romance | Writers In The Storm

A Category Romance Primer

Guest Blogger — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 08:20:00 +0000

Category Romances are like mental candy making readers feel good. Readers are satisfied when they read the last page. Everyone in the story is happily loved up.

The post A Category Romance Primer first appeared on Writers In The Storm.

Using The 12 Stages of Physical Intimacy To Build Tension In Your Fiction

Jenny Hansen — Mon, 14 May 2018 11:01:13 +0000

I first learned about the 12 Stages of Physical Intimacy from Linda Howard, who used to give a very popular talk on the subject based on the work of Desmond Morris, Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy. On the downside, Linda has stopped giving this workshop. On the upside, she has spoken […]

The post Using The 12 Stages of Physical Intimacy To Build Tension In Your Fiction first appeared on Writers In The Storm.

Let’s Get Down To It—Writing the Sex Scene

Guest Blogger — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 11:00:38 +0000

Susan Squires Recently, I wrote a blog here at WITS about how to put sexual tension in your romance novel. But it felt like only half the story. Sexual tension often leads to…you guessed it…sex. Not all romances have sex in them, but many do. I’ve been teaching a class on writing romance and in […]

The post Let’s Get Down To It—Writing the Sex Scene first appeared on Writers In The Storm.

Write Like The Wind in Ten Easy Steps

Guest Blogger — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 09:00:55 +0000

by Vicki Lewis Thompson Thanks so much to Shar and Jenny for inviting me to guest blog today! When you see the title of this blog, take into account that I’m a Libra, aka an air sign, so that’s probably why, instead of saying I write fast, I have to make the statement airy-fairy. But […]

The post Write Like The Wind in Ten Easy Steps first appeared on Writers In The Storm.

Getting Your Characters to Spark

Guest Blogger — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 08:00:39 +0000

Before we get to the awesome Shannon Donnelly, I wanted to be sure you all saw the winner of Tiffany Lawson Inman's critique: Angela Quarles! By Shannon Donnelly I just finished reading a story that had a major problem—no sparkage between the hero and heroine. Even worse, there was plenty of sparkage between the heroine […]

The post Getting Your Characters to Spark first appeared on Writers In The Storm.

Why We (and our characters) Fall in Love: Part 1

Fae Rowen — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:00:18 +0000

by Fae Rowen Backstory: I always wondered why my husband fell in love with me. He was a thirty-year-old "confirmed" bachelor when I met him. And I never intended to marry anyone. Six months after we met, we were engaged. How did that happen? Mere weeks ago I attended a workshop that was totally different […]

The post Why We (and our characters) Fall in Love: Part 1 first appeared on Writers In The Storm.

Finding Mr. Wrong -- and the secret message of “I’ll call you.”

writersinthestorm — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:00:13 +0000

Rob's last male POV blog was so popular we nagged invited him to return to WITS. We asked for it, ladies - we got it! Finding the right relationship is the most important decision two people ever make. What percentage of murders result from failed relationships? Fifty? More? The popularity of the romance genre is […]

The post Finding Mr. Wrong -- and the secret message of “I’ll call you.” first appeared on Writers In The Storm.

What Makes a Good Book Cover?

Guest Blogger — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:00:50 +0000

We're so excited here at WITS. The amazing teacher and writer, Shannon Donnelly, has agreed to be a monthly contributor! Read on - you're going to be excited too! Here's Shannon: The great thing about ebooks is you can keep changing the cover. The bad thing about ebooks is you can keep changing the cover. […]

The post What Makes a Good Book Cover? first appeared on Writers In The Storm.

5 Stellar Bits of Wisdom from a New York Times Besteller

writersinthestorm — Wed, 02 May 2012 10:30:45 +0000

by Jenny Hansen Today, I’m delighted to bring you some tips from New York Times Bestselling Author, Susan Mallery. If you haven’t read her Fool’s Gold series, you are missing out! Click here to download one of her books really quick so you have something wonderful to dive into when you’re done being inspired by […]

The post 5 Stellar Bits of Wisdom from a New York Times Besteller first appeared on Writers In The Storm.

13 Ways To Show (Rather than Tell) in Your Love Story

writersinthestorm — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:00:59 +0000

by Charlotte Carter When romance writers create a Happily-Ever-After tale, there has to be more to the relationship than simply LUST between the hero and heroine. As many a woman has discovered in real life, lust doesn’t last forever. (Shh, don’t tell my husband!) Whether you are writing an Erotic Romance, an Inspirational Romance or […]

The post 13 Ways To Show (Rather than Tell) in Your Love Story first appeared on Writers In The Storm.