Rhoda Baxter's Blog, page 40

Using conflict to power your story

This is another article written for the now-defunct Beverley Guardian, recreated here for your delectation and delight.

Conflict is the thing that powers your story. Your protagonist has a problem, they are trying to fix it, but there are things in the way, so they can’t solve their problem as easily as they’d hoped. So what are they going to do now? This tension, the wanting to know what happens next, is what keeps the reader turning the paged. The source of that tension is conflict.

Confl...

10 ways to make time to write

This was the first article I wrote for the Beverley Guardian. Since their site has disappeared, I’m re-posting it here. If you have any other tips on how to make time to write, please let me know in the comments.

Are you one of those people who says ‘I’d love to write a book one day, but I don’t have the time’? I have a day job and I have two small children. If I can find the time to write novels, so can you.

First, let’s break down the task. Most novels are about 70000 words long. That’s a...

Goodreads Book Review: You’re the One That I Want by Angela Britnell

You’re The One That I Want (Choc Lit) by Angela Britnell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I adore a geek hero, so I was always going to love Matt – the man who is more in tune with computer manuals than people. Sarah was a lovely character too, but Matt was definitely my favourite.
Their fake romance is conducted under the beady eyes of a bus full of fellow travellers… and when it morphs into a real romance, those fellow travellers know more about it than the actual couple do.

This is a fun read, quit...

Goodreads Book Review: Little Girl Lost by Janet Gover

Little Girl Lost (Choc Lit) by Janet Gover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a lovely book. Janet Gover does it again.
I really love the Coorah Creek books – it feels like a real place now. I enjoyed Tia and Max’s story a lot. I think I enjoyed Sarah and Pete’s story even more. I think Pete is just adorable.

A little girl goes missing in the bush and a whole town turns out to find her. It’s a lovely story about community spirit and about forgiving yourself. The bit about the little girl made me cry...

Want to write romance? Come to our workshop!

In all the excitement of Girl Having A Ball coming out, I’ve been a bit slack letting you know about the exciting pair of workshops that Jane Lovering and I are doing for Beverley Literature Festival (part of Lit/Up) this year. When I say ‘this year’, I meant NEXT WEEKEND!

Here’s the key information:

When: Saturday 8th Oct 10am – 1pm and 2pm -5pm
Where: Beverley Library (Treasure House)
How much: 18 each or 30 for both workshops
How to book: Via the Beverley Literature festival website (or at...

Goodreads Book Review: Fat Chance by Nick Spalding

Fat Chance by Nick Spalding
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. The main characters were so warm and likeable. Some of the bits at the start were genuinely laugh out loud funny. My favourite thing about the characters was how Greg was totally in love with his wife throughout… regardless of her weight.
I also like the hint of good things in the ending. The full extent of their happy ever after wasn’t explicitly stated… but then, it didn’t need to be. Lovely.

View all my reviews...

Girl Having A Ball – Release Day!

It’s release day for my fourth book published by Choc Lit. Look at the lovely, lovely cover!

Girl Having A Ball was published before as Having a Ball. It’s the same girl, and the same ball, but with a few changes to make it even better than it was. It’s the sequel to Girl On The Run and tells the story of Marshall’s sister Stevie. The third book in the series, which has the working title Girl In Trouble, should be out next year. [Doctor January isn’t part of this series, but one of the chara...

Goodreads Book Review: Max Seventeen by Kate Johnson

Max Seventeen by Kate Johnson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’d heard the author talking about this book on Twitter for a while – she called it the Mad Space Book.

I LOVED her last Mad Book (Untied Kingdom – it’s brilliant, if you haven’t read it, please do), so I was keen to read this one too.

Max is a brilliantly heroine. Hard as nails and will steal your teeth if you smile at her for too long. She’s so stubbornly independent, you can’t help liking her. Riley is big and scary to look at, but tota...

Bacteria inspired names and GBBO – a podcast

A few months ago Sarah from Smart Bitches Trashy Books reviewed Please Release Me. She also contacted me and asked if I would do a podcast for her blog. It’s gone live today!

212. Gin & Tonic, Bacteria, and the US and UK Romance Markets: An Interview with Rhoda Baxter

For those who aren’t followers for the affectionately named ‘Bitchery’, it’s a blog about romance novels written by a group of very smart women who read romance because it’s fun. They also read high brow literary fiction, but,...

The art of Foreshadowing

It’s time for another writing column in the Beverley Guardian. This one is about foreshadowing. You can read the whole article, with groovy picture of The Sixth Sense, on the Beverley Guardian website.

Four shadowing… geddit?

Have you noticed how often coincidences happen in real life? Rather often – as the late Sir Terry Pratchett put it, a million to one chances happen nine out of ten times. But when writing fiction, coincidence is not your friend!

Your hero is stuck on an erupting volcano...