Elise Eliot's Blog

Merry Switchmas is Out!

I really didn’t see another book coming out of me this year. I felt my creativity dwindle after releasing four rom coms in a year and thought it might be awhile before my creative battery was recharged.

But, sometimes it just takes a catalyst to jolt us and I certainly got a big jolt in the form of a rather tragic turn of events. I share a lot more about what inspired Merry Switchmas in the acknowledgements section of the book, so I won’t spoil it all for you here. I’ll just say this: pain and art are so intertwined. I have hard stories, time and time again, about artists, writers, sculptors, musicians, actors, comedians, you name it, who ended up in artistic, creative occupations because they had so much pain or struggles in their early lives. This comes out in their art, even in their humor, and it becomes something that so many other people can relate to and feel drawn to.

There’s a quote by Van Gogh, a famous artist, and he said that he put his soul into his art, or that his art stole his soul. And you feel it, when you look at his work. It just comes right off the page and grabs you. You feel like you are really staring at the piece of someone’s soul. I went to this exhibit where they splash his work onto giant walls, so you get this sort of overwhelming sensory experience with his work and it gets increasingly dark as he gets older. This mimics the darkness in him and the way his life just kept getting worse.

Anyway, I’m rambling. All of this to say: this book came to me at just the right time and I hope that you feel so much love and pain and beauty in between these pages and with these characters. Tate Kennedy is struggling with letting herself love others and letting herself be loved and I think a lot of us can really relate to that feeling. I know I can. And, it’s this struggle within her, to be in control of everything so that she can feel safe, that results in the reader wanting to root for her, even though she starts out pretty unlikable. As one reader said, “I’ve never rooted for a villain so hard in my life.”

Merry Switchmas Tropes:

Theres a lot of great tropes in this one. Microtropes, too. I’ve shared some fun visuals on my social media, too. Here are some of the main tropes in the story:

Second chance romance – absolutely.

Forced proximity – she wakes up married to her super hot, blast from the past, college ex, so yeah.

One bed – well, they’re married, but she’s really not prepared for this one.

Cinnamon roll hero – I dare you to not fall in love with Amir. He’s a good one.

Reverse grumpy/sunshine – she’s not likable at first and maybe not for awhile. But, I promise you, she’ll grow on you.

Here’s a fun visual with micro-tropes, too:

Merry Switchmas Early Reviews:

I leveraged my beta group again for this one and it was so much fun to see their reactions to the work as they read. This ability to reach my readers directly is part of why I’ve decided to start writing on Kindle Vella. Yup, that’s right. Check out my first Kindle Vella episodes here, if you’re interested.

But, back to Merry Switchmas, here are a few snippets from my favorite reviews:

I love the one about this becoming a Hallmark movie. I really think it would make for such a fantastic movie.

On that note…

Merry Switchmas: Movie Inspo

I made a fun visual where I share some popular movies with similar tropes/themes. If you like these, you’ll definitely enjoy Merry Switchmas:

Merry Switchmas Characters:

There’s a few main characters in this one, including the FMC, Taylor “Tate” Kennedy, and the MMC, Amir Anvari. He’s just the sweetest, steadiest, calmest guy and the perfect compliment to Taylor, who is definitely more fiery and all over the place.

I also think it’s so important to show representation in love stories, which is why I always gravitate toward multicultural characters. Amir is inspired by the wonderful Persian family members I have. I’ve truly fallen in love with the culture and people, so I was shocked to learn that Middle-Easterners are one of the most underrepresented groups in media, and when they are included, it’s usually with negative stereotypes. I want to be part of the change in this area. Here’s a little bit more about Amir:

I made his image using Ai! Crazy, right? I love the ability to create my own images from words. I did hear that there is something about copyright issues here and I definitely need to do some research on that and make sure I’m not participating in something that is stealing from artists or creators. If you know more about this, email me.

Taylor, in contrast, is a spicy redhead. Here’s an image I created about her:

I think a lot of readers will see parts of themselves in her and her story. I know a few of my beta readers certainly did and one even messaged me that it was hitting a little too close to home for her. I hope the way the story goes gave her the peace and happy ending she deserves, too.

Merry Switchmas: Final Thoughts

This book flowed out of me faster than any other and the result is something I’m very proud of. Even my editor said it’s her favorite one yet, so that made feel like maybe it’s not all in my head, lol.

If you’re interested in reading it, let me know what you think. Check out Merry Switchmas here.

The post Merry Switchmas is Out! first appeared on Elise Eliot.

Behind The Scenes: Hot Mess

Well, I’m a little behind on keeping up the blog, because Hot Mess actually came out months ago. But, here we are, and and I wanted to share a little bit of the behind the scenes for this one like I’ve done for my other three rom coms.

Hot Mess was one of the easier books that I’ve written and I think it’s because it was book four and the second in a series. Once I’d built the world for Love Unleashed, and created the characters that live in it, all I needed to do was shift perspective, move into the future a bit, and then tell the story of the next pair: Gigi and Cade.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the tropes in Hot Mess: Forced proximity, forbidden love, dual POV, he falls first (and hard), lots of secrets, and much more.

Writing Process: Hot Mess

Something happened before writing this book that also made it a lot more fun to write than some of my past books. It’s kind of a funny story. After Love Unleashed was published, I started to get some reader reviews saying my characters were emotionally immature, etc., Well, first, find me a rom com (movie or book) where that isn’t the case. In fact, I’m pretty sure the baseline for any romantic comedy is characters who bumble their way through falling in love. But, second, that happens to be what brings a lot of the “com” in the “rom com”. The more the characters struggle with the process of falling in love and embarrass themselves, the more hilarious the story becomes.

So, as I saw some of these reviews coming in, it really lit a fire in me. Because, honestly, I was using restraint in my other books when making my characters ridiculous. I was actually holding back. There were ideas I almost wrote, but then I said, no–let’s give these characters a little more decorum. Just a little. A hint.

When it came to Hot Mess, I used no such restraint. Some reviewers wanted to complain about my characters emotional immaturity? Well, then I was going to give them a real Hot Mess. And that’s where the title of the book came from and why I decided to write Gigi and Cade’s love story the way that I did. Of course, I had already introduced both of them in the first book of the series and I had planned for them to both be living a life full of secrets. But, when I sat down to flesh out the story, I just went for it. Mermaid storyline? Check. Hilarious coffee making scene? Check. Constant near misses? Check. A ridiculously bumpy ride to falling in love? Check. Check. Check.

And, ironically, it’s been my most popular book written to date. People really resonated with the characters. They fell in love with both of these ridiculous characters as they make all the mistakes in falling in love. But, love finds a way, because we’re all human, we all deserve love, even if it’s a total hot mess.

I’m so proud of how this book turned out, because for me – it represents how I just wrote what I felt was right for the characters and not what I thought people would want to read. When I wrote my first book, Miss Indecisive, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever finish the book, let alone release it, so I wrote with a similar stream of consciousness flow. It’s the most fun way to write a book, in my opinion, because you just get totally enraptured in the story, sucked in by the characters, and surprised by how things go.

When I start to write, I have a loose outline of the story and some character sketches for the main characters and then I just run with it. That means there are a lot of things that happen in the books that even I didn’t see coming. The scenes play like a movie in my mind and I just write as fast as I can to keep up. Not sure if that’s how other authors write their stories too, but that’s definitely what happens for me.

Hot Mess: Reviews

The reviews for Hot Mess have been amazing. Most readers have really connected with the characters. It’s hard to see someone tank so badly and not see a little bit of yourself in them. And, if you’ve really never acted like a fool when falling hard for someone, you might at least appreciate the humor in seeing it go that way for another (pretend) person.

Here are some of my favorite reviews for the book:

It’s hilarious and sexy and fun from start to finish. The twists and turns throughout this book are so well done and I love that it ties back to her first book, Love Unleashed. Highly recommended, don’t miss it! – Scarlett

I went into this book expecting it to be like every other romance book but, boy was I wrong!!! I was genuinely interested in knowing what happened next and I HAD to know how it ended. From family dynamics to drama to secrets. I was eating up every bit of it. I absolutely loved the humor in this book too; no joke, there were times where I was chuckling at the banter. See what I did there? I’m happy I picked this book, not to mention that the cover is adorable! It was a 5 star read for me. I also enjoyed that it was set during modern times. I breezed through every page. HIGHLY recommend!! – Nena

Gigi and Cade are definitely a hot mess ????. These two have so much chemistry, but Gigi’s brother has put a hard NO on that! But with the forced proximity situation, things heats up! These two want to make it work, but are keeping so much of themselves from each other as well as their families. I was thoroughly intrigued by their side hustles that the author came up with! So original! And hilarious (aka Cade ????). They both had a lot of growing up to do in the story, and I’m happy that Gigi realized her insecurities and took ownership of them. I’m not a huge fan of second act break ups, but I think Gigi needed it to show growth. – DelightfullyBooked

This was a fun read. I had a good time reading it. Definitely swoony with a pinch of spice. Gigi and Cade were attracted to each other at first meeting. A year later both ended up in circumstances that led them to stay at her brother’s house. This forced proximity challenged their self-control. Both also had to deal with the secrets they kept regarding their work situations. Not to mention the roadblocks both their brothers set-up trying to prevent them from getting involved with each other. While Gigi was pretty confident in her own skin, Cade was more lost, avoiding figuring it out for himself, and instead trying to fit into the role his family wanted him to play. “I feel like I live at that intersection of what I want and what everybody else wants.” There were some pretty fun and funny moments in the story, and definitely some very swoony ones courtesy of their strong attraction to each other.  – Jenny

If you’re interested in checking it out for yourself, here’s a link to Hot Mess.

What’s Next?

Well, I was working on book three in the Capitola Crushes series when I hit a major writing block. Not only that, but I needed to dedicate more time to my other work (that actually pays the bills), due to some changes in our family. This meant that I wasn’t working on a book for the first time in a year.

But then, something happened. Inspiration struck, just not in the way I was expecting. The result? My upcoming magical Christmas romance, Merry Switchmas. Check it out here.

I’ll be back with another blog post soon on Merry Switchmas!

Until then, keep reading, friends.

Elise

The post Behind The Scenes: Hot Mess first appeared on Elise Eliot.

Binge Read These Enemies-To-Lovers Romantic Comedies Today

Ready to get lost in a story you won’t be able to put down? The enemies to lovers trope might be my all-time favorite romance trope. It’s usually combined with other favorites, such as forced proximity, work rivals, and even one bed tropes for lots of extra discomfort for our poor character friends. My obsession with this one might have started with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which is the OG and GOAT enemies to lovers story, but there are plenty of new ones that will suck you in just the same.

In fact, I love the trope so much, my first enemies to lovers romantic comedy comes out May 6 (just 3 more days!) and I cannot wait for you to read it. Until then, I have read and watched a lot of enemies to lovers romantic comedies over the years and want to share some of my favorites with you.

These books are not organized in any particular order, so scroll the list and find the one that stands out to you

6 Of My All-Time Favorite Enemies To Lovers Books: Affiliate links are used below, which means I may receive a commission at no cost to you!Love Unleashed by Elise Eliot:

Am I name dropping my own book? Of course I am! I loved writing this. It might have been the most fun I’ve ever had writing something. I love this trope and I really put my characters through it to get to their HEA. The heart of the story is that the main characters are both veterinarians, but he’s a traditional medicine doctor and she’s a holistic vet, and their clinics are stuck right next door to each other. They hate everything about each other and how they practice medicine, which leads to lots of angry back-and-forth that is pulsing with an undercurrent of attraction.

Then, they start to realize it’s a fine line between love and hate, and some of that anger they feel for each other might be something else. Of course, when you’re dealing with two type-A control freaks, getting them to admit it is going to be a bumpy road. When a terrible accident makes them work together towards a common goal, they have to face their fears and their feelings. You can read a lot more behind the scenes info on the story in this blog post. Or, grab the book on Amazon below and enjoy it for yourself!

Read Love Unleashed nowDating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma:

One of my favorite books of all time and also happens to be an enemies to lovers trope, too! These two characters have such sizzling chemistry, it’s hard to believe at times that they can keep hating each other so much — but that’s what makes it so much fun to read! When they realize that they can both benefit big time from pretending to like each other, they agree to bury the hatchet and work together. But, the entire time, the sparks just fly between these two.

Fair warning: don’t crack the spine unless you’re ready to finish it. So, put on a pot of coffee and settle in for a great ride.

Read Dating Dr. Dil nowTalk Bookish To Me by Kate Bromley:

This was my first book by Kate Bromley and now she’s an auto buy author for me. I really loved this one. The first chapter of this book is jaw droppingly good. I was really blown away by it. It hooked me immediately and I couldn’t stop reading after that point.

There are some really unexpected twists and turns to this story that you are going to want to hang on tight for. In fact, one of them has made some readers very unhappy. But, it’s all in the name of entertainment and getting to that HEA. I definitely recommend this one.

Read Talk Bookish To Me NowThe Hating Game by Sally Thorne:

Full disclosure: I watched the movie version of this one, but still, I get why people have gone so gaga over this one. I intend to go back and read the book, which I am certain is going to be even better. The movie was also adorable and I absolutely loved it.

Two ambitious workaholics get stuck together in the same office and are gunning for the same promotion. But, oops, they fall for each other and it complicates everything. You’ll have to read it to find out what happens, but it’s a really fun, sexy time.

Read The Hating Game nowThe Temporary Roomie by Sarah Adams:

Oh boy, this one is so cute. I just fell in love with Drew when he was the brother featured in the first book in this series and couldn’t wait for him to get his HEA. Of course, it doesn’t come easily for him. He ends up having to share a space with the spicy Jessie, when they just hate each other. The pranks they pull and the lengths they go to to try to get under each other’s skin is really fun.

This book also showed me that it’s important to not take things too far, though, when writing an enemies to lovers. Theres a scene at the end that really just gutted me. I found myself thinking – how are they going to get past this one? Of course, we all know there’s a HEA, so they do, but I think with enemies to lover, I find myself pulling away from stories where the people are too mean to each other, or one character is too mean to the other, and they do things that cross the line. We have to always want them to make it work and once we lose that feeling and start to wonder if one or both of the characters are better off without the other, then the story starts to fall apart. Still, the scene with the scrubs is hilarious and I love it.

Read The Temporary Roomie nowBaggage Claim by Juliana Smith:

This is another book that starts off really strong. Opposite attract when these two are stuck next to each other on a long flight and their conversation is just hilarious. Then, when he decides to have a little fun and try to help her out — against her wishes — the enemies to lovers trope is in full force.

I really enjoyed this one, but you’ll have to look past a couple of things that reviewers have commented on quite a bit, such as the FMC clearly has some kind of undiagnosed eating disorder and needs some help with that and there’s a lot of emphasis on looks. I think the story would be cute even without those additions and the chemistry between the main characters is palpable.

Read Baggage Claim now6 More Page Turning Enemies To Lovers Romance Books: Sun, Sea, The Billionaire and Me by Harmony Knight:

Loved this fun story about the best friends of a couple that get stuck on an island for a vacation. They can’t stand each other, but they love their friends, so they try to get along so everyone can have a fun vacation, but it doesn’t happen without some challenges.

When a storm blows in and they’re stuck alone together, they’re forced to face the feelings that they’re both feeling and figure out what they want, once and for all.

This is the second book in a series and the first one is absolutely hilarious as well.

Read Sun, Sea, The Billionaire and Me nowBook Lovers by Emily Henry:

I mean, can we talk about enemies to lovers books without talking about Emily Henry’s Book Lovers? I loved this book so much! The first scene between Charlie and Nora just grabs you! It’s so unlike anything else I’ve read. Nora’s own monologue in the beginning is just amazing. I hated that we skipped ahead in the future after the prologue, though, because I felt like I must be missing more interactions between those fiery two!

When they do run into each other again, it’s certainly memorable and then they can’t seem to get away from each other. Of course, then they can’t seem to stay away from one another and that’s when the story becomes even more fun. So good.

Read Book Lovers NowThe Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren:

This is on my list to read, but only because I have heard so much about it and people love it! For two sworn enemies, anything can happen during the Hawaiian trip of a lifetime—maybe even love. Here’s the book blurb:

Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion…she even managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a slew of contests. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas.

Olive braces herself for wedding hell, determined to put on a brave face, but when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. Suddenly there’s a free honeymoon up for grabs, and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise solo.

Agreeing to a temporary truce, the pair head for Maui. After all, ten days of bliss is worth having to assume the role of loving newlyweds, right? But the weird thing is…Olive doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, the more she pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more it feels like she might be.

This book is currently en route to my house and I can’t wait to read it.

Read The Unhoneymooners nowLove On The Brain by Ali Hazelwood:

Ali Hazelwood has taken the world by storm with her fun STEM inspired romance stories. This one has two characters who have hated each other from the start –or have they? When they are suddenly stuck together on the same big project, everything seems to go sideways, and they have to decide if the project is more important than their hatred for each other.

While this isn’t my favorite book on this list, I really enjoyed some parts of it. Hazelwood’s writing style is sort of stream of consciousness, which can be difficult to follow at times. I found myself struggling to make sense of the monologues from the FMC, but once things really got going, I had a lot more fun reading it. Plus, some of her descriptions are really fantastic and you catch yourself stopping and just re-reading it to soak it all in.

Read Love On The Brain nowYours Truly by Abby Jimenez:

This one might be considered “enemies to lovers light” because the enemies part is fairly short-lived. However, they have solid reasons for not liking each other–and then they have really solid reasons for falling in love with each other, too.

I honestly loved this book so much. Every book by Abby Jimenez just keeps getting better. The storyline between these two is so sweet and it brings much needed healing to both of their lives. I really loved the MMC. He is very different from the popular alpha male stereotype that is just not my personal preference at all. When things work out, it feels like a really big hug.

Read Yours Truly nowYou Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle:

Another one that is on its way to me. I have heard a lot of great things about this one and can’t wait to read it.

Here’s the book blurb: When your nemesis also happens to be your fiancé, happily ever after becomes a lot more complicated in this wickedly funny, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy.

Naomi Westfield has the perfect fiancé: Nicholas Rose holds doors open for her, remembers her restaurant orders, and comes from the kind of upstanding society family any bride would love to be a part of. They never fight. They’re preparing for their lavish wedding that’s three months away. And she is miserably and utterly sick of him.

Naomi wants out, but there’s a catch: whoever ends the engagement will have to foot the nonrefundable wedding bill. When Naomi discovers that Nicholas, too, has been feigning contentment, the two of them go head-to-head in a battle of pranks, sabotage, and all-out emotional warfare.

But with the countdown looming to the wedding that may or may not come to pass, Naomi finds her resolve slipping. Because now that they have nothing to lose, they’re finally being themselves—and having fun with the last person they expect: each other.

I mean – if that doesn’t make you hit “add to cart” – I don’t know what will!

Read You Deserve Each Other now11 Best Enemies To Lovers Movies:The Lost CityTicket to ParadiseThe ProposalPride and Prejudice (so good)What Happens in VegasThe Hating Game (based on a book)Something’s Gotta GiveYou’ve Got MailWhen Harry Met SallyHow To Lose a Guy in 10 Days10 Things I Hate About You

I’m sure there’s more, so if you have a favorite I’ve skipped, let me know!

I hope you found a new book or movie to enjoy on this list! For some other fun tropes, check out my hilarious love triangle romantic comedy, MISS INDECISIVE, or my sweet revenge and second chance romance, GAME ON.

Thanks for reading,

Elise

The post Binge Read These Enemies-To-Lovers Romantic Comedies Today first appeared on Elise Eliot.

Love Unleashed: Book 3 Is Coming!

I am so excited to share that my third book, Love Unleashed, is currently sent out to two advanced reader sites: NetGalley and BookSirens! This one was a very different journey than my other two books and I am starting to get the feeling that each book is a unique experience.

I absolutely love the cover for this book and how it captures a particular moment between the characters. This story is a true enemies-to-lovers romance with other tropes and themes mixed in, like: doctors romance, forced proximity, and a lot more. Here’s a fun graphic I made for Instagram with some of the things you can look forward to in this story:

Love Unleashed: Book Synopsis

Looking for a bit more info on what to expect? Here’s the book blurb as it stands right now (but is definitely subject to change – writing book blurbs is hard y’all!):

He’s the beloved veterinarian of a traditional medicine practice.

She owns the holistic pet wellness center next door.

They hate everything about each other.

Parisa Hadid needs to find a way to make her wellness center a success—fast—or she’ll never be able to prove her Persian parents wrong and build the business of her dreams. But, the constant fighting with her arch nemesis, the surly veterinarian next door, is starting to seriously impact her bottom line. When he won’t stop trying to drive her clients away, it means war.

Malakai Dixon has built his successful practice from the ground up and isn’t going to let a feisty holistic vet ruin what he’s worked so hard for. So when Parisa’s wellness events drudge up painful memories and negatively impact his furry patients, he’ll stop at nothing to get rid of her.

There’s only one problem: chemistry is rolling in like waves and threatening to crash both of their plans. When an unexpected accident forces them to work together, they’ll have to face their fears—and their feelings—once and for all.

Love Unleashed is a tantalizing enemies-to-lovers romance that sizzles with banter, passion, and plenty of hilarious twists as two type-A veterinarians learn to let go of their comfort zones and fight for true love.

Writing Love Unleashed: My Process

Something I loved about writing this book was how vibrant the characters were for me while I was writing. They truly came to life and had a mind of their own. There were definitely scenes and plot points that I did not have planned or had even thought of until I was in the scene, writing it. When you even surprise yourself as the writer, it’s a pretty wild experience.

I’ve learned that there are two main types of writers: pantsers and plotters. I absolutely fall into the pantser group, meaning that I write by the seat of my pants. I have a loose idea where it’s going and then just go for it. And yes, there are definitely times when I am in the thick of writing that I feel jealous of the super planner writers who have everything mapped out before they write a word. This would save me a lot of stress along the way, but then there is something to be said about experiencing it as you go, too.

There were times with this book when I would brainstorm ideas with my writing support buddies and we’d come up with a plan for what should happen next, and then I would sit down to write it, unexpectedly changing everything. When I would send the chapters to them to read, they would start texting me with tons of exclamation points when they read where the story actually goes. Sometimes they’ll ask me when I decided to go that direction and I tell them the truth: I didn’t know until I was actually writing it.

Love Unleashed: Characters

I knew going into this book that I wanted to feature a Persian character as a main character. It’s such a beautiful culture and I wanted to show a little bit of that journey of being the first generation in a new country. Parisa Hadid is extra tough because of this background. She’s had to traverse two cultures, two languages, two sets of societal expectations growing up, all while navigating her own identity in an area that is not as diverse as other parts of California. This shapes her into a strong-willed, passionate woman that is willing to work hard to go after what she wants and then fight to protect it. She’s not going to back down when the grumpy vet next door wants to get rid of her for reasons she doesn’t really understand.

After I decided this was going to be the female lead, I knew I needed to create an equally passionate, cultured male lead for her to fight with and fall in love with. Malakai Dixon was born from that idea. He’s a spicy, passionate, hard-headed, loyal, loving first-generation Italian/Scottish man and he grew up around strong-willed women, so he doesn’t balk at all at Parisa’s strength and determination. In fact, it’s part of why he falls so hard for her.

There are other possible connections for them in the book that do complicate things, though, and we see how they navigate these possibilities while also trying to work through this shifting dynamic in their relationship.

Since they’ve spent many years of their lives in school and working long hours to become the brilliant veterinarians that they are, they haven’t had much time for a personal life. This makes their falling for each other extra hilarious as they bumble through the feelings that are very new for them to have. I loved exploring this dichotomy between their competency at work vs. their immaturity in love. This was really inspired by a woman I worked with many years ago who was one of the most intelligent, incredible people I’ve ever met. But, when it came to her love life, she was a total mess! It was almost amusing to see how this super successful, articulate woman could be so different when dating and falling in love. I think a lot of us can relate to this.

Love Unleashed: The Making of a Plot

The choice to make them both veterinarians was not my first idea. I actually went through quite a few different professions, for both of them, before settling on this choice. In fact, I was almost ready to sit down and write before deciding that they would both be veterinarians, because up to that point, she was set to be a vet, and he was going to be the owner of a gym next door.

The minute I decided that they were going to be opposites from the same industry, the conflict became really clear and the tension was obvious. This idea of opposing doctors has been done in different ways – and very successfully, too. I’ve loved some of these portrayals and it is definitely easier, and more fun, to write storylines and characters that I really enjoy.

Just for fun, here are just a few of the career combinations I considered before going with two vets:

She’s a pilates instructor and he runs the restaurant next doorShe owns a pilates studio and he owns the rowing studio next doorShe’s a chef and he’s a food blogger (this one might be revisited, lol)She owns a smoothie shop and he owns the car repair shop next doorThey’re both anesthesiologists She’s an OBGYN and he’s a pediatrician and they keep getting picked by all the same clients

It’s fun for me to think back on all the potential careers I considered for these characters. The choice to make them animal doctors came from wanting to keep the subject matter light for the most part. Not that being a veterinarian is easy, by any means, but everybody loves hilarious, furry friends and making them vets gave me a lot of great animal content to lighten the mood.

Plus, since I knew I wanted them to be rivals, having them work in the same profession takes that competitiveness up a notch. Or a couple notches.

Something else I explored in this book was more deeply developed side characters. In my first two books, I had strong side characters, some that even stole the spotlight quite a bit (we’re looking at you Cam!), but in this one, we see a fully developed relationship between Ren and Autumn, the vet techs for the opposing practices. This adds some depth and dimension to the story that I loved and I think you will really enjoy, too.

Love Unleashed: Book Release Plan

One of the challenging parts of being self published is being fully responsible for your own marketing plan. With each book so far I have tried some new approaches to spreading the word. I don’t have an unlimited budget, so I can’t do it all for every book, so I try a few things with each one and take note of what works really well for my books and writing style and what doesn’t. For this one, I’ll be trying two new things that I haven’t been able to do before and I’m looking forward to seeing how this helps with reach.

First, I’ll be using NetGalley and BookSirens for ARCS. I’ve used BookSirens twice and it performs pretty well for me, but NetGalley is the industry standard for finding advanced readers. This will be fun to try out.

Second, I’m working with a custom bookmark designer to create a promotional book boyfriend bookmark of Malakai! He’s such a babe and I am going to give away the bookmarks to readers who choose to share out about the book’s release on social media and/or sites like Goodreads. I really want to increase my engagement with potential readers and build those relationships. Have a fun freebie will give me the opportunity to do that and I can’t wait. If you’d like to participate, follow me on Instagram @eliseeliotauthor and join the fun.

Other than that, I’ll try to be better about sharing more on social media. There are so many memorable moments and lines in this book. Its just exploding with witty banter, sizzling chemistry and plenty of heartwarming lines. I think they’ll give me plenty of content for sharing.

Also, I’ll share updates with my email list, too. I have a group of incredible readers who do get my emails, and I’ll continue to share exciting info with them first.

Thanks for reading!To preorder Love Unleashed, head to the link here.

Elise

The post Love Unleashed: Book 3 Is Coming! first appeared on Elise Eliot.

Behind The Scenes: GAME ON

I’m so excited to see readers loving my second book, Game On. This was a completely different experience from writing my first book, for a variety of reasons. First, the intense learning curve of self-publishing was a little bit easier the second time around. I had all the accounts set up and had figured out a book cover artist that I liked and a formatting software I am comfortable with. I also knew that a lot of promotions weren’t worth the money for me, so I didn’t scramble to get my book into them. And, of course, I had a little bit of a following established from my first book and it was nice to see some readers excited to read another book I’ve written.

The downside, of course, is that there are second book nerves. What if the readers who liked my first book don’t like this one? What if the new story and characters don’t resonate? These are all normal doubts that I think anyone creating art experiences when putting something out into the world to face potential judgement.

Game On: Tropes & Characters

Creating something and then sharing it is a nerve-wracking experience in both good and bad ways. Game On is a very different story than my first one. Miss Indecisive is all light, fluffy and funny. Game On, there is a much stronger character arc and Millie changes exponentially from page one to the end. We really see her character come full circle, in a good way. This character story was something I knew was going to happen going in to writing the story. I wanted a heavier focus on the character story and a little less focus on the romantic story, which is what makes Game On a bit more chick lit than romance (although there’s definitely a strong romantic story in there, too).

Another element that I worked into this story was the bad boss, Colton Cox, the narcissistic real estate broker who will do anything for money. Believe it or not, this character was inspired by a real life person who is every bit as cringey as Colton – and even more so. His antics are so unbelievable, I literally said to my friend (who worked for him), I have to write a book with a character like this. My concern was that people literally wouldn’t believe that a person could be that bad and feel the character lacked realism. While that has definitely happened in some reviews, I always chuckle to myself when I read them and think, “If you only knew…” Colton is actually not as bad as the guy who inspired him. The real guy is worse.

Once I had these two pieces nailed down, then I started thinking through tropes that could be connected to craft a meaningful story. The funny revenge plot started taking shape, which incorporated a strong female friendship with Paige added in. Then, as Millie starts to feel empowered to take control over her own life, we see her life really transform and that attracts a new man into her life, although their relationship is not without some unexpected interruptions.

Lastly, I felt it was important to show the struggles that single moms face. Millie was very much inspired by a few single moms that I know and love, including my own mom. Seeing their struggle and their strength made me want to create a character who experiences their lack of options and how often they survive with little to no support system, etc. In fact, some of the reviews of the book have even shown that people really do not understand the plight of the single parent. Some reviews have said things like, “If her boss is so bad, why doesn’t she just leave…”. This is despite the story clearly showing that Millie lacks higher education that makes it difficult to even get an assistant job, as well as the fact that she applies to jobs and can’t get an offer that will allow her to survive. Even though she gets a dental assistant degree, the average pay is so low that in an area where Millie lives (Sacramento, CA), she wouldn’t be able to afford to care for her two children on that income. Leaving a job just because she doesn’t like it or her boss is crazy is just not an option for a lot of single parents. One of my single mom friends has years of experience in her industry, yet has tried for at least a year to get another job, but even executive assistant jobs require a four-year degree now, which she does not have. I think it’s important to share these stories.

More About Characters:

When it comes to creating characters, I am really interested in writing a variety of characters. My first book incorporated a tight knit, traditional Indian family, including a beautiful Indian wedding, and I love how it adds so much depth to the story. In Game On, I decided to incorporate a character on the spectrum as Millie’s son. He is inspired by my nephew, who I love very much, and think is the most incredible, brilliant boy in the whole world. I feel like there are a lot of misconceptions about autism and many people don’t really understand it. These kids have to work so much harder to adapt to things that those of us not on the spectrum don’t even think about. But, on the flip side, they are often given other incredible gifts in leaps and bounds beyond what the rest of us can even imagine. Watching my nephew and seeing his gifts has been life-changing for all of us and I wanted to write a beautiful character inspired by him and how much he has taught all of us. I am considering a story that jumps into the future and shows his love story when he’s grown. It’s floating around in my head and I’ll see if it crystallizes and needs to be shared.

Another character I really wanted to write was Millie’s best friend, Paige. I love a good secondary character. In fact, I find my secondary characters sometimes want to take over the spotlight. They have Main Character Energy. This happened in Miss Indecisive, too. So many people fell in love with Cam, her best friend, and he really was an exceptional character. His voice was very clear for me and I can’t wait to share more of him in upcoming books in that series. In Game On, I had a feeling that Paige would have her own spin-off book almost right away and the more I wrote this one, the more Paige and her story came to me. I have tentatively titled her upcoming story, Cover Girl, and I am starting to think through that one. I hope to start writing it later this year.

Overall, Game On had a lot of threads to experiences to real life, but were woven together in a way that truly was a fictional story. I absolutely love writing physical comedy and scenes like when Millie has to jump over the fence at the open house are my favorite. If you can imagine, I am sitting at my computer, cackling and smiling while I put my poor characters through the ringer. It’s all for you, my friends. My whole goal is to put a smile on your face and give you a much needed respite from the stressors of life.

At the end of the day, these are stories. While we can learn and glean things from them, they are ultimately escapism entertainment. No book is perfect, but I hope Game On finds the readers who will enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is.

Reviews for Game On:

Some of the reviews for Game On have blown me away. The way people have responded to Millie’s story has been so motivating for me as a writer. To see Game On get into the top 100 for clean and wholesome romance is a moment I may never forget. Thank you for loving Millie as much as I do.

Here are some of my favorites:

“I loved this story! The way Millie came full circle in her story and was able to make her way in the world as a single mom and to do it successfully really spoke to me! Plus who doesn’t love a story that gets back at a truly terrible boss! These are all of the things I wish I could do to every bad boss I have ever had!! Highly recommend this book to everyone!!! – Mandi

“I really enjoyed this story. I didn’t want to put this book down! Millie goes through a wonderful transformation in this book. I enjoyed the fact the story is set in California and that the Millie drinks lots of coffee. I was given an ARC and this is my voluntary review.” – Marlys Fry

“What a Read! This book has it all, great characters and plots, and a number of hilarious pranks thrown in for good measure.” – Helen Causer

“OMG, SOOOO GOOD!!! I flew through this book in one night and loved every minute of it. This is the second book I’ve read from by Elise Eliot and I’m LOVING her writing style, she’s hilarious!

This is a classic revenge against bad boss story which I love but also a heartwarming journey about a single mom turning her life around. The romance is natural and doesn’t feel forced which seems to be my biggest issue with most romance novels nowadays.

As I mentioned above, this book is laugh-out-loud funny and the mischief Millie and Paige come up with to get back at bad boss Colton one was one of my favorite parts.

I really appreciate that this book is about a woman who saves herself and doesn’t need a knight in shining armor or Prince Charming to solve her problems. I don’t want to spoil any of the romance but this book really delivers and I would recommend it to romance novel lovers out there. 5 stars!” – Scarlett DeFrance

Final Thoughts:

If you haven’t already read Game On, please feel free to find it here. I hope you love it. In the meantime. I am deep into my third novel, currently unnamed, and I’ll be back soon with more on that one.

The post Behind The Scenes: GAME ON first appeared on Elise Eliot.

The Enemies to Lovers Trope: From Hate To Fate

I recently saw the new movie, “Ticket To Paradise” with Julia Roberts and George Clooney. It was a fantastic take on the popular enemies to lovers trope and expertly delivered by the two comedic titans. And, it got me thinking about the trope and why we love the hate to fate story so much. At the end of the day, there really is a fine line between love and hate and if there are enough things in common between two people, the same passion they hated each other with can easily transition to love.

Since I am writing my first enemies to lover romance book right now (to be released sometime this year!), I have been doing a lot of research into the genre and swallowing as many enemies to lovers books and movies as I can. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

Like anything else, there is a range of interpretations of the trope, with some of them being harder to believe than others. So, I thought it would be fun to share some tips for how to write an enrapturing enemies to lovers story packed with chemistry. Then, when my version of the tropes comes out, you can read it and let me know if you think I nailed it!

And, if you’re looking for great enemies to lovers movie and book recommendations, keep reading!

Tips for Enemies To Lovers Stories: Give the characters something in common. If the characters don’t share anything significant enough to genuinely connect on, it’s difficult to believe that the relationship could possibly work out when the hate turns to fate. For example, in the movie “The Lost City”, she’s a romance novelist and he’s her cover model. When she hates him, it doesn’t seem like they have very much in common, but when things shift, we realize that their interests are actually very aligned. Show the internal struggle. It’s unlikely that two characters that are not attracted to each other in the slightest are going to cross over from enemies to lovers at any point, so that internal struggle needs to start building slowly through the story. I have read some enemies to lovers books where we really don’t see that internal struggle until pretty close to when they turn to lovers, or in one case, didn’t happen at all until all the sudden-BAM! They’re together. It was really difficult to buy in to it as a reader and root for the happy ending when I didn’t feel any chemistry up until that point. For example, in Abby Jimenez’s novel, “The Friend Zone”, we know that they are attracted to each other right away. So, that underpins all of their digging and fighting at each other and gives it a sexy, sarcastic edge. When you know that attraction is there as a reader, the tone you give their words changes. Give them a believable reason to fight the attraction. Readers really do not like the miscommunication trope, so while it could be an easy way to keep enemies from turning to lovers, it’s not always a fan favorite way to go. To avoid having to rely on a miscommunication, try to give them an actual reason to hate each other. From an event that has happened in the past to what they perceive to be a serious philosophical difference, the thing keeping them apart has to be important enough to sustain the hate when the internal struggle continues to build. Sometimes this is something obvious. For example, in my book, he’s a veterinarian that practices traditional medicine and she has a holistic veterinarian practice that uses techniques like reiki, dog yoga, and healing music. While they hate each other, we see them as polar opposites in how they view treating their patients. However, when the tables turn, we realize that they have far more in common than they don’t. Remember that attraction is a dance. Similar to the early days of a new dating relationship, where people will wait to text and call so that they don’t feel too vulnerable or make the other person think they’re too interested, an enemies turned lovers situation needs to move forward and backwards. This is what helps build that frustration as a reader and makes you want the characters to just get together already. This dance, though, is the way that attraction builds and if it’s rushed, you run the risk of creating an insta-love situation. Sometimes, we know that they are super into each other and trying to avoid it, while other times, that attraction is slowly revealed. In the book, “Love On The Brain”, we think she’s into him, but we’re not sure what he’s thinking, until we get pretty far into the book. So, you can even show that one character is interested, but we’re not sure about the other one. In my opinion, I prefer to have both characters shows signs that they like each other, but the anger towards each other overrides any of those thoughts or feelings….until it doesn’t. Don’t take things too far. Sure, they hate each other – but if you want it to be believable that they eventually love each other, too, establish some boundaries with their behaviors as you’re writing. This means, don’t take things to a point that when they fall in love, the reader is thinking, “Well, how did the character ever get over the other person saying or doing x, y, z.” I read a book recently where I felt that way. By the time the characters got together, I really felt like it was a very unhealthy relationship and I wanted them both to find a good therapist instead of get into a relationship. This is not how we want our readers to feel. This could have been avoided by simply observing certain boundaries as a writer. While writing my own enemies to lovers book, I had some dialogue in there originally that I have gone back and swapped out for softer digs. I don’t want readers to go back and think, “If someone said that to me, I could never fall in love with them.” This is something I’ve also asked my beta readers to look out for and they’ve pointed out a couple things as well.They should become allies. One of my favorite parts of enemies to lovers storylines is when they have to work together towards a common goal. For example, in the movie I mentioned earlier, “Ticket To Paradise”, Julia Roberts and George Clooney have been divorced for decades and hate each other. Can’t be in the same room together without fighting. So, when their daughter suddenly decides to marry a guy she barely knows and move to Bali to be with him, they have to be together. Soon after, they decide to work together to split her and the guy up. Of course, working with someone you hate is going to have its challenges (that’s the fun part). Through this process, they usually learn things (or remember) things that they respect and appreciate about each other, which starts that attraction dance (or furthers it along). This also helps the reader begin to imagine or hope for them to reconcile or get together. Of course, the plot will pinch and they will jump apart for a bit again, but that hint will carry you through until the next reconciliation or happy ending. Avoid major red flags or toxic behavior. It’s really hard to come back from something like cheating or lying, no matter how badly you want those characters together. There’s a popular romance book that I enjoyed, but it was very polarizing. I won’t name names, but the couple hates each other because of a misunderstanding when they broke up years before. They finally come back together and we think things are moving along, when the girl discovers that he’s been in another relationship the entire time. Of course, he has excuses, but it was very difficult to rationalize his behavior and readers had very strong feelings about that. So, while it can be fun to really put characters through the ringer, try to avoid any seriously bad behavior on the part of either character, or it’s going to result in some very upset readers.Be mindful of the breakup. There is usually a breakup situation in romance novels where one or both of the characters feels their wounds triggered and struggles to move forward. Of course, they come back around for that happy ending, but it sure is tough to see characters do this when you just finally got to see them together. Of course, as writers, we want this breakup to feel true to the characters. I’ve read some enemies to lovers books where the breakup felt so harsh or it touched on such sensitive issues for one of the characters that it became impossible to believe that they could ever get back together. In one book I read, he literally breaks up with her because she wasn’t forthcoming about major and serious family trauma. When he finds out, rather than be supportive of her and be sensitive to this, he takes it personal and breaks up with her in a cruel and heartless manner. That woman should never take that man back, no matter what. But, when he comes back apologizing, she’s right back in his arms. Made my stomach lurch. Not the reaction we want a reader to have. In my second book, GAME ON , there is a fade-to-black breakup and I was very aware of how it could make my other character feel. So, the character who was initiating the breakup was very vulnerable about how they were feeling and let the other character know it wasn’t their fault. It’s a real, raw moment where both characters are hurting and want to be together, but the timing just isn’t right. So many people have gone through something like this in real life and by not creating a miscommunication trope, we don’t scar the characters to the point of no return and when they get back together, all feels right in the world.

I might think of some more things as I’m finishing up my book and continuing to devour every other enemies to lovers book that I can.

In the meantime, here are some fun book and movie ideas to inspire your own enemies to lovers romance or just to entertain you.

11 Best Enemies To Lovers Movies: The Lost CityTicket to ParadiseThe ProposalPride and Prejudice (so good)What Happens in VegasThe Hating Game (based on a book)Something’s Gotta GiveYou’ve Got MailWhen Harry Met SallyHow To Lose a Guy in 10 Days10 Things I Hate About You

I’m sure there’s more, so if you have a favorite I’ve skipped, let me know! Now, on to the books!

5 Of My Favorite Enemies To Lovers Books: Book Lovers by Emily Henry – One of my favorite books. The characters are so well-drawn and the ending is not your typical romance book ending. Loved it. Sun, Sea, The Billionaire and Me by Harmony Knight – I love Knight’s writing style and this book is a fun read. While they don’t full on hate each other with the fire of a thousand suns, they have their back and forth moments and it’s fun to see the relationship evolve. Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma – Another one of my favorite books. Dr. Dil is my book boyfriend. The main characters each need each other for something really significant and this forces them to become allies to get what they want. Then, of course, they fall in love. Loved the cultural elements. Talk Bookish To Me by Kate Bromley – The first chapter on this one is so fiery, so witty, I could not put it down after that. There is a cheating scandal in this one, though, that threatens to ruin the ending. It’s still a great example of enemies to lovers, though. Love On The Brain by Ali Hazelwood – Full disclosure, it was hard for me to get into this one. The first 50-100 pages were tough and I tried a few times to read it before just slogging through. It gets better once we see something from the main guy character besides just robotic behavior. It’s not my favorite book, but she writes angst really well. The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez – The enemy part of this book gives to friends pretty quickly, so it’s light on the enemy part, but there are some funny scenes when they are razzing each other. Then, when they are friends, it really turns it up a notch, because they’re fighting the attraction, since she’s in a relationship. At the point that they do get together, I started to struggle with it, because it falls into a miscommunication trope and then I feel she doesn’t treat the other main character well enough to want that happy ending. Even still, the writing is incredible and I enjoyed it.

There’s a lot more out there than this, but these have been the ones I’ve enjoyed recently. They are romantic comedies with varying levels of spiciness. Also, affiliate links are used here, so if you do make a purchase through one of my links, I may receive a commission at no cost to you! Thank you!

Final Thoughts on Enemies To Lovers:

I’m not sure that I have a favorite trope, but enemies to lovers is high up on the list. In fact, my own relationship started as something that could be considered a little enemies to lovers. Some of our early arguments have become urban legend and have inspired a lot of scenes with my characters.

I’ll share more on my third book, currently untitled, soon, so come back for some fun behind the scenes and updates.

Plus check out my hilarious love triangle romantic comedy, MISS INDECISIVE, or my sweet revenge and second chance romance, GAME ON.

The post The Enemies to Lovers Trope: From Hate To Fate first appeared on Elise Eliot.

Is Second Book Syndrome Real? I Found Out.

When I was young English major in college, dreaming of being a bestselling author one day, I can remember reading interviews from successful writers who talked about how crippling it was to write another book after a massive bestseller. This seemed especially true for first-time authors who struck gold with that first book, setting the bar extremely high for anything that should come after it. Heap on even higher stakes if the second book is part of a series.

I can’t think of too many examples of sequels that were as good, or better, than the first. Can you? Exactly.

For more seasoned authors who had to write their tails off to get to that bestseller, the second book anxiety is a bit watered down, but still, how can you avoid that nagging voice in your head that you want to keep that momentum going?

Turns out, this fear is so common, there’s a name for it. This is called “Second Book Syndrome”. And, to be honest, I think I had more second book syndrome with my first book than anything else. My biggest fears oscillated between two scenarios:

My first book is a huge flop, everybody hates it, the reviews are terrible, and this crippling response would paralyze me, making it impossible to write anything else. Sometimes, in the scenario I played out in my head, I would have to publish future works under a pen name, hiding from the horrible, deplorable failure of that hated first novel. Yeah, it’s a bit dramatic, but that’s how fears usually play out. Or, my first book would be a smash hit, everybody would love it, it would transform the landscape of multi-cultural romance novels as we know it. Interviews requests would pour in, fans would flock to find my books everywhere, and movie deals would fall out of the sky. Unlikely scenario? Absolutely, but any author who tells you they didn’t at least think – at least one time – of this happening to them, is probably not being totally honest. But, if this debut novel success actually happened…how exactly would I follow this up? Could it be possible to win the lottery two times?

So, as you can see, the merry-go-round fears of a first-time author are no picnic. But, my fears at least had a common theme: I was scared of writing that second book before I had even released my first one.

Now, before you think that I spent all my spare time crying in my bed about that second book, don’t worry. That only happened two times.

I’m kidding. I’ll admit that most of the time, I had very realistic expectations for myself. I’d read the Reddit boards and joined the Facebook groups and heard enough self-published authors talk about how they needed at least 10 books or so to see things moving (in both sales and established reader interest). I tried to prepare myself for this to take time.

I’m grateful that when I released my first book, it really was like a soft launch. My ARC reader reviews were good, some were great, a few were mediocre. None were terrible.

Miss Indecisive has made some sales, nothing fantastic, but not horrible. I read stories of people who slaved away on their books for years only to have it rot in the land of forgotten books. I am very grateful that I have experienced at least some interest and sales.

And, I have even had some readers enjoy the book enough to follow me on book sites, like Goodreads or BookBub, sign up for my newsletter and even reach out on social media. There is nothing quite like the feeling of a total stranger taking their precious time to reach out and say that they really enjoyed this little piece of art that you created and sent off into the world.

What About Second Book Syndrome?

So, what did I do then, about second book syndrome? I’ll tell you exactly what I did.

I started writing my second book before I had even released my first one.

Yup. That was my strategy. I got to work on book two while the first one was with my editor for a few weeks. I rode the high wave of feeling really good about myself for finishing a novel in the first place right into writing my second book.

At that point, I had not experienced any constructive criticism at all. The readers who had read the book already – loved it. I knew criticism was coming (and I wanted it), but I also knew that it could curb some of my enthusiasm for book two. I wanted a strong running start before anything brought me back down to the ground.

This ended up being a very good strategy for me, because I didn’t end up getting very much criticism from that editor. In fact, I didn’t start getting some harsh critiques until my ARC copies went out.

At that point, the book was pretty much finished, I had put a lot of money into editing, a book cover, and lined up promotions for after the book’s launch. I had spent countless hours on the book and on learning how to self-publish successfully.

Had I waited to start my second book until after some of that criticism had come in, writing Game On would have gone a lot differently.

5 Tips for Second Book Syndrome:

Now that my second book is out to ARCs and available for preorder on Amazon, I’ve learned a thing or two about going from the first book to the second, as well as second book syndrome.

Here are my tips if you are nervous about writing that second book or currently crippled from second book anxiety.

Start writing book two before you see what people think about book one. That way, you’ve already got a head start on it, whether the results to the first one are good or bad. This also helps give you a great distraction from reviews on the book that is out. I found that channeling my creative energy into writing book two helped me release some of the anxiety from book one. If you’ve already missed the opportunity to start book two before book one is fully out, then my next piece of advice would be to just sit down and write whatever makes you happy. Break through writer’s block by getting back to basics. Heck, you can even tell yourself nobody has to read it. Just sit down and go with the flow. Usually, these are the best stories anyway. A lot of writers started book one because they had a great idea and they needed to get it out. While we all dream of having a bestseller that everybody loves, most of us assume that isn’t going to happen, so we are blissfully writing without worrying too much about what people will think. Once you start getting real feedback from real people, that ignorance is gone for good and this can make writing another book terrifying. Get back to basics, Write what you love. Read somebody else’s book. After I published book one and got halfway through book two, I hit a major slump. I just wasn’t connecting with the characters I had created. They weren’t going in the direction I thought they were going to go. I was a bit lost with it – and also, I was feeling tired. I had written about 500 novel pages in just under three months. My brain was a little fried. So, I downloaded a bunch of books in my genre that had great reviews and just started reading – with all my spare time. I was reading while waiting in my car for my kids. I was reading when my husband watched TV at night. I went through 6 books in a week. It was wild, but it really helped me. I had my own thoughts on each book – things I liked, things I didn’t like. It helped put things into perspective for me. There is no perfect book. Read other people’s bad reviews. This is one of my favorite things to do. I’m not kidding. It’s so cathartic. After I finish a book, I go to Amazon or Goodreads and I read the best reviews and then I read all the bad reviews. Some of them are genuinely laugh out loud funny. We’re talking tears rolling down your cheeks, can’t breathe, funny. Readers can be harsh; but they can also have incredible feedback. I have learned A LOT from reading people’s bad reviews of books I liked or didn’t like. Sometimes, I agree with a lot of the reviews and other times, I am completely shocked how much people hated a book that I really enjoyed. What does this teach you? First, none of us are going to get out of this publishing thing unscathed. You will not make every reader happy. Second, bad reviews can really teach you how to be a better writer. There was one book that I really enjoyed, but the bad reviews were very poignant. Readers were very offended that a writer put something serious that people struggle with in as a character detail (OCD), but then didn’t resolve it appropriately in the resolution. I think the writer thought of this as just part of the character and didn’t realize that by presenting this in the story at all, they were going to be triggering a lot of readers. So, when the book ended and that particular issue was just poof! magically resolved, people were understandably very upset. I learned a very valuable lesson here about how important it is to resolve anything triggering in a way that makes the readers who struggle with it feel respected and heard. Go live your life. Yup, if all else fails, get away from your computer and go live your life. It can be really consuming to tell a character’s story. It can even start to feel like you are living vicariously through the characters and worlds of your own creation. This is not real life, though. Get outside. Go for a walk. Go get a coffee. Go see a friend. Drive around and stare at things. Stop ordering things online and go in the store to get them. Go live your life. Inspiration will strike. Just give it time.Writing Game On: My Second Book Story

Now that I’ve talked about second book syndrome, let’s talk about what it was like for me to write my second book.

Every piece of writing is its own journey. Whether I’m writing for a client, writing a blog post like this, or writing a novel, that is the truth. No two projects are alike.

Writing Miss Indecisive was a wild experience. It was like I was releasing these characters and ideas that had been stored up inside of me for so long, that they just burst out of me and onto the page. I wrote that book incredibly fast once I got started, because I had been writing it in my mind for years.

Game On was different. It is different. The story is very much inspired from some real life experiences (which always helps – and I talk about that in my first bog post), However, the story has a much stronger, deeper character arc. Millie Barlowe, the MC, really grows from the first page to the last.

But, here’s the thing: she’s not someone I really like in the beginning of the book. She’s kind of wimpy. She’s definitely insecure. That’s not really my jam. But, thats who she was and I needed to do her character justice. Somewhere 1/4 of the way in, I started stumbling. I was boring myself with what I was writing. I didn’t like her. I wasn’t feeling where things were supposed to go. The characters weren’t happy, either. I felt like they were looking at me with their hands out, saying, “What the heck are you doing?”

So, I took breaks. I did other things. I wrote other stuff. I came back to it and I said – I’m going to let the characters run amuck. Screw the outline. Go live your best lives. That’s when the story really caught wind and started to come together.

Once I finished the book, I went back to the beginning and realized the first 12 chapters just didn’t fit anymore. I rewrote the entire first 1/4 of the book and condensed it down into about 3 chapters. It changed the whole flow of the story and it even made Millie more likable, albeit still insecure, but someone you at least wanted to root for. When things start clicking for her, you really feel it and want that for her. You’re proud of her. Or, at least I am, but of course, she’s my creation.

Why am I telling you this? Because second book syndrome is real, yo. It’s tough to break through sometimes. Each story takes its own path. Some flow out of you like the words write themselves. Others you have to force out, then rewrite, then rewrite again, and it becomes a painstakingly slow process that makes you want to chuck your own book into a fire.

At the end of the day, you’re creating something that did not exist before. Art can be painful, but it’s also beautiful. Don’t give up.

Now, what does the future hold for book three? Does second book syndrome move along to something else? I don’t know for sure, but I can tell you my third book is 100 pages down and it’s a sequel to my first book.

Writing a sequel is a totally different animal, so once that one is off to the editor, I’ll let you know what I think about it.

Until then, keep reading and keep writing, friends. Oh, and to preorder Game On – click here.

The post Is Second Book Syndrome Real? I Found Out. first appeared on Elise Eliot.

Behind The Scenes: Writing Miss Indecisive!

I am so excited to be able to share my first book with all of you. This is a story I’ve been writing in my head for a long time. While this is a work of fiction, there are some elements of the story that are inspired by my real life experiences. This is a writing trick I’ve been using for a long time.

Before writing this novel, I’ve been working as a freelance writer for clients all over the world. When I take on a writing project, I always start by listening intently to the client and paying attention to not just what they say they want, but the things they don’t say. Then, I think about my own experiences and ways I can work those in to the storyline that I am creating for them. That way, when I sit down to write something for them, the words flow easily and the end result is something that feels really authentic. Of course, there are times when I have nothing from my own experiences to add (such as when I wrote for a company that is creating the very first no-emission cement!), but the more you write, the better you get at writing about anything.

When I initially sat down to write Miss Indecisive, my first instinct was to make Vanessa a wedding planner. I have always been fascinated by event planning and weddings, in particular. By incorporating the Indian wedding into the story, it would have made for a fun twist for her to be a wedding planning expert. But, the more I worked on her as a character, the less that felt true. I ended up switching her to a teacher and once I made that change, the story flowed a lot more easily.

That’s the thing about writing: if you listen, the characters will usually tell you who they are.

Miss Indecisive: Themes & Tropes

The concept of the love triangle and working in a cultural component was something I had swimming around in my brain from the very beginning. I was lucky to grow up in a very diverse area and had friends from all backgrounds. My best friend growing up came from a large and proud Latin family and I loved going to their fiestas, dancing salsa with her cousins and learning to speak Spanish with her and her family members. There will definitely be some Latina characters in my future novels, for sure!

But, for this one, incorporating the wedding immediately drew me to the lavish, often multiple day events that are common in the Indian culture. I’ve had the incredible honor of attending a few myself and they are some of the best weddings I’ve ever been to. Something I always love about Indian weddings is how everyone is so enthusiastic and almost everyone gets out there and dances! No wallflowers! I knew this would make for a colorful and fun backdrop for Vanessa and Rishi to meet.

Plus, considering how interesting I found different cultures growing up, I knew I wanted to incorporate cultural differences and traditions in this story, to add additional elements of conflict and compromise to the love triangle. This adds so much dimension to Rishi’s character. He is a truly beautiful character, inside and out, and his love for his family and Vanessa is palpable. Traditions have so much heart, but they can also create tension–in real life and in stories, so I played with this concept in writing Rishi and his family. This is where the matchmaker and arranged marriage storylines came from as well.

Incorporating Jack was a fun twist, because he’s such an unexpected addition. Vanessa never seems him coming and he really sweeps her off her feet. Jack is not just handsome, but he’s a true advocate for children and a very generous person. His commitment to the school, the students, and to building his relationship with Vanessa makes him a real catch and complicates Vanessa’s decision even more.

When I started writing the book, I had a really firm idea of who she was going to end up with. But, the more I wrote, the less sure I became. The characters were really talking to me and even I became confused with who she should choose. I think letting the ideas flow instead of forcing them is what creates so much tension in the scenes leading up to Vanessa finally making a decision.

I love hearing from readers that they didn’t know who she would choose. This was definitely something I was hoping for when going after the love triangle trope. I used some elements from mystery novels, such as the red herring, to distract readers from the love triangle at times, which also helps build tension. For example, Vanessa injures herself while snooping on Jack and ends up on crutches for a good chunk of the book. Not only does this add a lot of physical comedy, which I personally love, but it really symbolizes how the characters are just stumbling their way through the process of falling in love.

Character Development:

I had one reviewer note that they felt like the characters were in high school and this made me laugh. Sure, could they have been more emotionally mature? Absolutely. Would this have been as funny? Absolutely not. Plus, I don’t know about your love story – but my husband and I were an absolute mess. He has often described our process of falling in love as being strapped to a bullet train. So, for the readers who also felt like falling in love threw their entire world off balance, you’ll appreciate how humbling the process is for Vanessa, Jack and Rishi.

I hope you enjoyed this little behind the scenes on my thought process while writing Miss Indecisive. If you’re interested in reading more, you can find it here on Amazon – it’s free for KU readers, currently just .99 for ebook and $12.99 for paperback.

To learn more about the characters and updates, feel free to follow my on social media! Here are my links!

The post Behind The Scenes: Writing Miss Indecisive! first appeared on Elise Eliot.