When I began writing Winging It with You, I knew I wanted to write a love story wrapped in adventure. Something sweeping and cinematic, with passport stamps, plane tickets, and the chaos that comes with reality television. But more than that, I wanted to explore the true adventure inherent in intimacy, forced vulnerability, and the way relationships evolve (and unravel) when people are pulled out of their routines and placed in unfamiliar surroundings. It didn’t take long to see that the turbulence of the journey here was what cracked open the emotional core of this story. 

Setting can be a character in its own right. It shapes dialogue, pushes plot, and carves out space for vulnerability. In this book, it was the glue and gasoline. The thing that brought my characters together and ignited a relationship.  

Asher and Theo begin as strangers with very different ideas of how their day at the airport terminal is going to go. They’re thrown together on a globe-trotting travel competition loosely inspired by “The Amazing Race” but with a twist. They must pose as a real couple. That meant from the beginning, I had to create settings that did more than just entertain; I needed environments that challenged them to ultimately soften the walls they’d individually built. 

I leaned hard into the “forced proximity” trope, which … let’s be honest, is basically catnip for us romance readers. Shared hotel rooms. Cramped van rides. Airplane cabins where thigh touching is a prerequisite. Each setting wasn’t just a pretty postcard, it was a pressure cooker. 

And in said pressure cooker, something beautiful began to simmer. 

Because the truth is, it’s hard to keep your guard up when you’re sleep-deprived, jet-lagged, and brushing your teeth next to someone who is basically a stranger. It’s in the unguarded moments—the ones that happen in-between checkpoints and camera takes—that we start to see who someone is. I wanted readers to feel like they were third-wheeling on this adventure, watching Theo and Asher fall for each other, not in spite of the chaos, but because of it. 

That’s why I gravitated toward settings that weren’t just visually exciting but emotionally revealing. Like the La Tomatina festival in Spain, amidst flying tomatoes and absolute mayhem, it’s how effortlessly Theo shines in the moment, laughing and entirely himself, that nudges Asher one step closer to accepting the truth of his feelings … Or later, in Bali, when Theo pulls away once his feelings become too real during a high-stakes challenge set on a seaweed farm. The location is serene and still, but beneath the surface, everything is unraveling. Sometimes the biggest emotional eruptions happen in the quietest of places. 

My fascination with this kind of closeness comes from my time as a photojournalist in the U.S. Air Force. I spent years stepping into the lives of service members, tasked with capturing moments that told a deeper story. It taught me how much setting can shape a person, how quickly your perspective shifts when you’re far from home, and how much more you see when you’re forced to slow down and observe. That lens—both literal and figurative—deeply shaped how I approached this love story. I wanted every location to matter. Every setting to nudge these characters closer to one another. Every city, hotel room, and airplane ride to hold a purpose beyond the page. 

At its heart, Winging It with You is a story about two people discovering that maybe home isn’t a place. It’s a person. And to write that, I had to take them as far from home as possible. 

The post Setting the Scene: How Travel, Close Quarters, and Only-One-Bed Brought My Characters Together appeared first on Writer's Digest.

(21 Popular Romance Tropes for Writers.)

My book Love and Other Paradoxes is a time-travel romantic comedy, a mix of genres that provided the perfect opportunity to use beloved tropes in an intentional way. The protagonist, Joe, dreams of becoming a famous poet. When Esi, a time traveler from the future, accidentally lets slip to him that his dream is going to come true, the revelation threatens to derail both Joe’s destiny and Esi’s mission to fix her own past. When writing, I leaned in to tropes that were a natural fit for the book’s premise, while keeping them fresh by providing a twist on what readers might have seen before.

Time Travel 

(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TimeTravel)

Time travel is the science fiction trope with the most mainstream appeal: see, for example, the huge success of The Time Traveler’s Wife, or the more recent hit The Ministry of Time. The attraction is obvious—who wouldn’t want to visit a seemingly unrecoverable past, or get a sneak preview of the future? Different kinds of time travel stories also allow the author to examine different themes. If the past can’t be changed, what does that mean for our ideas of free will? If it can, what happens to our sense of self when our history gets rewritten?

In Love and Other Paradoxes, the question of what kind of time travel story they’re in becomes a subject of debate between Joe and Esi, and a driving force of the plot. Joe thinks they’re in a stable time loop, where the future will happen no matter what. Esi thinks they’re in a rewritable timeline, where she can make a change in the past and return to a different future. The stakes of who is right ratchet up over the course of the book, combining real implications for the characters with metatextual fun for the time-travel-savvy reader.

Plot-Triggering Book

(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlotTriggeringBook)

Joe finds out he’s going to become a famous poet when Esi accidentally drops a published book of his future poetry. The book then becomes the catalyst for several key moments in the plot: When Esi tries to get it back, fearing that if Joe reads it, he’ll send the future chaotically off course; when Joe submits a poem from the book to a competition, borrowing from his future to enrich his present.

From The Neverending Story to House of Leaves, the plot-triggering book has a time-honored history across genres. It’s a trope calculated to appeal to readers: A protagonist who’s glued to a book is automatically relatable. In Love and Other Paradoxes, Joe’s attitude to the book throughout the novel—whether he carries it around in his pocket, or shoves it in the bottom of a drawer—also serves the additional function of mirroring his changing attitude to his future self.

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Forbidden Love 

(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ForbiddenLove)

Since long before Romeo and Juliet, we’ve been telling stories of people who fall in love but can’t be together. The twist on the trope in Love and Other Paradoxes is that for Joe and Esi, the reasons are more metaphysical than social: They both think he’s destined for Diana, the muse who will inspire his famous poetry. If Joe and Esi got together instead, it would put both of their long-dreamed-of futures in jeopardy.

The joy of the forbidden love trope is that you can write two people who are perfect for each other, with all the flirting, banter, and warmth that entails, but maintain a bittersweet tension, since they know they can’t act on their feelings. And when those feelings become too strong to resist, the stakes of the characters giving in are deliciously high. It’s a built-in way to add intensity to a romance—no wonder it’s been one of the most perennially popular tropes in the genre.

Matchmaker Crush 

(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MatchmakerCrush)

After his knowledge of the future derails his relationship with Diana, Joe enlists Esi as his dating coach to help him win back his future love. What follows is a classic case of the Matchmaker Crush trope, where two people who are ostensibly working to fix one of them up with a third party instead start to fall for each other.

The scope for fun with this trope is huge. Makeovers, and the attending none-too-subtle hints at attraction; poking fun at the protagonist’s lack of romantic game; the ratcheting tension, as two people who are starting to become aware of their feelings for each other continue to maintain the charade that one of them is destined for someone else. As with many tropes, the key appeal of this one is that the reader knows where it’s going long before the characters do, leading to the potential for delicious dramatic irony.

Love Triangle 

(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LoveTriangle)

It’s in the nature of a Matchmaker Crush that it tends to lead to a love triangle. As Esi is falling for Joe, he is falling for her too, and he finds himself torn between her and Diana.

A well-written love triangle is never just about being torn between two people; it’s about the protagonist being torn between two versions of themselves. A paradigm example is in The Hunger Games. While tough, militant Gale initially seems like a more natural match for Katniss, Peeta’s gentleness and persuasive powers make him a better fit for who she aspires to be. 

In choosing between Diana and Esi, Joe is also deciding between two futures: a glorious, pre-defined future featuring a self he’s not even sure he wants to be any more, and a nebulous, open future, growing out of what he and Esi have learned about who they are in the present. Which one he chooses defines not just the romantic resolution, but also what the novel is trying to say about love, destiny, and how our ideas about the future can affect our present.

Check out Catriona Silvey’s Love and Other Paradoxes here:

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The post How to Have Fun With Tropes in Fiction appeared first on Writer's Digest.

(How to Write a Friends-to-Lovers Romance.)

The Girl Most Likely To is my newest second-chance romance novel about Rachel Dang and Danny Phan, two former friends who meet again at their 20th high school reunion after a huge falling out. When I started brainstorming this book, I was instantly drawn to the idea of writing about two friends who essentially broke up. Whether they are romantic or platonic, breakups are devastating. It can be hard to make sense of why a relationship failed when two people got along well at one point. It could be especially painful if there wasn’t closure. 

There was a lot of potential in exploring how friends could come back from heartbreak and perhaps become something more. There were so many dynamics at play, but here are a few reasons why I found writing frenemies so fun.

1) The Will-They-Won’t-They Tension

There’s an inherent tension to being frenemies because these characters are alike in many ways. They wouldn’t have been friends if they didn’t share some common ground. 

The Girl Most Likely To begins in the present when Rachel and Danny haven’t seen each other in 20 years. So, when they meet again as adults, there’s an emotional impact similar to running into an ex, but there’s a familiarity that draws them to each other. Being back at their high school for the reunion also lent itself to transporting them back to their teen years when they were on better terms. But what would it take to get over the things that hurt them in the past?

There’s a delicate balance between friendly and bitter feelings. The possibility that any little thing could tip things one way or the other keeps readers wondering will-they or won’t-they make it after all.

2) The Chemistry

Once I decided to make Rachel and Danny frenemies, I knew I had to nail their chemistry. When we think of other fictional frenemies–Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldor from Gossip Girl, Jim Halpert and Dwight Schrute from The Office–it’s their chemistry that keeps us fascinated. Even when frenemies appear to be opposites on the surface, they know what makes the other person tick. The slightest jab feels personal, but when frenemies band together, it can be magical.

Rachel and Danny first meet randomly as teens in an AOL chat room and many of the flashbacks are transcripts of their AIM conversations. This allowed me to showcase their chemistry through their banter. It’s not based on their physical attractiveness or what clique they belong to. They were just two teens talking to each other. There’s just something about their personalities that they like about each other. 

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So when they do meet in real life as teens, and later as adults, that foundation is always there. That’s what keeps me rooting for them even when they’re being petty or when they reveal something vulnerable about themselves. We want them to make it because we know they would be so good together.

3) Friends and Enemies: The Best of Both Worlds

Writing about frenemies gives the best of both the friends-to-lovers and enemies-to-lovers trope. When I wrote Circling Back To You, a friends-to-lovers workplace romcom, I loved showing how my protagonists were supportive of each other, not realizing that their comfort around each other was leading them into an undeniable romance.

I was able to incorporate the same kind of sweet dynamic in The Girl Most Likely To, but with the added fun of seeing Rachel and Danny as enemies. They know each other’s weaknesses and they aren’t afraid to use that knowledge against each other. Sometimes it could be in the form of friendly teasing, but it could be used to confront the issues that kept them from being together. It builds this anticipation for when two characters will realize their true feelings for each other. As a romance reader and writer, I live for this moment!

The best thing about writing frenemies is the opportunity to depict the real ups and downs of a relationship, especially one that spans across their teen years to their thirties. When Rachel and Danny look back on their past, they can see it through a more mature lens and get a new perspective. They can see how much they cared for each other, even when things weren’t working. It’s nice to see a couple weather a few storms and it makes their happily-ever-after all the more rewarding. 

Check out Julie Tieu’s The Girl Most Likely To here:

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The post 3 Reasons Why Frenemies Are So Fun to Write in Romance appeared first on Writer's Digest.

(What Are Tropes in Writing?)

Another strength of the romance genre is that it’s filled with a variety of popular tropes. And writers who are trope-aware can subvert those tropes judiciously for effective emotional impact. Or just lean into the tropes, knowing that readers love them as much as your characters adore each other.

21 Popular Romance Tropes for Writers

Here are 21 examples of romance tropes for writers to consider and subvert when writing their love stories.

1. Love triangle. In the love triangle, there are three people and two of them have their sights set on the same person within the triangle. That third person may or may not be interested in those other two. Of course, it’s also possible to have Person 1 be interested in Person 2 who’s interested in Person 3 who’s interested in Person 1 (or someone outside the triangle).
2. Second chance. Two ex-lovers find they have the chance to try hooking up again and/or just become friends (until they fall back in love) and/or cross paths as enemies (until they fall back in love). Speaking of which…
3. Enemies-to-lovers. The power of love is amazing, isn’t it? I mean, it can bring together two people who consider themselves more than incompatible—actual enemies—and somehow they still end up happily together. Wow!
4. Friends-to-lovers. But your characters don’t have to be enemies to fall in love. They could, instead, be two people happily in the “friend zone” until they begin to realize maybe there’s more to their relationship than friendship. And that brings us to…
5. Aloof couple. Whether they consider themselves friends or acquaintances or colleagues or (fill-in-the-blank), this couple is so infuriatingly perfect together—infuriating because they’re the only ones who seem unaware of their obvious chemistry (until something or someone forces them to confront their dynamic).
6. Office romance. This type of situation could happen in an office where characters are forced together on a daily basis for hours at a time, running into each other in meetings, hallways, break rooms, etc., as the romantic tension builds one encounter after the other. Actually, this trope is a form of…
7. Forced proximity. This is the romance trope where two characters are forced to be near each other, because it’s hard to get the sparks going without proximity. Here are 50 reasons for your characters to be stuck together (just in case you need any ideas).
8. Fake dating. In this trope, two characters pretend to be in love or at least together (for whatever weird reason) …. until, well, they realize they don’t have to pretend any more … because they are, in fact, in love. (Fake it until you make it, right?)
9. Betting. For this trope, there is a bet made that one character can either seduce (or be the first one to get with) another character. The character who makes the bet usually doesn’t care about the object of their gambling affection … until they are (and that’s usually when that person finds out it was all a stupid bet). This trope is closely related to…
10. Secrets. One character in the romance has a secret (or many secrets) they’re trying to keep hidden. Maybe they have a sketchy past, another identity, or (fill-in-the-blank). This could include a certain hidden stature (like the secret keeper is actually a billionaire or royal or pop star or superhero). The secret is usually kept intentionally, but it could also be a result of…
11. Amnesia. For this trope, one character gets amnesia, and the other was either already in love before the amnesia (and have to reignite the spark) or they weren’t, but this new amnesiac is so lovable.
12. Different worlds. For this one, there are two characters who are attracted to each other, but they both travel in different social circles. One might be rich, the other poor. One might hang out at punk rock shows, while the other is more into rodeos and biker bars. Or whatever makes their worlds different, putting a strain on their relationship. Sometimes this trope leads to…
13. Forbidden love. Maybe a royal can’t be with a commoner. Maybe same sex relationships aren’t allowed. Or there’s some other reason why one person isn’t allowed to be with another, which only adds fuel to the fire of romance.
14. First love. Maybe I should’ve started with this one, but this trope plays with that magical first love, and probably dives into the depths of that first heartbreak preceding the HEA (or HFN).
15. Holiday romance. Holidays are a great time for bringing people together at events and gatherings. So yeah, hooking up happens when people come into contact. For some holidays, this trope could cross with…
16. Grump and sunshine. One character is so grumpy all the time; the other character is so bubbly all the time. And somehow, through that power-of-love thing, they end up balancing each other out. The grump sometimes has…
17. Sworn off love. With this trope, one character just isn’t interested in love. Maybe it’s how they’re wired, but it’s usually because of some event that happened to them earlier that hurt them so bad (maybe in a first-love romance that didn’t have a happy ending) that they’ve sworn off love forever … until someone makes them reconsider. Related to this…
18. Allergic to commitment. One character has no trouble getting into relationships; the real problem is staying in them. Because once things start getting serious, that’s when that character starts looking for a way out. Maybe because of a past event or fear of the future.
19. Suspect and investigator. For this trope, one person is investigating another for some reason, whether it’s for a crime or bad accounting or whatever. This would seem like an antagonistic relationship, but the forced proximity increases the chances of the two characters clicking (and questioning the motives of each other at the same time).
20. Other person’s lover. For this trope, maybe one person falls for their best friend’s lover … or their enemy’s lover … or their boss’s lover … or (fill-in-the-blank)’s lover. This crosses over with forbidden love, but it’s often compelling because of the external conflicts amplifying the romantic conflicts.
21. Fish out of water. For this one, a character who is new to a place or situation and feels overwhelmed finds themselves in a romance with someone who is perfectly at home in that place or situation. An example would be a city slicker trying to make their way in a small town or rural setting (and falling in love, of course).

Hope this list helps get you started. There are definitely more romance tropes, and I’d love to know your favorites in the comments below.

*****

On February 16-18, 2024, our annual WDU Romance Writing Virtual Conference will provide expert insights from SEVEN award-winning and bestselling authors on the finer points of how to write within the romance genre. Find drafting strategies for rom-coms, using spice levels to increase emotional impact, crafting compelling characters, and more.

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Now that that joke is out of the way, let me clarify that this is in fact the opposite of what to do. The amnesia trope has a long history in fiction, and only by understanding how the trope is employed can a writer put their own unique spin on it.

(What Are Tropes in Writing?)

It’s tricky to accomplish effectively—layering the past and present, balancing the mystery of lost identity with the rest of the plot, navigating the changes it brings to relationships—but it can be a great tool for character development. (So long as the writer and reader both accept the inherent absurdity of the premise—this is not a realistic trope by any stretch of the imagination the way it’s utilized in most romantic fiction.)

The amnesia trope plays a central role in A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch, the second book in my Glimmer Falls fantasy romance series. In the first book, the demon Astaroth was the villain, determined to steal the heroine Mariel’s soul. In the second book he finds himself punished for his failure and ends up banished to Earth with no memory of who he is. He’s immediately discovered by the witch Calladia Cunnington, Mariel’s best friend and Astaroth’s nemesis from book one.

After a demon attack, Calladia reluctantly ends up on a quest to help Astaroth recover his memories. Along the way the two fall in love—but what will happen when Astaroth remembers how and why he became such a despicable demon to begin with?

So how to write this trope effectively? Read on for my best advice.

Read (And Watch) Widely

The best way to do justice to a trope is to understand what it accomplishes. Which means reading other amnesia romances, watching TV shows, or otherwise absorbing how this plotline has been executed in the past.

My first encounter with the amnesia trope was in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which I watched as a child. I remember almost nothing about that show except being heartbroken when Lois forgot about Clark in season three. How can a love story recover when one person can’t remember it?

When I started reading romance in college, I encountered the trope again and became fascinated by the mixture of angst, mystery, and high drama it provides (it pairs well with evil clones or secret twins, for instance). A few examples of amnesia romances beyond the two I’ll discuss below are Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas, Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh, Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole, and 10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall (bonus point for fake amnesia!), but there are many, many more.

Why Amnesia?

Romantic fiction is full of tropes because they serve specific purposes in developing a love story. “Only one bed” forces characters to confront the attraction between them, “snowed in” forces characters to rely on each other to stay safe and warm, and “fake dating” adds a layer of emotional tension to a relationship as the characters struggle to tell which feelings are real and which are not.

Here are two examples of how the trope can be applied in romance and what it accomplishes in each case.

The Amnesia Trope as HEA Disruptor

As I learned when Lois and Clark’s love story was briefly interrupted, amnesia has high angst potential for ruining existing relationships. A relationship can be wiped clean in an instant, and the characters then have to learn how to move forward in a love story only one of them remembers. Whether or not the amnesiac recovers their memory depends—most amnesia books I’ve read do have them remember in the end, but some don’t. Either way it throws a spanner in the works and forces the relationship to grow in a new direction.

Ruby Dixon does this well in Barbarian’s Heart. After the alien hero Pashov is injured, he wakes up with no memory of his mate Stacy or their child. It’s frightening and upsetting for him to lose this chunk of his identity, but Stacy is also hurt deeply. Is her mate even the same person without his memories of the life they built together? Both characters feel depressed and guilty, and they have to grapple with how to move past grieving a lost love story to create a new one.

The Amnesia Trope as Character Arc Disruptor

Amnesia can also serve as a reset button for a character, allowing them to veer from an established life (often one of villainy) and find a better path forward.

Meredith Duran does this well in A Lady’s Code of Misconduct. Corrupt politician Crispin Burke spends the first few chapters of the book menacing the heroine. Then a knock on the head from an unseen enemy effectively transports him back five years–he doesn’t remember his recent crimes, which means he doesn’t understand how he transformed from a young, idealistic liberal politician into a jaded conservative one who would sacrifice anyone in the name of personal power. The heroine Jane, who despised Crispin but fabricated a marriage to him after his likely-fatal injury (thus freeing her from her terrible family), suddenly finds herself married to a man who isn’t such a tyrant after all. The amnesia trope allows Crispin to confront his sins and travel the path of redemption, while Jane finds herself able to fall in love with this new version of him.

Amnesia as character reset for a villain is what I utilize the trope for in A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch. Calladia does not have any kind of established romantic relationship with Astaroth and in fact hates his guts. In order to provide Calladia with a chance to understand and fall in love with Astaroth the person, I had to first strip away the layers of Astaroth the vicious demon. Which also forces Astaroth to confront his misdeeds and grow into a better version of himself. There’s also that edge of suspense—what happens when a villain remembers all his villainy? Which version of himself will he choose to be?

Check out Sarah Hawley’s A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch here:

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Don’t Forget to Have Fun!

These are two examples specific to romance fiction, but there are plenty of ways amnesia can enhance a plot. It can add mystery and suspense (The Bourne Identity) or play with reader expectations by subverting well-known stories (Once Upon A Time). The amnesia trope is as versatile as it can be difficult to write—so as you figure out how to include it in your romance novel, remember to embrace the campy fun that makes it so enjoyable to read.

The post Tips for Writing an Amnesia Romance Novel appeared first on Writer's Digest.

There are only so many reasons why, in the Year of Our Lord and Savior, Her Royal Holiness, Beyoncé, 2023 that someone would need to have a pretend romantic partner. And the “date to a family member/ex/friend’s wedding’ has been done a lot.

(5 Tips for Fast Drafting a Rom-Com.) 

I did it in Not That Kind of Guy, in which the female main character, Bridget, enlists the male main character—her intern to attend her brother’s bachelor/bachelorette party, because her monstrous ex is going to be there. In Not the Girl You Marry and my latest release, Unrealistic Expectations, at least one party needs to date someone for their career.

That justification has a high degree of difficulty because—in reality—HR wouldn’t stand idly by if a boss absolutely required someone to have a paramour to keep their job. Not the Girl You Marry is also a twist on the trope in my favorite rom com, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which brings up questions regarding ethics in journalism as well. 

In Unrealistic Expectations, I chose to play on the more subtle societal pressures that might lead someone to fake date. Jessica, the female main character, needs to prove up her credibility as a relationship therapist in order to sell books. The male main character, on the other hand, needs to rehabilitate his reputation as a player who isn’t even good in bed by dating a sensible grown-up lady like Jessica. The key is to have an upside (internal or external) that works for everyone.

Why are these two people absolutely *wrong* for one another? 

This is the question that makes every romance—not just the ones with a fake-dating trope—fun and interesting to read and write. There has to be a glaring reason why these two can’t really be together. 

And it has to be apparent before they even know each other at all. Like—in Not That Kind of Guy—Bridget chose her career over a man before falling for Matt would potentially negatively impact her career. As wonderful as he looks on her arm, they can’t really be together. 

In Not the Girl You Marry, the male main character, Jack, is a perpetually hopeful romantic. Hannah, the female main character, is so jaded by her negative experiences dating as a biracial Black woman that chews and spits out romantic dreams for breakfast. 

In Unrealistic Expectations, there are layers to the characters wrongness for each other. Galvin is a Lothario attempting to reform, and Jessica is someone who has always played it safe (read: lacking passion) in her relationships. She can’t see him as serious, and he knows that she’s out of his league with respect to emotional intelligence.

Why are these two people absolutely *right* for one another? 

The real magic is how the characters’ wrongness for each other is the key to their rightness for each other. Matt might be Bridget’s intern, but he would never think of asking her to choose him over her passions. Unlike her douchebag ex, he comes to realize that he wants to co-create a future with her. And the adventure of the story is her realizing that—even when being with Matt threatens her future, she would choose him. 

Hannah and Jack, on the other hand, balance each other out. In classic grumpy/sunshine-style, Jack’s basic optimism and belief in people gives Hannah the space to fully be herself in a relationship. She doesn’t have to be as prickly because he accepts her for who she is.

Jessica has always thought that it was safer to have someone love her a little more than she loved them. Her mother chased excitement and passion in relationships to her and Jessica’s detriment. Although, initially Jessica experiences her attraction to Galvin as a danger, she eventually realizes that he opens her up to new experiences that make her life richer. And Galvin, for his part, realizes that his feelings for Jessica make him want to step up and be a more present and committed partner.

In short, in fake-dating stories, two wrongs definitely make a right.

Who is going to see right through the charade? 

I am of the staunch belief that side characters make a good romance great. In Unrealistic Expectations, Jessica’s publicist suggests that the main characters fake a relationship. She’s the classic sharp and witty friend, but I think she sees right through to Jessica and Galvin’s mutual attraction. She’s worked with Jessica for a while, and she knows her well enough to push her towards Galvin. 

Romances are really about community, and it’s important that the community sees the truth, even if they don’t know all of the facts.

Check out Andie J. Christopher’s Unrealistic Expectations here:

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What do these characters have to lose (or gain) if the relationship becomes real? 

This is the last drops of delicious conflict in a fake-dating story. The feelings are real, but the charade is barreling towards its natural conclusion. Soon, there will be no reason for these two people to be together—except each character is feeling an inextricable pull towards their faker lover. Maybe they’ve told their best friend—who is in on the ruse—how they feel. But they can’t admit it to the person they’ve come to love.

And, if you need a third act break-up to believe that a romance is real, this is where it happens. Someone isn’t brave enough to take a chance. Maybe there’s a miscommunication and one or both of the characters falsely believes that the other person isn’t in love with them and never could be. 

However it happens, someone believes in the wrongness more than the rightness. And only a leap of faith and telling the truth will lead to a happily ever after. 

The post 5 Questions to Answer When Writing a Fake-Dating Romance appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Tracey lives in Virginia with her husband—who she met on the very first day of law school—and their three children. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

In this post, Tracey discusses how writing a sequel romance novel differed from her usual single-book romance novels.

Name: Tracey Livesay
Literary agent: Nalini Akolekar, Spencerhill Associates
Book title: The Duchess Effect
Publisher: Avon
Release date: July 11, 2023
Genre/category: Contemporary Romance, Royal Romance
Previous titles: American Royalty, Like Lovers Do, Sweet Talkin’ Lover, Love Will Always Remember, Along Came Love, Love On My Mind, Pretending with the Playboy, The Tycoon’s Socialite Bride
Elevator pitch for the book: It’s the sequel to last summer’s American Royalty, which evoked the real-life romance between Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle, if Meghan was Megan Thee Stallion. For Prince Jameson and Duchess, falling in love was the easy part. But under the scrutiny of the international spotlight, when the doubts, compromises, and secrets begin to take their toll, will their love be enough?

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What prompted you to write this book?

This is the sequel to American Royalty, which was published last summer. I knew halfway through writing the first draft of that book that Duchess and Prince Jameson’s story had the potential to go beyond that initial offering.

Writing a true sequel in that way is new for me; in the past each book featured the complete story of one couple. But this world I’d created was so extra and required quite a bit of set up…I realized I’d need more time to explore the relationship between these two characters AND how they’d exist in this larger-than-life world.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

I talked to my editor while I was writing American Royalty, to see if she was on board with a sequel. She was and that was important, because it affected how much I’d dive into their internal character arcs and how I would end the book.

I started writing The Duchess Effect at the end of 2021 and it’ll be released in July 2023. The idea for what the sequel would contain did not change once I began writing it although I played around with a couple of concepts during the planning stage.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

The entire publishing process was uncertain this time around. I think the industry is in a different place, post COVID and the quarantine. From supply and labor issues to how books are marketed and consumed is quite different from four years ago.

Additionally, my publisher was coming off a strike at the beginning of the year. It meant a lot of uncertainty in the lead up to release, especially with regards to marketing, promotion, and the book’s reception by readers.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

I mentioned before that The Duchess Effect is a true sequel and writing it was a new experience for me; one that wasn’t always pleasant. I found this book extremely challenging to write. Not because of the characters, because I truly love them. But I had to figure out how to write a compelling journey with people who’d already met and fallen in love.

That’s the story I usually write, and their internal and external arcs are based on two people who don’t know each other intimately, getting to know one another. But Duchess and Jameson had already done that. How do I write another story that’s not just plot, but that also delves into the internal issues and conflicts they still have to face.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

First and foremost, I want readers to have a good time! I want them to get swept up in the world that I created and cheer Duchess and Jameson on as they work towards their HEA.

I also wouldn’t mind if reading this story will highlight the need for people to question the source of the information we’re taking in. All of it contains some sort of bias and the time for assuming material labeled as “News” can be taken as fact has sadly passed.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Never stop learning. Take workshops, read books and articles. Craft is not a bad word. I’m writing my 10th book, and I’m still striving to hone my technique and sharpen my voice and point of view.

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The post Tracey Livesay: On the Challenge of Writing a Romance Sequel appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Okay, that’s not true, but it is a well-known fact that romance readers love tropes (AKA, a recognizable and frequently used plot device found in a work of fiction). Why? Because tropes deliver on the promise of the premise. They often serve as the first point of connection between book and reader, drumming up anticipation of delicious—and familiar—things to come.

The main characters are enemies on page one? A romance reader knows that by the mid-point, that hate will be headed in the opposite direction. Someone needs a fake spouse? They’ll be in love for real in no time, and that first “my wife” is going to hit hard. The romantic leads are checking into a hotel after their car breaks down or they hit inclement weather?

Yep. In romance books, there’s only ever one bed available. So strange how Marriott just can’t get it together…

Tropes aren’t just for the reader, though. Authors love them because they provide a framework for the story we want to tell, a no-fail way to propel a plot in familiar and compelling ways. But as a writer, particularly a debut writer like me, it can be overwhelming to think about how to use popular tropes and still stand out in the crowd. How many enemies-to-lovers books do readers really need?

The true answer is that the limit does not exist (please imagine that in Lindsay Lohan’s voice), but when I was writing You, with a View, I kept asking myself: How can I make the main tropes I’m employing feel fresh, while honoring what readers expect when they pick up an enemies-to-lovers book?

What I discovered is that the magic happens in the details and subtle twists.

In my book, the main character, Noelle Shepard, finds an old love letter alongside pictures of her late grandmother and a handsome mystery man. When she turns to TikTok to see if she can connect with said mystery man, she ends up finding him thanks to her video going viral—but it’s via his grandson, Theo Spencer, who also happens to be the old high school rival she battled for accolades and shared a Most Likely to Succeed title with. You’re thinking, “Okay, this is a classic case of enemies to lovers.”

Absolutely, but not all the way. In a true enemies-to-lovers story, the characters have misconceptions about one another that are negative. They start the story thinking there are insurmountable differences between them that they can’t overcome.

Noelle, whose point-of-view the book is told through, does technically have misconceptions about Theo, but they’re not negative. On the contrary, they’re distressingly positive. She views him as an incredibly smart and driven man who’s found the kind of success post-high school that she’s still searching for. In fact, she deeply respects him, and that annoys the hell out of her. Her favorable perception of him, grudging though it is, mellows the acrimony of a traditional enemies-to-lovers book, but you’ll still find the bickering banter and fiery tension and “it could never be him” elements that the trope always delivers.

You, with a View also uses the classic road trip trope. In the book, Noelle discovers that Paul, Theo’s granddad, and Kathleen, her late grandma, were going to elope and take a honeymoon road trip across the Southwestern United States before their plan was thwarted. This trope is typically executed with two people—the ones who are going to fall in love, and also into that single bed Marriott reserved for them.

And absolutely, it was my initial plan to have Noelle and Theo take that road trip on their own.

But then I realized Paul was my secret weapon: He was a matchmaking device to nudge Noelle and Theo together when they were resisting their fate, and a physical roadblock for them when they were finally ready to give in to the explosive chemistry between them. What’s more awkward than getting caught mid-hookup by your granddad, you know?!

But most importantly, he was a major factor in the emotional connection between Noelle and Theo. Via his storytelling and the old love letters Noelle and Theo read along the way, Paul was able to impart necessary wisdom and show them that his and Kathleen’s interrupted connection led to their inevitable one. In turn, it allowed Noelle and Theo to show more and more of themselves to one another (not in that way) (okay, yes, in that way, but in the more meaningful, love-related way most of all).

While Paul wasn’t the road trip addition I initially planned, he brought that plot element to life in a way it wouldn’t have otherwise. It ended up making the execution of that trope feel stronger—and more fun!—for the story.

Order You, With a View by Jessica Joyce today. 

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In no way did I reinvent the wheel. I just customized the tread so that the tropes felt specific to my characters and You, with a View as a whole. You can do the same when you sit down to write your next brilliant romance: Identify the tropes you plan to use, then flesh out the ways you can customize or twist them to strengthen your story.

When it comes down to it, tropes exist for readers to recognize stories they’re confident they’ll connect with. But they also exist for authors to play with, to use as the framework for our stories while making them fun and fresh and special.

After all, that’s why readers fall in love with the “same” trope again and again.

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The post Personalizing Familiar Tropes in Fresh and Fun Ways appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Most vampire tales are allegories about sex or being marginalized in society. The protagonist is often the vampire or one of their soon-to-be exsanguinated victims. My book, Night’s Edge, changes the protagonist’s relationship with this supernatural entity.

Mia is a 10-year-old girl whose mother contracts a vampiric disease. She is her accomplice. She has no choice in the matter, because she is a child, and a child needs a parent. In turn, Mia’s mother needs HER in order to stay hidden and satiated. She feeds from her daughter’s own veins each night.

Order Liz Kerin’s Night’s Edge today. 

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By changing the relationship our main character has with the vampire in question, I was able to look at this popular trope in a whole new light. Themes about codependency and enmeshed families emerged, something typically reserved for literary fiction and memoir as opposed to vampire lore. But that was the story I wanted to tell. Vampires just so happened to be the vessel.

Flipping the script on relationships can help us, as writers, find a refreshing angle on old tropes. Take the classic haunted house story. Most of the time, our characters abhor it. They want to escape. But what happens if this wicked place was your childhood home, filled with nostalgia and old longings, like in The Haunting of Hill House?

What if returning was the only way you could make sense of the evil that had come to invade your inner world, like the incredible and subversive Tell Me I’m Worthless? What if this house is your salvation and you need it as badly as it needs you? Changing the character’s relationship to the supernatural provides an entirely new way “in.”

Alien invasions are another ubiquitous trope that springs to mind. Films like ET and District 9 offered audiences a distinct and refreshing point of view because they changed the relationship the protagonist had with this otherworldly invader. The alien was a friend who helped a child recapture his lost innocence. A refugee who forced a small-minded man to confront his prejudice (and provided a wealth of commentary on South African apartheid).

Simply put: There’s no reason to avoid writing about the lore you know and love. To keep things interesting, ask yourself about your own unique relationships. What questions are you probing? What needs unpacking? Then, see how those relationships look when you superimpose them upon popular tropes.

Is it an exact science? No way. There are still plenty of tales that use classic archetypes in beautiful, timeless ways. But if you’re looking to turn the tables and make it personal in the process, ask yourself what (or who) is haunting you.

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And I love all those tropes! The snappy banter of enemies-to-lovers is incredibly fun to write. The classic “celebrity falls in love with a totally normal person” is delightful, escapist fantasy. Epistolary romance feels charmingly old-fashioned.

But I hadn’t dared attempt second chance romance until writing Just Another Love Song. As a trope, it tends to inspire polarizing feelings among romance readers, and I didn’t really understand why … until I started writing. Because the thing about second chance romance? You’re starting with characters who’ve already broken up once.

Think about it. In order for there to be a second chance, your characters had to blow their first chance. They fell in love, or had a memorable meet-cute, and then something happened that put up a big old roadblock on the highway to their happily ever after. It’s hard to come back from that, and it’s your job as the author to convince your readers that these characters can and will ride off into that metaphorical sunset, never to break up again (a third-chance romance might try everyone’s patience).

But how do you do that? I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what makes the trope work or not work, and here’s what I learned:

(The Balance Between Romance and Romantic Suspense)

Think about why they broke up.

Perhaps the most important part of your second chance romance is figuring out why your characters’ first chance at love imploded. One or both of them likely made a mistake. If the reasoning behind their breakup is too flimsy, readers won’t buy it. But if it’s too horrible, it’s hard to imagine how they’d be able to get over it. In real life, people move away, miscommunicate, or sabotage their own relationships all the time. Think about what’s believable, but not unforgiveable.

Dig into why your character made a mistake, and show that they’ve changed.

Simply put, you need your reader to be on your character’s side, even if they made a mistake. And, as previously stated, they probably did! Why did they make this mistake, and were there selfless reasons behind their decision? Were they sacrificing their own happiness for another character? Were they simply making a decision out of immaturity? That ties into the second half of this tip: You need to show that your character has changed or grown and that the reason behind their first breakup won’t cause a second one. If your reader can’t see that your character has become a better, more fully realized person who’s finally ready to commit to their relationship, then they won’t believe in the happy ending.

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Remember why second chance romances matter.

Lots of readers seek out romance because of the guaranteed happily ever after. No matter how many struggles the characters go through or how many obstacles they face, you know they’ll work it out in the end. That hope is sorely needed, perhaps especially now, when the world often feels scary, unpredictable, and unfair. I’d argue that second chance romances are one of the clearest expressions of the romance HEA promise. Even though the characters aren’t perfect, even though they’ve screwed up before, even though they’ve lost love and worried they’d never find it again … they got another chance. And isn’t that a truly beautiful thing to believe in, that any of us might get a second chance at happiness?

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