Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing: Romance Author Helena Fairfax on Character and Structure, Giveaway

Romance and Mystery Authors series on writing tips

Hello and welcome to the series, Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing.

I am thrilled to present writing tips from award-winning author Helena Fairfax. Helena came all the way from the UK to share her advice on writing. She will give a $5. Amazon Gift Card to a lucky commenter. The winner will be drawn after 9 pm EST on Sunday evening. (That's 2 am Monday in the UK, I believe.)

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Welcome Helen. Congratulations on your just released romance, A Way from Heart to Heart!  

I believe it's a bit warmer here in Florida than in your hometown in England. So get comfy in your chaise lounge as we enjoy the warm beach and soak up the sun in the Sunshine State. Now let's talk about writing.

Thank you, Janet.

Please share a “light bulb moment” about your writing experience.

In my early days of writing I would often get an idea from somewhere in the ether and start writing away, but these days I’m far more structured, and I work out my characters and central conflict in a deliberate way, as though I’m doing a puzzle. Having said that, I often get ideas when watching films or television. My mind is quite relaxed in that state, and something in the programme I’m watching might set off a chain of thought. For example, we have a TV programme in the UK called “The Hotel Inspector”. It’s about an expert in hotel management who goes round ailing hotels trying to rescue them. This sparked off an idea in my head, and my present WIP is about an ailing hotel in the Lake District, in the north of England.

                             

 What is the best advice for writers that you have received?

The best advice for budding writers is to sit down and write. A lot of people say they’d write a novel, if only they had time. Writers make time, and they get the words on the page, even if it’s only a couple of hundred a day.

My Writing Tip by Helena Fairfax

CHARACTER and STRUCTURE go hand in hand when writing a romance novel. I wrote my first novel, The Silk Romance, as part of a scheme for new writers run by the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association. One of the best tips I learned from my reader in this scheme is that a romance novel is character-driven, and not plot-driven.

What does this mean, you might ask. Well, all successful stories revolve around some sort of conflict. The conflict could be James Bond versus the bad guys, or Snow White versus the evil stepmother, or Sandra Bullock versus the laws of physics in outer space. Think of any book or movie you’ve enjoyed, and the story will be strong on some sort of conflict.

In a romance novel, the conflict lies in the nature of the characters themselves, and not in the plot or any outside forces. To give the classic example, take Pride and Prejudice. The title says it all: Mr Darcy is too prejudiced to offer for Lizzie Bennett, and Lizzie is too proud to accept him when he finally does propose. There is nothing else to keep this couple apart, apart from their own character flaws.

When I start writing a romance novel, what I do first of all is decide on the nature of the conflict between my hero and heroine. For example, in The Antique Love, my heroine is the owner of an antique shop in London. She’s romantic, passionate and a strong believer in love. My hero, Kurt, is strong, steady…and totally logical. He believes only a marriage based on rational decisions will last, and that passionate love is bound to burn out. As the story progresses, despite their overwhelming attraction, the conflict between these two characters deepens, keeping the reader turning the pages, trying to work out how on earth the hero and heroine are going to reach a happy ending with such diametrically opposed views of love.

In my latest novel, A Way from Heart to Heart, Kate Hemingway has suffered loss after tragic loss in her life. She is determined to protect her young son George from further tragedy, and believes falling in love will only risk more heartache for both of them. The hero believes Kate should teach her son to embrace life and all its dangers, and that only by accepting risk can we find happiness.

How will the hero overcome the heroine’s fight to protect her son at all costs, and enable her to love again?

A great conflict is what makes a great romance story…and the greater the conflict, the greater the joy of the reader when all ends happily!

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Romance, A Way from Heart to Heart

Back of the Book:

After the death of her husband in Afghanistan, Kate Hemingway’s world collapses around her. Her free time is spent with a charity for teenage girls, helping them mend their broken lives - which is ironic, since her own life is fractured beyond repair.

Reserved, upper-class journalist Paul Farrell is everything Kate and her teenage charges aren’t.  But when Paul agrees to help Kate with her charity, he makes a stunning revelation that changes everything, and leaves Kate torn.

Can she risk her son’s happiness as well as her own?

Amazon Buy Link

(Available from other distributors from February 2015)

About Author Helena Fairfax:

Romance author, Helena Fairfax

Helena Fairfax writes engaging contemporary romances with sympathetic heroines and heroes she’s secretly in love with. Happy endings are her favourite, and when one of her novels won a reader competition for "The Most Romantic Love Scene Ever" it made her day. Helena was born in Uganda and came to England as a child. She's grown used to the cold now, and these days she lives in an old Victorian mill town in Yorkshire, in the north of England. After many years working in factories and dark, satanic mills, Helena has turned to writing full-time. She walks the Yorkshire moors every day with her rescue dog, finding this romantic landscape the perfect place to dream up her heroes and her happy endings.

You can find out more about Helena and her books on her Amazon author page

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Take a minute to leave a comment. We' d like to say hi and thanks for coming. And your comment enters you in the drawing to win the Amazon gift card. Thank you.

Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing: Sara-Jayne Townsend, Giveaway

Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing series

Hello and welcome to the new year's first post of writing tips in the Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing series. Sara-Jayne Townsend rings in the New Year with us and she brought along a prize to give to a lucky commenter. Leave a comment below and you will be entered into the drawing for your choice of Sara's mysteries, Death Scene or Dead Cool. The winner will be drawn after 9 pm on Sunday.

Dead C ool

Hi Sara. We are so pleased you have come across the pond to join us. I see you have some great tips to share. But first, what is the best advice for writers that you have received?

Don’t give up.  Most writers amass many, many rejections before they get an acceptance.  A rejection doesn’t mean your story is no good – it just means it’s not right for that particular publisher.  You just have to pick yourself up, dust off the manuscript and send it out again.  Eventually, you will get published, but it might take many years and endless rejections first.

Rejections are no fun, but after each one I think writers learn more about writing. I especially like it when editors take time to explain what the ms needs, in their opinion. Their suggestions may help to improve the story if the writer is open to constructive criticism. Great advice to never give up!

Sara has helpful tips on dialogue, structure, settings, and editing. See what nuggets of information you will find in her advice below. 

Tips on:

DIALOGUE

Death Scene

The way I learned to write dialogue was by eavesdropping on other people.  Learn to shamelessly listen in to other people’s conversations wherever you can – on the bus; in a restaurant; walking down the street.  Natural sounding dialogue often looks very odd on the page, so try reading it aloud to see how it sounds.

STRUCTURE

Because I plot my books before I write them, I spend a lot of time thinking about structure.  Some authors take a more ‘seat of the pants’ approach, but I spend time working out the beginning, middle and ending of a book before I even start writing chapter one.  I develop a plot summary and then a chapter plan before I begin the first draft.  Generally the plot deviates a bit when I start to write, but following the chapter plan means that every time I sit down to write, I  know what’s coming next and it helps me to be more disciplined in getting the words onto the page.

SETTINGS

Most of my settings are ‘real world’ contemporary settings.  Quite often I will create a fictional town to set the story in, but the Shara Summers novels are set in and around London.  Using a real setting is easier in a way, especially if it’s a place you know, but it is necessary to sometimes take liberties with a real-life setting and amend it slightly for plot purposes.  Most of the action in the second Shara Summers novel DEAD COOL takes place in a hotel just off Tottenham Court Road in the West End of London.  The hotel doesn’t actually exist, but I can take you to Tottenham Court Road and show you exactly where it is.

1.     EDITING

First, get to the end of the first draft.  Everything can be fixed in the rewrite, but you have to have a first draft to go on.  Join a writing group – if you don’t have a local one in real space, look to see if you can join an online one.  Getting feedback on your work from fellow writers is invaluable.  But when you get feedback, even if it’s unfavourable, make sure you take it on board.  The only way you can improve as a writer is by understanding where your weaknesses are.

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Death Scene

Poking around in family closets produces skeletons…

Back of the Book: British-born, Toronto-based, actress Shara Summers turns amateur sleuth when her sister is stricken with a mysterious illness. Summoned back to England to be with her family during a time of crisis, Shara discovers doctors are at a loss as to what's causing Astrid’s debilitating sickness.

After her aunt is found dead at the bottom of the stairs the death is deemed an accident. Shara suspects otherwise. Her investigation unearths shocking family secrets and a chilling realization that could have far-reaching and tragic consequences that affect not only her own future, but Astrid’s as well.

Buy Link:Available at MuseItUp Publishing and major online  booksellers.

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About Sara:

Sara-Jayne Townsend is a UK-based writer of crime and horror.  She was born in Cheshire in 1969, but spent most of the 1980s living in Canada after her family emigrated there.  She now lives in Surrey with two cats and her guitarist husband Chris.  She co-founded the T Party Writers’ Group in 1994, and remains Chair Person.

The first two books in her amateur sleuth series about Canadian actress Shara Summers, DEATH SCENE and DEAD COOL, are available as e-books from MuseItUp Publishing.

Learn more about Sara and her writing at her website at http://sarajaynetownsend.weebly.com.

Don't forget to leave a comment. A winner will be chosen from the commenters after 9 p.m. on Sunday evening. Good luck!

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If I may--I am honored to be included in a book bundle of mysteries from MuseItUp Publishing along with Sara. If you are a mystery lover, you can pick up four mysteries right now for $1.99 for some suspenseful winter reads. Check it out below.

Sirens on Death Starke Boulevard Mystery Book Bundle 

Four fascinating mysteries bundled together. Stories by authors Conda Douglas, Heather Fraser Brainerd, David Fraser, Sara Jayne Townsend, and myself, J.Q. Rose, in a four mystery e-book set releasing from our publisher, MuseItUp Publishing. 

   

Mystery Book Bundle--Sirens on Death Starke Boulevard 

Four mysteries by five prolific authors, all packaged in 749 pages of suspense:

Starke Naked Dead by Conda V. Douglas
Jeweler Dora must become a sleuth to solve a murder in the first of the Starke Dead cozy mysteries series.

Death Scene by Sara-Jayne Townsend
Poking around in family closets produces skeletons.

Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose
Mysterious deaths upset the Florida retirement community interfering with their seasonal activities and turning up more than dead bodies.

The Sound of Sirens by Heather Fraser-Brainerd and David Fraser
Thanksgiving dinner with the family can be murder. Especially when someone is actually trying to kill you.

Available at MuseItUp Publishing, amazon and major online booksellers.