Break the rules! Reading, Writing, and Randomness for October

Before I get into the newsletter, I want to talk about Hurricanes Helene and Milton. As readers may, I’m originally from Florida and so much of my family and friends are still there, with even more spread through the southeast. As far as I know, everyone’s okay and only surface damage for a few folks. As you probably have seen, the Appalachia region was hit especially hard. If you’re looking to help, the Appalachian Helene Response Fund is working with local partners to make sure funds and resources get where they’re most needed. In a great show of support, over 100 romance writers have donated raffle prices as incentives for donations. To learn more, visit Romance for Appalachia.

It’s been busy September. I’ve continued querying my finished novel (check out last month’s newsletter for more about that) and it’s currently still out for review with three agents. I also started a new novel (more about that in the writing section) and attended Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s Colorado Gold Conference, where I gave out many romance themed friendship bracelets and met so many amazing fellow writers.

I’ve got one more writing event coming up this year: Women’s Fiction Writer’s Retreat in Alexandria, VA, so if you’re going to that, find me for a bracelet!

Reading

• ✨ Prime Time Romance by Kate Robb | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell | Not rated

• The Rule Book by Sarah Adams | Not rated

• The Stage Kiss by Amelia Jones | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

• Nightwing: The Rebirth Deluxe Edition, Book 1 | Not rated

• ✨ The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

• Nightwing: The Rebirth Deluxe Edition, Book 2 | Not rated

• Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison | Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Writing

First, a little work in progress update. After having a one-line pitch for a sports romance knocking around my head for months, one weekend in September the whole thing plotted itself out (at least 90%) in one morning. By the end of the first weekend in October, I’d already knocked out over 11K words and thought of a tentative title. Meet my new baby, THE RACING LINE, a sapphic Formula 1 romance. If you want to follow along on my journey in real time, you can check out the story highlight on my instagram.

I’m trying a super fast drafting process on this one to see how it works out. While a romance typically ranges from 70-90K words, I’m targeting around 45K for the first draft of this and aiming to be done by the end of November. It seems like a low word count, but what I’m aiming to do with the first draft here is:

1. Get the main story down on paper (well… type).

2. Not get bogged down in details. Instead of spending an hour thinking of the perfect character name for random background character, they are [PR PERSON].

3. Get to know the secondary characters. I know my main girls… like, have full pictures of them already. And I, roughly, know some of the people who are going to surround them. One will have a brother who’s also her business manager. There are other drivers, team managers, etc. I’m letting myself figure things out about those characters along the way, for incorporating into the next draft.

4. Not lose time to research. I know a good amount about Formula 1 (it’s probably the only sport I know enough about to write a sports romance in). But I don’t know all the details of exactly what cars kids would drive at what age to make it to F1. I don’t know how all the bits of an F1 car work. I know, story wise, what needs to happen at what times, but as far as exactly how that happens? Using placeholders here like [figure out what X can suggest to improve car performance] is making sure I stay focused on that first bullet point. It also give me an ever growing list of questions to ask experts in the field… something I’ll start doing outreach for soon.

What’s especially exciting (and encouraging) is the response I’ve gotten from folks I’ve given the elevator pitch to. Responses are almost unanimously positive, ranging from intrigued at the concept to “I want to read this YESTERDAY!” And, in a stroke of good timing, and not being afraid to break the rules and pitch an unfinished book, I already have an agent interested in reading it when it’s done. Really looking forward to the retreat next week for knocking out those words!

Topics about Beta readers, Critique partners, ARC readers, and more have come up a lot in various writing groups that I’m in recently, so I decided to jot some thoughts down on the topic. I’d been thinking about this topic a lot this year already, a year in which I started finding beta readers of my own and finally found and was accepted into a writing group for regular feedback on works in progress. If you’re wondering where to start with a) understanding the different types of advance readers and b) where to find them, give the post a read.

… and Randomness

• Obligatory Chappell Roan: If we had a yard big enough, I 1000% would have talked my husband into doing this for Halloween.

• The new season of Heartstopper is out and it’s truly beautiful and heartbreaking. It also makes me so sad there’s no way I can fit in seeing Kit O’Connor and Rachel Zegler in Romeo and Juliet while we’re in NYC.

• I’m also on the Nobody Wants This bandwagon and so happy to hear that, as of Friday morning, a SECOND SEASON IS CONFIRMED!!!!

Next month, I’ll do a little round up of what I learned at both my writing conferences, so keep an eye out for that!