Drama Queens with Love Scenes is a decade old. My tale of two friends who end up in the theatre district of the Afterlife went through eight drafts before Charles River Press initially published it in December 2012. So, on this very important milestone, I thought I'd share ten facts about my first novel. 1. …
Over think your novel between drafts
During this Sydney lockdown, something has occurred to me. Over thinking is best done between drafts! I'm writing this on July 21, 2021, and as I'm here at home with my husband, my works in progress have taken a back seat. Usually, I'd be working on the next draft of a manuscript while another is …
Mistaken for a Romance Writer
My assessor said I blended genres. She worked with me on my first novel, and while I liked books, it never dawned on me their genres were so rigid. I had television experience and in the film and TV world, blending and re-inventing genres was normal. When I started promoting myself and my book, Drama …
When Romance Rules! (Guest blog by Hans M Hirschi)
My husband told me I can use any part of our own relationship in my books. While all my books do include a love story, they are not traditional Romance novels. But somehow, if you write about romantic themes as a gay author, this is how you are often caterogarised. At a recent forum, I …
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That Problematic Chapter
One chapter in one of my works in progress has bothered me. It's a dramatic chapter where a character ends his affair. Every time I've read it in context with the rest of the manuscript, it hasn't made sense. It started with two men thrashing it out realising there was no room for bullshit anymore. …
When Worlds Collide
This blog was originally published at On Top Down Under as part of their sixth anniversary. In it I talk about my new New Year's Eve novelette titled Midnight Angel and discuss why some of my characters continue to appear in different stories. There are several reasons I’m excited about my new holiday read. The first …
Insomnia. A writer’s friend.
All my life I've been an insomniac. Not the 'lie in bed trying the fall asleep' type. The 'wake up at 3am and can't sleep for hours' kind. It doesn't happen every night, and if the next day is not a work day, that's not a problem. As writers, we know that these night hours …
So you want to write a romance – Guest Blog by Tanya Chris
The first time I'd ever heard of H.E.A. was for a review of my first novel. In it my story was being criticised for not having a standard H.E.A. so I had to look up what it meant. Now, this first book, Drama Queens with Love Scenes, contains a love story, but it's a farce about …
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Getting what you most desire and Getting it now – Guest blog by Rian Durant
My guest blogger today is fellow NineStar Press author, Rian Durant, author of a new novella titled Midnight Twist. The story sounds whimsical. It's a short read about a contract made between Jaydon and a cheeky demon. Throw in an ever increasing number of demons in Jaydon's apartment and a gay relationship that needs some …
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Ideas, and where to find them.
I've been travelling. I took some time off to realign my life. Before this trip my day job got very hectic, taking over both my time and my thoughts, and forcing my current writing project to feel abandoned. Yet, in a way, this has turned out to be a good thing. The work in progress, …
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