Time to crank up the creativity factor to eleven - PLEASE

I don't know an author who isn't an avid reader. We are always on the lookout for that fantastic five star read, just like you. Reading is not just a great escape for an author, but inspires us to do better and aim higher.

So, why then am I inundated lately by the same old, same old kind of books? If you must use a trope - make it your own, blow me away. Make me jealous as hell at your creativity and moxie.

Too often lately I've been hit by lazy story-telling or romantic short-cuts that all but kill off the romance. I know we can all strive to do better - here are a few hints.

First up - the fated mates pairing.
Please, for the love of all things sparkly (and I do love the bling) do not use fated mates as a means of cutting romantic corners.
In a few cases, very rare, unicorn cases, an author gets away with it.
But in the vast majority of instances an author announcing the MC's are fated mates all but signals a lack-lustre romance is headed my way. "Telling" me something is not enough. I need to read about the journey. The little moments of connection. The getting to know you. The mistrust, the squabbles. The discovering of each others baggage and learning to deal with it.
I don't care if the couple are shifters and on a primal (undeniable) level they are meant to be together - make me believe it.
Anyone can bang it out - fated mates included - but I purchased a romance book. So give me some freaking romance.

Anyone else tired of reading a book blurb and the first sentence goes something like - An epic re-telling of the fairytale....?????
There seem to be about five fairytales in the mix - Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella and Red Riding Hood.
The re-telling market is swamped. Or should that be, is a swamp? The hundreds of re-tellings added to the swamp every year are just acting like quick-sand, dragging the readers down.
I get it, you have the best, the most creative take on - pick a fairytale - ever. And that might well be the case. I'd love to read it. But the chances of me finding your book amongst the thousands in this niche are practically zero - especially since your book blurb begins with the words - An epic re-telling of....
Ditch the fairytale revamp and write a book that will blow me away. Invent a new fairytale for heaven's sake, one that your grandchildren will tell their children. That's what we all need to be aiming for.


The love triangle. Man, this is dangerous territory. One as a reader I don't actively seek out. You need to make me fall in love with two men, and ship for two separate relationships, all the while I know that the heroine will make only one choice... eventually.
And if that's the case.
I'm afraid I have no advice on this one except to say, get it right. Problem is, you may end up pleasing half your readers whilst losing the other half.
Bring your a-grade creativity levels on this one and make me believe that the h made the correct choice.

Magic. I love pnr/urban, they are my chosen reads four times out of five. And introducing powers/magic into the mix means the story and the characters have few limits.
But please, if you have a special snowflake heroine, tread carefully. It's one of the hardest characters to get right. Especially when she is often a newbie to the magic world and stumbling around (and way too often into trouble) because she has yet to learn the rules, or the arrogant Hero has yet to tell them to her.
My advice here is to read, read and read some more. Pinpoint what you like and don't like about the special snowflake character which has been done so many, many, many times before and avoid the pitfalls and take it up a notch or two.
The next factor to avoid on the magic front is having any character magically power up for no explainable reason except the author wanted to get out of a tight situation and couldn't plot their way past it. Lazy.
And lastly, on the magical front, define early the rules of magic, and have your world/characters adhere to them. If there have to be explanations - KISS baby - Keep It Simple Stupid.

Hoping all your reads are five stars.