn’t title the post as such. And I mentioned doing dares in my 2021 intro post, too, so … I don’t know. #Let’s Just Keep The False Narrative Alive #All You Knew Was A Lie

#Reality Is An Illusion The Universe Is A Hologram Buy Gold Bye

OKAY WHO KEEPS HIJACKING MY BLOG WITH RANDOM THOUGHTS. Let’s get on track.

Obviously what I’m trying to say is DARES ARE RETURNING, and this is the post in which they are returning.

#The Other Thing We’re Bring Back Is Words After A Hashtag That Are All Capitalized But Not Stuck Together For Some Reason # Gosh I Was So Cringey #But You Know What # I Still Am

Let’s get right into it.

Since I am starting this afresh, I will for now not post official “dares” wrap-ups yet. Usually I’ll do a monthly wrap-up, but since I already do that on my newsletter, well, you can give me a follow if you want monthly wrap-ups. These posts will be mostly for the dares and related thoughts.

This has been a rough month, and April wasn’t a lot better, and June itself promises to be crazily busy and full of lots of awful things.

However, I’m determined to do what I have to do, even if that happens to make me a little miserable. Life ain’t about being happy, after all.

June 2022 Dares

I dare myself to  …

Complete another round of revisions on my novel, The Duke’s Twin.My idea is to strengthen the Christian themes which are kind of lagging. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do so, potentially with an editor’s help.Finish the paperback formatting for the Kees & Colliers series.Yes, I’m still behind on these! Paperback formatting has proven a pain, and it’s taking a long time for Matthew to set up the programs I need to do it.Contact Amazon as they’ve messed up the new edition transfers.I don’t know how they keep doing this, but it needs fixed.Call the soccer league again at the end of the month.I want to coach my niece, but that’s proven challenging. Communication is not the strong point of most people in my town.Keep up on Bible-reading.I have a couple studies I’m doing, but it feels like I’m always running behind on them! I’m determined to prioritize Bible-reading this month, though.Don’t forget that it’s just a season of life.I’m going to be busy in June. Super busy. And I know that this will make me feel trapped, and that will make me feel like running, and I’ll sink into the panic of someone who would always rather be working on her own things. However, since that can’t be the case, I need to keep it in the forefront of my mind that the business is primarily going to be training and figuring out the balance, and that’s okay.Further Thoughts on June 2022

This is the month I start my new job, which is as “SHIBA coordinator.” SHIBA stands for, “Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors,” and this particular program is run through the Senior Center where my dad is currently the director.

I have a LOT of training to do, but if that all goes well, I’ll be advising seniors on unpacking their health insurance benefits and managing the volunteers who do the same. There are some other related duties, but that’s the basics of it.

I’m not sure how this will go, but I’m hopeful. I want to do my best with this job – plus it helps that I do need the money. I’m hopeful it’ll be a job I can balance with the other things in my life in the long term.

In the meantime, I’m determined to keep my wits about me as much as possible. So we’ll see how that goes!

TTFN!

~Kell~

P.S.

If you blog/send out emails, do you do any kind of monthly wrap-up? What’s your favorite format and what kinds of things do you really like to see?

Romance is a Relationship—NOT a Genre | a guest post by Grace A. Johnson

Hey folks! Welcome to my blog! For the first time in a while, we have a terribly amazing blog post … a guest post by Grace A. Johnson, one of the most incredible people in the Christian fiction world right now.

Grace A. Johnson is an author, thinker, and of course God-follower who was inspired and blessed me many times with her insightful posts and really detailed reviews. Some day I’m going to prioritize reading her novels, too! They look amazing.

One of the reasons I’m sharing this is because Grace recently released a devotional. Like Grace mentions in this article on her blog, I am also not a devotional person. I hate them, actually. But I’m very tempted to check this one out … I probably should, actually.

You can check out her devotional on Amazon. And look at that gorgeous cover!

Romance is a Relationship—NOT a Genre

The other day (Southern for last week XD), I brought up the topic of favorite/least favorite genres with a few of my fellow writers. Suffice to say I’m the only romance writer/reader in my entire friend group, so most of them threw romance into their heap of disliked genres. They’re not the only ones, for I’ve encountered a host of individuals who hate romance. (I’m sure you’ve run into a few of those…interesting folks…or you are one…)

It honestly rubs me wrong when people say they hate, or dislike, or want nothing to do with romance. Of course, I know they’re talking about books and movies saturated with romance and mushy love stories…but something still doesn’t seem right. How can you hate romance when it’s an integral part of everyday life? How can you shy away from it when you yourself are living out a love story between your spouse or significant other? How come it makes you gag when it’s what brought your parents together and what will unite you with your future mate one day?

That’s just it. The literary (and cinematic) industry have distorted the definition of romance by calling it—you guessed it—a genre. Instead of being an important part of society and life, romance (and all that it entails) is shoved into a box alongside mystery, science fiction, and fantasy. It becomes a style and a category rather than what it really is—a relationship.

There is no “just romance” or romantic “subplot.” Because romance is a relationship, it must be crafted, developed, and woven into the story as well as any other relationship. After all, we don’t call friendship a subplot, do we? It’s a deep aspect of your book, a part of your characters and themes, and it moves, interacts, and grows with every element of your story.

This is why so many writers struggle with writing romance novels and entwining romantic subplots into their stories.

They think of a romance novel as “just romance” and find themselves bored with their story, characters, and plot because they were all created for the romance. Or they think of a romantic subplot as something they can just throw into their story to spice up the plot, when it ends up becoming a nuisance and a drawback.

So how can you start viewing romance as the relationship it is rather than a genre? How can you weave it into your story in a way that’s authentic, poignant, and beneficial to the book?

I’m glad you asked! I’ve got a few tips that ought to help. Keep in mind that these are more broad, concerning any kind of romantic relationship whether it’s central in the story or it fades into the background. (This post has inspired me to write a couple articles about romance novels and romantic subplots…so y’all can find more specific advice on my blog pretty soon!)

Create the Romance for Your Story

The biggest issue (in my opinion), is that writers create a setting, characters, and plotline for the sole purpose of two people falling in love. Think of a Hallmark movie, for an example, with its quaint small town (which must have a bed and breakfast in the mountains); the new-to-town heroine who’s out of her element; the perfect (and intentionally scruffy) hero who comes to rescue; and the ex-boyfriend who’s a huge workaholic and jerk. Can’t forget the secondary cast of meddling grandmother/B&B owner and gushing friends who are quick to play matchmaker.

Everything about the story just screams a perfect happily-ever-after, right? Every element is tailored directly to the hero and heroine falling in love.

As straight-forward and effective as that may seem, that’s the main reason why Hallmark movies are so cheesy and cookie-cutter. The characters have no personality, conflicts and struggles, or wishes and dreams. The plot has no other aspects except the heroine running into the hero at every turn. I could go on.

And with romantic subplots in action and adventure movies/books, mysteries, and middle-grade or YA stories, it seems like the characters—at least one of them—were introduced into the story for the only purpose of being love interests (that’s a rant for another day). They don’t contribute to the story in any other way or have any substance to themselves.

Which is why we have got to stop creating stories for romance. We need to start creating romance for stories and not the other way around, letting the relationship flow from the characters and their interactions, becoming a part of the plot instead of taking away from it.

I mean, you can’t have a story that’s just relationship, right? There has to be conflict, a climax (besides “Oh, I love you, will you marry me?”), action, adventure, mystery—something that builds the story and develops the characters, allowing readers to connect with them and then start rooting for a romance. And this doesn’t just go for subplots. Some of the best romance novels have many other elements—yes, even Jane Austen’s.

So instead of saying to yourself “Hey, let’s write a romance!” say “Let’s create some characters with tough struggles and dark pasts, who go on an epic journey together.” Found your romance upon deep characters and developed relationships rather than founding those relationships and characters upon romance.

After all, you are your own person with fears and dreams and a life apart from sitting in the corner booth pining for your crush, right? Make your characters the same.

Try outlining your characters with a character template before writing.
Create playlists and Pinterest boards that reflect your characters’ personality/feelings.
Give your characters careers, goals, backstories, and more to enhance the plot.
Plot with your characters instead of around them by working with their lifestyles, other relationships, and reactions.Focus on Emotional Connection + Chemistry

I cannot tell you how many romances I’ve read that are focused solely on physical attraction or physical arrangement. By arrangement, I mean that the hero and heroine fall in love because (1) they’re around each other all the time or one or the other is the only available male/female in the area. And we all know what physical attraction is, don’t we?

Now, neither of these are bad things. Physical attraction plays a lot into romantic relationships—and friendships too—and there’s nothing wrong at all with your characters being attracted to each other on a physical level. It doesn’t have to be shallow or lustful; physical attraction can actually be really sweet and pure. (Beside the point, though.) And physical arrangement can really help develop your romance, as long as they’re not together just so they can fall in love. They have to be around each other for different, more diverse reasons if you want the story to even be realistic.

The point is, though, that even though you can utilize these things and focus on them some, your main focus should be on establishing and cultivating an emotional connection between the characters and—you guessed it—chemistry.

Chemistry is actually not the same as physical attraction, believe it or not. Attraction is the north pole and the south pole, whereas chemistry is baking soda and vinegar. The first is where two similar things are drawn towards each other because of their physical characteristics, and the last is where two different things react to each other because of their makeup. For example, co-stars in a movie may have fantastic chemistry with each other because their personalities are so varied and their interactions are so genuine—and they may either hate each other or love them to death in real life! (And they may both be butt ugly, so there’s that.) When your characters start bantering back and forth, arguing every other moment, or working together in perfect sync, there’s chemistry.

But when your characters make small talk, never have any conflict, and just go about their merry ways, there’s no chemistry, and you need to drop that romance. If you try and force two characters together who don’t want to be together, you’re gonna end up with a bland, cheesy romance that is poorly developed and not engaging.

Focus on if your hero and heroine have good chemistry, and continue to develop their reactions. (As in, don’t leave them stagnant. They need to keep bubbling instead of fizzling out after a while.)

As for emotional connection…this is when your characters have something in common, unite over a shared cause, have similar struggles or values, or just have a good cry together. When they can connect on a deeper level than just personalities and appearances, you’ve got a rare relationship. So many romances stop at attraction and arrangement, and seem to forget that characters have wants and needs and goals and fears. If you can use those things to further their relationship and develop it more rather than letting your characters’ individual aspects take away from their relationship, you can guarantee a romance that’s genuine and that pulls readers in.

My two favorite ways to implement good chemistry and strong emotional connections are the popular friends-to-lovers and enemies-to-lovers tropes. Friends-to-lovers automatically have superb emotional connections, because they’re friends. They’ve already established a relationship and know each other well. They can relate, share things, have things in common, etc. Same as any other friendship.

And enemies-to-lovers have delicious chemistry (when well done, of course), because there’s conflict and anger and opposition. Whether they’re a Jewess and a Nazi or rival co-workers or neighbors fighting over a fence, you can develop their relationship beyond “Oh, I like you, you’re nice” with all the differences they’ll have to overcome. You’ll end up with a stronger romance too.

Chemistry and emotional connection are gonna be two of your best friends in writing your romance. They’ll keep you on your toes and excited about the story; they’ll help move the plot along and contribute to it in many ways; and they’ll draw your readers in and get them invested in the story and, specifically, the romance.

Pay attention to your characters’ differences and commonalities, even if that means making a Venn Diagram.
Have fun with comedic situations, funny encounters, banter, and arguments—you can cut out what’s fluff later and keep what contributes to development!
Learn about romance tropes and figure out which one(s) fit your characters—that’ll help guide the direction of their romance and give you examples to refer back to.
Develop your characters’ relationship/background without their romance—whether that’s in an outline, prologue/prequel, or through backstory.
Take a few scenes to just enhance their relationship, through conversations, collaboration, and more, without throwing in kisses and mushy speeches. XDDon’t. Be. Repetitive.

I could turn this into a post all its own, because this really is the downfall of almost all romances (scratch that, almost all books and movies in general)…but the gist is that no matter how touching and romantic moonlit strolls, passionate kisses, and declarations of love are, you must be conservative with them. And I’m not saying that because you shouldn’t say “I love you” or because kissing is bad (all lies, in case you’re wondering); I’m saying that because these are such beautiful and meaningful things that they should be treated with honor and care, not just thrown in to make it a romance.

This goes for more generic things, like certain conversations and actions, issues and problems, and eating (for example). So many books (and other medias) have eight scenes with the characters having breakfast, or three scenes with the characters arguing over the same thing, or ten instances in which the main character thinks about this certain thing, or five books where the side character dies in each one.

Whatever it is, when you start repeating it over and over and over, readers get bored. And annoyed. And distanced from the story. By keeping things fresh and new, you’re able to retain their attention and keep them reading.

You’re also able to make a more interesting and believable romance.

Limit the dates to only two or three on page. Have them only say “I love you” once, when they really mean it. Make each kiss count by describing them differently and using them for different things (ooh, there’s another post for another day). See what I mean?

When you make each moment different and meaningful and you start focusing on how each scene enriches the plot rather than repeating everything, your romance becomes a relationship and not just the category your book is in.

Cut out any scenes/paragraphs of fluff (moments that are unnecessary to the plot or development).
Change up your phrasing, word choice, and descriptions so that even repeated things seem new and different.
Add new elements like a different setting, other characters, etc., to repeated moments.
Make romantic elements central to the plot instead of just throwing them in because you think they should be there. If a marriage proposal at the end of the book ruins your cliffhanger or disrupts an intense moment, don’t include it. You don’t have to have every single romantic thing in your book for it to qualify as a romance. All you need is love, regardless of how your characters express it.Love Languages + Expression

Speaking of expressing love, each character is different. Your hero is different from your heroine. Your couple in Book 1 is different from the couple in Book 3. Your medieval fantasy couple in their thirties is different from your contemporary YA couple.

And that means the way they express love is different. Some guys will never say “I love you.” Some women don’t like to be touched and kissed all over. Some people will sacrifice their physical life for the one they love; others will give up all their dreams; and then there are some who would prefer to give up time or money.

When you know your characters’ personality and backstory, you can find their love language and utilize it. Love languages are one of your best friends when it comes to creating realistic, authentic relationships. Now, not everyone fits into the box—for example, I show love through gifts, but I prefer others to show me love in a different way. I also like doing things for other people, so I don’t necessarily have only one love language, and the ones I do have don’t always look the same as the generic description.

But if you know your character, that won’t matter. You’ll be able to define and describe their ways of expressing love in a manner that’s true and natural rather than just telling the reader how the character is supposed to act.

This also applies on a book basis. Even though Mr. Darcy writes long, poetic love letters and Pride and Prejudice is a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, your romance doesn’t have to be the same. Just because your first romance novel was about two friends who regularly said “I love you,” your second doesn’t have to be the same.

Your story is unique, and every aspect of your story has to be consistent with the story itself—make sense? So even your romance has to fit the plot, the characters, the themes, the setting. For example, there might not be a lot of kissing in a historical romance, and there probably won’t be any poetic letters in a contemporary one—so don’t force your characters to make out if they shouldn’t or wax poetic if they wouldn’t. Just because it’s romantic doesn’t mean it needs to be included if it doesn’t fit the story. Same goes for if your story is jam-packed with action and there isn’t time for a full-fledged wedding ceremony. Pirates of the Caribbean already pulled off a wedding mid-battle; you can do it too if it disrupts your plot and pacing to start planning a huge wedding.

Make sure you respect your era and culture, your characters and their needs, and your plot. The more you do that, the more authentic your romance is.

Research the time and place your story is set, as well as courtship customs, what was considered taboo, etc. Reading romances written during that era can help considerably!
Research love languages and figure out how your characters’ personalities, backgrounds, etc. determine how they express love.
Outline your plot—even if it’s just a quick run-through of how all the events will be paced—so that you can integrate your romance into it.In Conclusion

Whew! This post was a LOT longer than I’d anticipated! Kudos to you if you read all the way through! (And if you didn’t, don’t worry. I’ll sum up. ;P)

If you feel like your romance is bland and lifeless, like you’re confined to making your story fit the genre, or like your romance is pointless and undeveloped, then just remember that romance isn’t a genre. It’s a relationship. A real life, authentic, soul-deep relationship between one man and one woman, and the best ways to portray it through fiction are:

creating romance for your story and characters, not the other way around;
focusing on and utilizing chemistry and emotional connection between your hero and heroine;
keeping your story fresh and engaging by not repeating conversations, actions, etc;
and understanding love languages and how your characters express love!

What are some other tips or tricks that might help? How do you get immersed in your characters and their relationships? Is romance easy for you to write or difficult? (Are you one of those crazies completely normal people who hate romance???) Which of these do you think you need to work on more? What are some of your favorite romance novels that go beyond the genre? Let us know in the comments below!

About the Guest Poster

Grace is a teenage authoress who has loved books since she was two years old. From Junie B. Jones to Nancy Drew, words and the worlds they create have always been a part of her. At ten years old, she felt the urge to pick up her pencil and start writing some worlds of her own. Now, six years later, she has written and self-published two novels, a novella, and five short stories. She’s obsessed with history, etymology (the study of words; not to be confused with entomology, the study of insects), Jane Austen, art, and music—and when she’s not writing, you can find her reading, snapping photos of books, cooking, and rocking out to her favorite band.

She lives in beautiful (but humid) South Georgia, surrounded by farmland and forestry (and not as close to the beach as she’d like), with her parents and six younger siblings. Her dream is to be a wife and a mother, follow the Spirit to the mission field, and inspire other young writers to reach for the sky! You can learn more about her by checking out her blog, Of Blades and Thorns, subscribing to her newsletter, and following her on social media!

TTFN!

~Kell~

p.s.

Did you enjoy that guest post? (I was wildly impressed by it! Grace is an amazing author and has so many beautiful, true thoughts to share with the world, and I adored this post most of all!)

This Used to be a Quality Blog (& here’s why it’s not anymore)

The first part of the title is kind of a lie, but it got your attention, now, didn’t it?

No, this was never a quality blog, but it was an UPDATED blog, which is something, eh? Nowadays, it’s not. Well, it is now, but in general, I’ve been struggling to find time for blogging. Which sucks because I ENJOY blogging. I like writing long-form things, and I am continually pushing the character limits on Instagram.

I’m told I should focus on my newsletter (which you can subscribe to here, if you’ve a mind! I’m currently sending monthly updates which are really awesome and succinct), but I … I mean, I will, so definitely do subscribe, but I will probably always still have a blog. That said, the quality has always and will always vary. And now is no exception.

But I would love to talk, briefly, today, about the reasoning behind my difficulty updating this blog AND how I’m working to combat that. Because I can make promises all day – and I have, many times – but without physical steps to take to fix that, there’s no hope. None at all.

Let’s talk about that.

First, I’ve been busy.

This is always the case, but it feels like the busy is of a different type (though normal busy also haunts me, certainly! I always am over-booked). I’ll admit … when it comes to blogging, I’m an emotional person. Depending on my mood, I will blog more or less, and I always have, even when loosely sticking to a schedule.

I feel like I’m emotionally busy these days. I’m always processing something, and even when I’m not, particularly, the air around me feels heavy, full of unfulfilled expectations and crushed dreams and hopes I don’t dare to express.

It’s not with depression or stress or all the normal stuff I’m so accustomed to. I’m not miserable – I’m not suicidal – I’m not angry at my boyfriend or having friend drama or struggling at work or doubting my writing, my life, my faith. Not so far from God that I can barely touch light – not so distant from purity that I can barely believe there is such a thing as goodness – not so alone in the spirit I can barely trust anyone around me.

I wrote through all of that on this blog. I wrote most of my books while dealing with one or many of those.

No, it’s much better than that. It’s that life I didn’t believe existed, where I’m not dead inside. I’m alive, and I’m living, and my goodness, it’s awful and wonderful at the same time.

I’m just emotionally tired.

It’s hard emotional work being married. Hard to always keep the peace. Hard to believe the best when the very nature of any close relationship is to see and accept the worst. Hard to adjust myself to the idea that the biggest work in my life is not something physical, or not the simple task of showing up and doing my best.

Because my best is so much less than what is needed in this situation. It’s hard to force myself to try in a relationship all. the. time.

I’m not a big fan of big effort. “Work smart, not hard” could literally be tattooed on my forehead.

And I’m exhausted by it. I don’t seem to have space in my mind to process as much as I used to, and these last few months have been the worst of it.

But lest I blame Matthew for everything (poor fellow got an overthinker for a wife, lol) – it’s also the reality of … reality. Ugh. Which brings us into our second point.

Second, I’ve been … high?

No, not like that! I’m not that kind of Oregonian.

Okay, that was just a catchy headline to mess with y’all. Basically, being “high” is kind of the opposite of being depressed. After all, the root word of depression and the alternate definition is, of course:

(of an object or part of an object) in a physically lower position, having been pushed or forced down.

No one ever tells you that after you stop *actively* being depressed (I’m not saying I’m completely healed, but I feel like God has done a number on me – in a good way! – in the last year or so), you start having this like … not depressed thingy? What is this? It’s so weird?

But depression, um, depresses a lot of your reactions, and though that usually just means the positive ones, that can also mean a lot of my emotional reactions. (MATTHIAS SMACKED ME, AND I. TEARED. UP. Which freaked the snot out of him. And also amused me because he has the best shocked expressions.)

And I know that some time I will learn to manage my emotions. What’s happening here is that whenever I do have an emotion, I’m shocked by it and don’t react as quickly as I have in the past. And I am slowly learning self-control and understanding what it is that I’m reacting to and why.

But in the meantime, it’s weird. It’s super weird. And you know what, it annoys me that this isn’t talked about because, like … do we just assume depression will be with people forever and there’s no use in talking about recovery? What’s up with that? Y’all are, um, depressing.

Anyways, we need healing stories, so that’s why I think it was good for me to share part of mine. Even if I am frequently a mess, it’s not what is used to be. And I’m grateful for that (even if Matthew would probably say I don’t act grateful very often).

Third, a lack of maintenance begets a lack of interest.

This is kind of like how, if I don’t do dirty dishes every time I create dirty dishes, I end up leaving them for over a week until we legitimately have no more. As I use my blog less, I … use my blog less.

Another part of this is that the less I use my blog, the less I promote it and create new content, the less I have interaction. And I THRIVE on interaction. However, I need to be okay with writing to the void for a while because I have been so bad at maintaining this blog that it’s time to do that.

I used to, and I did just fine then. It’s time to write to no one until someone shows up.

Because at the heart of it, this blog is a place for me to put personal thoughts, to act as a public journal for recording the things I am safe to say online, which are somewhat formal in nature (heh), but which still don’t quite fit into set boxes like other stuff I write.

And I’m not ready to give up blogging any time soon. So even if this blog isn’t quite what it used to be, I’m still here.

Anyways, all this to say, I AM PRESENT. I AM ALIVE. And I’m much more active on Instagram, send regular updates to my email list, and of course I harass my street team constantly.

But I love “Reveries.” I love this blog to death! It was my beginning, and I can’t abandon it. Or I won’t, I pray, as long as God gives me ideas and courage to write.

TTFN!

~Kell~

p.s.

What do you want to see on this blog? I have an idea, but I still ask because it’s always helpful to get more feedback. Also, what stops you from doing THE THING? (We all have “a thing.” A thing we put off. What’s yours?)

The Story of the Rewrites of The Dressmaker’s Secret

I need to do something with my mind that is obsessive but not as obsessive as my ceaseless scrolling through Instagram, which has now decided I am going through IVF*.

For this reason, I will be talking about the drama behind the drama. So let’s get going.

*Yes, it is very saddening. Yes, I do wish I could find my way back to “sixty-three writing memes & a scattering of Christian, country, and conservative reels.” Yes, I do need to stop clicking onto the Discovery feed, which is basically the hall of depression mixed with evil dopamine hits—a deadly combo indeed. No, I’m not going through IVF. If that ever did happen, it’d be like a bajillion years in the future when I am rich.

I was scrolling back through old emails looking for something specific and found a set of messages copied to an email that had been sent to a friend at like 1 in the morning.

Yeah. I don’t know what year this was from exactly, but the email I copied them into was December 2018. So I’m going to say it was around then.

Before we go any further, spoilers for The Dressmaker’s Secret. Not even the fun kind. Depressing spoilers. Got it? Let’s go.

Further: trigger/content warning for talk of rape, immorality, etc. Basically, the things in the book are discussed.

Talkin’ About The Original Idea

The messages begin as such: 

Okay, so I have never in the history of ever told anyone this, not even Bailey [note: anything I don’t tell Bailey but DO tell Aimee is NOT A GOOD THING], but I was thinking about it, and I thought you might enjoy it even though it’s super dark. [EDIT: because it’s super dark – y’all don’t know Aimee] I have literally had this headcannon since I wrote the first draft of The Dressmaker’s Secret, and in fact draft 1 hints at it more (Steven Parker questions Alice’s fatherhood a lot more, remarks repeatedly that she looks like him, etc.)

A promising start, eh? It continues:

So, basically, this is my self-head-fanfiction which I have never written down before because like I said, dark and immoral. [I mean, it’s not really IMMORAL any more than all the other stories of sin and sinners I share, especially the way I write it and view it, but dark, yes.]

Basically, my headcannon is — Nettie is Alice’s mother.

Wh-wh-whaaaaa?

So basically, to go back a bit, Claire goes to Pearlbelle Park when she’s 17 with her trusty maid Nettie. Claire takes a liking to and starts falling for the American nephew of the owner, John Elton, and in no time at all, she’s swapping love letters and sneaking out to meet Philip Knight.

[Random Fact: in the new canon, which is basically this canon but with some added details, Claire had known Philip throughout her childhood but never considering marrying anyone but Steven Parker due to his status as the heir. In book 5, Claire tells her daughters she’d been an idiot, and … yeah.]

Now, we all know Steven Parker had a thing for Claire, or at least he was willing to consider marrying her. And he has no morals. So what if he was just frustrated enough with Claire going for his much less handsome and charming cousin who at that time wasn’t in line for the inheritance (as it was going to Steven at that point) … that he either seduced or raped her maid? (I don’t know which is worse, honestly.)

[Dear younger self … I still don’t know. At least Nettie wouldn’t be “crazily scarred,” as my 17-year-old self put it, if it hadn’t been sexual assault.]

Anyways, so Nettie is broken up about it either way, crazily guilty or crazily scarred, and she runs to tell Claire and beg her to help her or something because she’s absolutely horrified and terrified and just generally unable to think how to deal, but Claire has big news — she’s running away with the poor American cousin, she’s going to marry him, and Nettie has to help her pull this off so her daddy can’t stop her.

[Yeah, this is still the way Claire is. Though now the sexual assault Nettie endured happened AFTER Claire had already left with Philip.]

So Nettie buttons her lip and helps whisk Claire off to France. Then she remains quiet, steady, and supportive. Perhaps she feels too guilty to admit what she’s done, and maybe she doesn’t want to risk having the filthy rich (or he will be filthy rich after he inherits) heir go against her, so she keeps it a secret.

[Honestly, Nettie’s reasons for keeping it a secret at first are foggy at best, but as I work on drafts of Nettie’s story, I believe it had a lot to do with Claire’s faith in Steven Parker. She knows Claire won’t believe her; what’s the point?]

And around the same time Claire figures out she is pregnant, so does Nettie. Nettie tells her mother (they’re back at the Chattoway estate by now), who is of course heartbroken but at the same time she knows that she needs to help Nettie because you know even if your daughter has committed a sin (or had a sin committed against her), you still have to help out if she’s going to have a baby, and of course Nettie is either repentant or just sinned against.

[Now I’ve denied Nettie even the basic comfort of a mother. Man, maybe I am evil?]

But Nettie never tells anyone who the father is. She’s vague, she puts them off, but she will not tell because she knows the Eltons are powerful, and she can’t risk the baby being found out and hurt.

[This, basically.]

But eventually she tells Claire, and Claire blinks twice, asks a few sharp questions, and says, “All right, darling. I’m having twins.”

[Can totally see Claire doing this, even though in my new version, they don’t decide upon the swap until Ivy is born and “Flora Evelyn” dies. Also, yes, Ivy is a twin!]

“What? But you’re barely showing! Surely if you were having two …”

“Shut up, Nettie. It’s all right. Don’t worry about it.”

(And btw this theory totally leaked into my subconscious, because in the prologue for TDS, you’ll notice Claire is five months along-ish, and she’s just then starting to feel the baby moving about — which would be unusual if she’s having twins let alone if she was having an active healthy baby like Alice. But no – she’s just having Ivy, who is already suffering from whatever lung abnormality it was that kept her so sick when she was a baby and child. But I digress.)

[This … is … scientifically … interesting? I don’t think that’s how it works at all? Eh, maybe it is. I might’ve read something about it, but sometimes I just make stuff up without even knowing it. I didn’t keep that prologue, so I don’t have to worry about that.]

So, basically, when the time comes, Nettie gives birth to Alice. And of course she adores her, but she instantly gives her up to Claire, hiding her in her room until Ivy arrives. Of course, she immediately tries to tell herself this isn’t her baby, she doesn’t love her, she can’t get attached, but it’s no use … of course she loves her daughter. And yet she’s not even allowed to nurse her, because of course there is no excuse for an unmarried virgin woman to be able to nurse a small child, so she just backs out of everything even though it’s absolutely killing her.

[Gahhhhh … even the thought of this kills me.]

She even gives up her rights to name the child, which of course results in Alice being named after her two aunts.

[Pfft, as if Nettie wouldn’t have a name in mind from the beginning. This is NETTIE.]

So then Ivy comes along, Claire lets the news be spread that she’s had twins, and because Ivy is so sick that Claire can’t even hold her at first, she takes comfort in baby Alice and is able to bond on a soul deep level with her.

[I still think this happened, though Nettie’s involvement is a little more.]

However, this explains a couple things … first, why Claire is a lot harder on Alice while she babies Ivy. And I know that could be mostly because Ivy was smaller and weaker and IVY, but I think in many ways Claire is less communicative with Alice, pushes her out into the world more, and forces her to be strong … she NEVER does that to Ivy, even when Ivy could sometimes use a little nudge. And she immediately sends Alice to boarding school It also explains why Ivy wasn’t as encouraged to marry as Alice. It doesn’t matter if Ivy marries. She is the legitimate full child of her parents … but if anyone found out that Alice was a maid’s illegitimate child, she would immediately be scorned, and Alice needs the protection of marriage immediately.

[Yeah, this is basically a summary of the whole series! And honestly, both Ivy and Alice have to work through this behavior on Claire’s behalf. Granted, I don’t blame Claire. She saw Ivy and Alice as different people and behaved toward them as such—and I would never say Claire didn’t love Alice, either, or considered her as the lesser daughter. Claire did her absolute best as a mother, which is the most any of us can do. And I think her behavior toward her younger children, after she got a little more time experiencing true love as a daughter of God and as a sister in Christ to other believers, shows her continued growth. She did her best—but this remains.]

*I meant to add: She immediately sends Alice to boarding school while when Philip suggests sending Ivy to McCale House – FOR A SHORT STAY – Claire blows up in his face and can’t handle it. Alice, she is much more comfortable sending away.

[Yeah, pretty much. Claire clings to Ivy until she realizes she needs to let go.]

Meanwhile, I see in Nettie a more patient love for Alice than in Claire. I see that she probably ended up raising both the girls while Claire was dressmaking, but that there was a more lasting love within her for Alice. And I think Nettie ended up loving Ivy a lot – and I know Ivy loves Nettie almost as much as her mother, if not equally – but you’ll notice … NETTIE picks Alice up from boarding school, NETTIE never cares if Alice comes home wet and dirty with a torn dress…

[Let’s just say Nettie has enough love in her heart to consciously and subconsciously love both her girls—honesty, all her children. She knows what she’s doing, but it’s also something she does without thinking. Simply put, we stan Nettie. Also, I’d say that the whole ‘Nettie picks Alice up from boarding school, Nettie never cares if Alice comes home wet and dirty …’ Let’s just say I firmly believe Claire let Nettie be good cop with Alice, always. She owed her that much.]

And Claire’s thoughts when she’s going to lose Ivy in TDS that one time? They are of the, “Lord, please, she’s all I have!” variety. In fact, she seems to think she should be dying – but I can’t help but think that if she had the same automatic instinct towards Alice as she has towards Ivy, she would be 110% more like, “God, take me, too … I mean, wait, no, that’s stupid. Then Alice would be alone.”

[I edited this all in, so if you were thinking, “Wow, Ivy got a little sick and Claire forgot she has two children!” … That was intentional.]

ALSO, funny how Miss Elton (Lois), who is Steven’s cousin and basically his little sister, is immediately familiar with Nettie … in a, “you’re on my level,” way. I wonder if she knows. But I don’t think she has a second layer of secretness – I think she’s just a loveable airhead. xD

[LOIS IS NOT A LOVEABLE AIRHEAD. I mean, she is, but she has brains, too. She knows Parker is a jerk, and she knows he basically manipulated her sister into inappropriate relations and therefore marriage, and she knows how he treated her niece, and I’d be willing to bet she knows the estate supports Katherine Kirk … Basically, this woman knows SOMETHING is up and feels intense pity for Nettie because of it. She just has no power in any situation until she marries Charlie. <3 At some point I’m going to make you ship those two as hard as I do.]

What comes to mind is one scene in TDS when Alice is pouting, and Nettie’s like, “Why don’t you read?” and Alice is like, “Nope. That’s boring.” A part of me wonders if there was a secret little pain in Nettie’s heart as she thought, “I wish we could share an interest.” Then a bitter little, “She’s too much like her father. Horses, running all over the countryside, careless, too smart, too charming for her own good …” Then she quiets her thoughts, reminds herself that Alice is the greatest blessing life has given her, even if it isn’t perfect, and tells herself that when Alice is 30 or 40, perhaps, perhaps … she can tell her. And she prays to God that Claire will let her, because it eats and tears at her every day as she wishes she could just be honest about it, just speak her true feelings …

[This paragraph is basically why I decided to do this, other than the fact that it speaks more to the themes and messages I want to portray in my books. Just … the PAIN.]

More thoughts: Claire sent Alice to boarding school because Nettie was getting too attached and wanted to tell Alice. “She’s asking questions about her father, Claire … just let me tell her. Just let me tell her I’m her mother. Please. It’s killing me … I could explain to her why she can’t tell others. I could … I’d do anything, Claire, but I need to tell her …” And, because Claire loves Nettie more than Nettie loves herself, she sends Alice away to give Nettie some time to realize that she could never offer Alice anything, even less than Claire can.

[I don’t think this was quite the reasoning now, but I do see that playing in. Claire knew the risks. She’s a woman who separates her emotions from reality and thinks through every situation. Every move she makes in book 1 is practical at its core. She considers the angles with Caleb’s sharp mind, Jack’s forbearance, and Rebecca’s strength—and then she implements in that, “Well, I’d better just do it, hadn’t I?” way Ivy does. Just sayin’.]

And Nettie KNOWS that if she just bides her time, Philip will take both Alice and Ivy as his daughters, and even if Hazel hadn’t died, Philip would have seated them both with a heavy dowry … and Alice would have half a chance, so much more of a chance than Nettie can give her. And Nettie just wants Alice to be happy.

[My sweet girl. Oh, Nettie … Nettie!]

And, slowly over the years, Nettie has gotten closer and closer to the Chattoways’ driver, Tom, and she falls for him. But a woman can’t be married and in service, and if she’s not in service, she can’t be with Alice as much as she desperately needs to be

And eventually, to stop him bugging her, she tells Tom under strictest confidence. Miracle of miracles, he loves her anyway. He wants to give her a fresh start. But when he begs her to come away with him and be his wife, she says, as in TDS, “I can’t leave, Tom. You know I can’t.” This isn’t because of her loyalty to Claire … it’s because she can’t leave her baby girl.

But of course Claire talks her into it, tells her she can stay near Alice AND be married to Tom. And Nettie marries Tom, starts having babies, and finds fulfillment in that.

[Claire’s understanding of Nettie’s predicament is there, and you can’t tell me otherwise. Also, Tom and Nettie are an #OTP. I wish I had more time to develop them in the main series, but I’ll let you watch them fall in love some day. Nettie has a lot to work past—a lot trauma she needs to bring into the light. But watching Tom win her is going to be worth it.]

However, she [Nettie] still watches Alice — after the move to Pearlbelle, it’s from an agonizing distance, but she still watches, and she encourages Alice to spend time with her little half-brother and sisters. So you must think those cute little scenes in AFOP [this means “All Fangirling Over Peter” and is an old acronym a blogging friend of mine, Lana, came up with!] … they’re a big sister cheering up her baby siblings, even if she doesn’t know it. So Nettie does get to have a sort of a relationship with Alice, but we mustn’t forget what she’s missing, either.

She’s missing being the one who goes to London and watches Alice find a husband – she doesn’t get to give Alice relationship advice – she doesn’t get to hold her when she’s sobbing because her romances aren’t going right – she doesn’t get to hear about it first when Alice has her miscarriages or stillbirth – she cannot openly grieve her grandchildren … she watches her daughter walk down the aisle from a back row, leaning forward in her seat as the curate says, “Who gives this woman?” Wincing when the response is, “I and her mother.” Knowing Philip thinks he’s talking about him and Claire; aching because she is the mother, and she was not consulted.

[GAAAHHH! This is still kind of true to a degree, but thank goodness for book 5, y’all. Just … thank GOODNESS. The next bit is the angst that might have been …]

Not getting to know her son-in-law even though she tries because obviously Peter is the sweetest friendliest fellow ever but to him, Nettie is just another friend — he doesn’t go out of his way to talk to her and get to know her, nor does he feel that nervous, “I’m her son-in-law, best impress!” urge.

Seeing her grandchild from a distance when Alice brings them to visit [current version note: pffffftttttt … okay, we’ll see], too afraid her emotions will give her away if she gets to see them up close … too afraid of telling Alice how much she loves her, maybe scaring her away with the intensity, afraid Alice will forget about her somehow.

[Poor Nettie. <3]

Also, it just occurred to me that Nettie probably told Alice not to call her Mrs. Jameson or something to that effect because she wants Alice to call her Mama, but if that can’t be,  then she’ll use her first name … her full name is too formal.

[This! This probably will last forever, too. Like, can you imagine Alice calling Nettie “Mama”?]

Anyway, along the line of what I was talking about – Steven ended up marrying his Lydia, Posy’s mother, which led to him getting disinherited, not because he’d married the wrong person exactly, but because he’d rather gotten the cart before the horse in several major concerns *cough* and his uncle realized that he’d picked the wrong nephew to inherit … Steven Parker might be English, but he was not responsible, moral, or prone to settling down — his going off to party after his daughter was born and his wife died only confirmed that, and Philip became the heir. At this point, Nettie could have told Claire, but Steven Parker was trying to get chummy with his former sweetheart again, Nettie knew he daren’t mess with Claire (NO ONE MESSES WITH CLAIRE), so she keeps silent again. But she does tell Claire not to marry Steven. Like #nope, that is not a good plan.

[I emphasized her protests a little more, but I think the logic remains firm. She didn’t tell Claire then because she knew Parker would never actually mess with Claire. No one does.]

Meanwhile, Steven watches Nettie a few times, she puts on a decent act, and he decides she’s fine, nothing came of it, etc. So he has no clue. Yet in his heart, he’s drawn to Alice, doesn’t quite know why, and keeps asking her to call him Uncle Steven, laugh at his jokes, go riding with him, be his daughter because she’s easier on his heart than Posy is, yet … nope. She will have none of it. (And let that be his punishment.)

[The punishment is not enough for the crime, but don’t worry. I have ideas. Also, I’m not sure about Parker’s awareness, but we’ll see. We shall see …]

But yes. This isn’t really true, but like … my head made it up during the first draft, I resisted, and yet it still burns and aches and itches at the back of my mind!

[Pfffftttttt.]

And that’s the story.

It burned and ached and itched its way out, y’all. It just did.

This is a story I wasn’t equipped to write at fourteen even though I had thought of it. (Yeah, I’m a dark kid. But I also didn’t know Nettie that well, so it was going to be a seduction situation.)

This was a story I would have been afraid to write at sixteen. You can see I was still terrified at seventeen!

What would people say? Would they think I was broken? Would they not understand that my desire was to inspire through the pain—not to cause trouble, to highlight sin? What would they think of me?

Like Claire, my reputation meant everything—and was nothing.

But, despite my words at seventeen, this new version of the book was re-launched in January 2020. I think I started the rewrites in early/mid-2019, including this drama. So eighteen-year-old me COULD do it … and did.

I think there was something of my granddad’s death in this story, like there was in Souls Astray and Love Once Lost (you’ll see).

When your world starts crashing down on you, you try to find ways to understand it. You write things that are darker because your heart feels dark and empty and caved-in. I didn’t know how to identify the feeling of impending doom when I wrote Souls Astray—and when I hypothesized that Nettie could never be honest with Alice about who she was.

All I knew is that I didn’t have anything left that made me feel like Kell.

I felt identity-less. My grandpa was the symbol of everything that existed in my life, good and not-so-good, and I didn’t see anything around me that wasn’t because of him. The property, the cattle, the family, my very life was owed to him.

My goodness was, at that time, tied to him, too—I was short-sighted, but I believed that when he died, so did his version of me. Never mind that others saw me that way, held me as close, and believed I was as special. To me, I had lost the best version of myself—the version I was in his eyes.

On top of that, I bore the heavy consequences of great sins and a great rift between myself and my God. No one knew but me, and as I took on that weight alone—until the day I was brave enough to confess it—I did not believe that I had a future or a salvation. I believed in God because any other option meant my entire existence was a pointless nothing—however, that is not a faith that can hold for any more than a brief period.

When you look at it that way, it’s no wonder I wrote of a broken little girl who spent the rest of her life being her worst self. It’s no wonder I made her mother tear that little girl to shreds. It’s no wonder I made others suffer because of her. It’s no wonder I drew from Gone with the Wind, from The Great Gatsby, from All Quiet on the Western Front.

Hope was foreign.

It’s no wonder I wrote that a woman would be tugged down by the sins against her and the sins she committed in response. It was no wonder that I didn’t believe she could ever confess the truth. I loved truth—I have always said I loved truth—but then, I knew truth would show me for who I really was.

As always, the truth is the last thing Satan wants to hear us speak. I couldn’t speak it.

But I didn’t stay there.

I can’t tell you what a relief book 5 is. For others, it’s proved a traumatic novel. For me, it is an endless relief. I know that’s a bit of a spoiler, for we like to guess what might happen and when things might be revealed, but I want to give you that thing I tell you I didn’t have …

Hope.

Granted, you’re probably not nearly as invested in this story as I am. But y’all, let me tell you this: the more honest I am about my past sins, the more I talk about them, the more little they seem—and the greater God seems.

And the more I am able to like myself again. Granted, I always have had an insane amount of confidence, but I knew it was a pretty evil person. Uhhh … perspective shift needed, much?

Look. Self-hatred is literally the worst type of selfishness because it doesn’t immediately trigger our “that isn’t very humble” sensors. But it is true. Self-focus is still self-focus regardless of how you term it.

That ramble to say, it’s always interesting going back in time.

This July I’m ripping off the bandages. Let’s bring everything into the light. It seems risky, but it’s the safest place you can be: in front of God, seen and known … and at last accepted, in a way the darkness never can.

TTFN!

~Kell~

p.s.

I just dumped so much on you so … thoughts? Also, what do you think of this ridiculously long article?

The Beyond Her Calling Relaunch Blog Tour | Wrapup Post

Hey folks! We’re finally at the wrapup for the Beyond Her Calling relaunch blog tour! I’m so excited to get to share this with you today!

 

About Beyond Her Calling

Ivy Knight feels that her life may never start. Though her loving family assures her that her place in the world is close to home, she still feels a push to move out of her comfort zone. Hoping against hope, she travels to her old friends at McCale House, seeking a purpose.

Jordy McAllen has just returned to Scotland after his education in London. He fears that what everyone has always said about him may be true: he can’t be a good doctor, let alone a good man. Determined to prove himself, Jordy snatches up the opportunity to become the doctor in the village of Keefmore near his parents’ farm.

When an old friend decides to travel to Keefmore and visit a relative, Ivy follows. She soon finds herself drawn to Jordy, but as their attraction grows, they both face doubts. A relationship between the two of them feels improbable—and might just require a step of impossible faith.

Buy on Amazon ~ Add on Goodreads

Schedule

Saturday, January 22nd

1 — Kickoff Post by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

2 — “Why Christian Fiction is an Important Genre” — Guest Post Written for Jane Mouttet @ Library Lady’s Kid Lit

Sunday, January 23rd

3 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Hannah E.M. @ Precarious Bookstacks

4 — Interview with the Author by Grace A. Johnson @ Book Nations

Monday, January 24th

5 — A Post about Ivy & Jordy by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

6 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Jane Mouttet @ Library Lady’s Kid Lit

7 — [NOTE: as this post did not go up, please refer directly to the next post in the tour.]

Tuesday, January 25th

8 — “Handling Tough Topics with Respect to Historical Accuracy” — Guest Post Written for Michaela Bush @ Tangled Up in Writing

Wednesday, January 26th

9 — A Post about My Other Characters by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

10 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Grace A. Johnson

Thursday, January 27th

11 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Vanessa Hall

12 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Hannah Killian @ The Writerly Worm

Friday, January 28th

13 — A Post about Scotland by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

14 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Marguerite Martin Gray

15 — “Why Christian Fiction CAN End with a Kiss” — Guest Post Written for Grace A. Johnson

Saturday, January 29th

16 — “My Least Favorite Christian Fiction Tropes” — Guest Post Written for Merie Shen @ Imperial Scribis

17 — [NOTE: as this post did not go up, please refer directly to the next post in the tour.]

18 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Katja L. @ Old-Fashioned Book Love

19 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Alexa Mintah @ Thus Far

20 — Final Post by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

Monday, January 31st

Wrapup Post by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

Giveaway 1 – Wrapup

Prize:

Beyond Her Calling in paperbackThe first three novels in Audible (audiobook) formatA painted ornament by Painted Prose DesignsTea (!)

THE WINNER:

Out of 943 entries, the winner was …

Elly

Congratulations! Check your email for more information!

Giveaway 2 – Wrapup

$25 Amazon Gift CardThe first four novels in The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy in paperbackBookish socks

The completed phrase was:

There was a music in the clack of the train tracks, a music to the way the people seemed lulled by it.

THE WINNER

E.C. Colton

Congratulations! Check your email for more information!

TTFN!

~Kell~

The Beyond Her Calling Relaunch Blog Tour | The Grand Finale

Today I get to both share the cover reveal of A Prayer Unanswered and the wrapup for our Beyond Her Calling blog tour!

Cover Reveal

As Alice Strauss enters her first year of marriage, she finds herself wholly unprepared for her new life. In a new country, with a new family, she struggles to find her footing. Difficult relationships and new situations batter her, but she is determined to establish a perfect life with the man she loves.

Unfortunately, perfection seems out of reach. An unexpected tragedy flings Alice out of control, and she struggles to rise from the ruins. Her world seems to be gradually worsening, full of spinning variables and agony beyond anything she has ever experienced.

However, there is hope—in a God who loves her and a future established for her since before time began. Yet the devastation of Alice’s life seems beyond even the touch of grace.

PREORDER LINK:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RGP8J2D/

GOODREADS LINK:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46128769-a-prayer-unanswered

 

About the Book

Ivy Knight feels that her life may never start. Though her loving family assures her that her place in the world is close to home, she still feels a push to move out of her comfort zone. Hoping against hope, she travels to her old friends at McCale House, seeking a purpose.

Jordy McAllen has just returned to Scotland after his education in London. He fears that what everyone has always said about him may be true: he can’t be a good doctor, let alone a good man. Determined to prove himself, Jordy snatches up the opportunity to become the doctor in the village of Keefmore near his parents’ farm.

When an old friend decides to travel to Keefmore and visit a relative, Ivy follows. She soon finds herself drawn to Jordy, but as their attraction grows, they both face doubts. A relationship between the two of them feels improbable—and might just require a step of impossible faith.

Buy on Amazon ~ Add on Goodreads

Schedule

Saturday, January 22nd

1 — Kickoff Post by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

2 — “Why Christian Fiction is an Important Genre” — Guest Post Written for Jane Mouttet @ Library Lady’s Kid Lit

Sunday, January 23rd

3 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Hannah E.M. @ Precarious Bookstacks

4 — Interview with the Author by Grace A. Johnson @ Book Nations

Monday, January 24th

5 — A Post about Ivy & Jordy by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

6 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Jane Mouttet @ Library Lady’s Kid Lit

7 — [NOTE: as this post did not go up, please refer directly to the next post in the tour.]

Tuesday, January 25th

8 — “Handling Tough Topics with Respect to Historical Accuracy” — Guest Post Written for Michaela Bush @ Tangled Up in Writing

Wednesday, January 26th

9 — A Post about My Other Characters by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

10 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Grace A. Johnson

Thursday, January 27th

11 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Vanessa Hall

12 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Hannah Killian @ The Writerly Worm

Friday, January 28th

13 — A Post about Scotland by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

14 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Marguerite Martin Gray

15 — “Why Christian Fiction CAN End with a Kiss” — Guest Post Written for Grace A. Johnson

Saturday, January 29th

16 — “My Least Favorite Christian Fiction Tropes” — Guest Post Written for Merie Shen @ Imperial Scribis

17 — [NOTE: as this post did not go up, please refer directly to the next post in the tour.]

18 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Katja L. @ Old-Fashioned Book Love

19 — Review of Beyond Her Calling by Alexa Mintah @ Thus Far

20 — Final Post by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

Monday, January 31st

Wrapup Post by Kellyn Roth @ Lilacs and Reveries

Giveaway 1

This blog tour hosts two giveaways! The first is as-usual – a simple blog tour giveaway!

Prize:

Beyond Her Calling in paperbackThe first three novels in Audible (audiobook) formatA painted ornament by Painted Prose DesignsTea (!)

ENTER NOW

Giveaway 2

The scavenger hunt!

$25 Amazon Gift CardThe first four novels in The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy in paperbackBookish socksHow to HuntBegin at Stop #1 and continue on to the final post. At the end of each post, you’ll find a CLUE and a LINK to the next stop. Progress to each stop in order.Collect all the clues and submit the full phrase at the last blog stop via the linked form to enter the giveaway. (This will be on my blog.)While you’re at each stop, be sure to comment, as each comment wins you another entry.Deadline for entries is Monday, January 31st, at 10 AM Pacific Standard Time.The clue for this stop

BY IT – CLICK TO SUBMIT THE ANSWER

Happy Hunting!

TTFN!

~Kell~