| award-winning romance author

How to Write a Romance Novel

April 10, 2012 by Jamie

Okay, that’s a pretty huge topic for one little blog post, but let’s see if I can cover the highlights in 300 words or fewer, shall we? Every once in a while a friend or acquaintance will approach me, wanting to know how they can churn out a romance in a month or so and start raking in the cash. When I finish laughing and wiping the tears from my eyes, I have to break the terrible news to them: […]

Categories: Advice for Writers, Creativity • Tags: agents, editors, publishing, romance, romance novels, writing craft

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Instagram Addict

April 9, 2012 by Jamie

I was doing so well for a while there, and then my day job intervened, and all of a sudden it’s a ghost town around here. Also, in my not-so-spare time, I’ve become obsessed with Instagram. If you have an iphone, and/or you’re already an Instragram user, you can look me up as Jamie Kain (my married name), or inthecityoftrees (my Instagram user name). Not familiar with Instagram yet? It’s sort of like Twitter meets Facebook meets Photography 101, but […]

Categories: Procrastination, Random Stuff • Tags: blogging, instagram, photography

Natalie Goldberg on Originality

February 25, 2012 by Jamie

“We always worry that we are copying someone else, that we don’t have our own style. Don’t worry. Writing is a communal act. Contrary to popular belief, a writer is not Prometheus alone on a hill full of fire. We are very arrogant to think we alone have a totally original mind. We are carried on the backs of all the writers who came before us. We live in the present with all the history, ideas, and soda pop of […]

Categories: Creativity, Quote of the Day • Tags: book ideas, creative process, creativity, Natalie Goldberg, Natalie Goldberg quote, originality

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The Upside of Writer’s Block

February 23, 2012 by Jamie

I just began reading Dennis Palumbo‘s book, Writing from the Inside Out, and my first reaction to it was, “Why couldn’t I have discovered this four years ago?!” That was when my creative process first started going awry. I continued to write, but it became more and more difficult for several years, until fear, depression, and utter burnout led me to believe I might have to give up writing altogether. I’d dreamed of being a writer since I was 8, […]

Categories: Advice for Writers, Creativity, Reading • Tags: creative process, creativity, writer's block, writing

Above All, Be Real

February 22, 2012 by Jamie

I found myself reading a novel last night in which the writing was just okay. There were some common writing mistakes–too much narrative and description slowing down the action, some awkward dialogue, some trite characters–and yet the story compelled me to keep reading. When I asked myself why I wanted to keep reading, the answer was that the author’s voice and the emotion in the story were honest. She was being real. She felt what she was writing, and it […]

Categories: Advice for Writers, Creativity, Reading • Tags: creativity, reading, writing

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What a Girl Wants Kindle Edition

February 21, 2012 by Jamie

One of my favorite of my backlist books, What a Girl Wants, is now available as a Kindle eBook. The book’s description: Say no to sex. So Jane Langston advises women if they want better relationships. Who knew that as a result men across the country would be sleeping single and blaming her? Now Jane needs a little protection. It arrives in the form of gorgeous Luke Nicoletti, and he has her thinking maybe no isn’t the right answer. Instead, […]

Categories: New Releases, Old Stuff • Tags: backlist, Blaze, Harlequin, old books, Romance Novel, What a Girl Wants

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