The Kay Manning plagiarism scandal from a few weeks ago (Dear Author describes the debacle here) has revived memories of perhaps the most notorious plagiarism scandal in the romance writing world: the Janet Dailey/Nora Roberts face-off in 1997. For those who need a recap, Roberts sued Dailey for plagiarism after a reader pointed out that […]
Here’s a bit from Long Time Gone, which won an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award last year. My hero, Erik, Konigsburg chief of police, is in the process of kissing the heroine, Morgan, for the first time. And it’s sort of a surprise for both of them. Somewhere his brain went on red alert: Danger, danger, […]
Recently Nick Mamatas wrote a nice blog post about advice experienced writers should stop giving inexperienced writers, and the first thing on the list was “Never Give Up.” Mamatas pointed out that some people definitely should give up, and before telling them to waste more time on a fruitless enterprise, writers should perhaps consider the […]
Here’s another bit from Be My Baby. It’s part of the heroine’s speech to her nasty, potentially kidnapping former mother-in-law. Go, Jess! Jess stood slowly, wiping her palms on her thighs. She met Lydia’s basilisk gaze one more time. “Listen to me, old woman. You will never get my son, never. Even if you manage […]
Welcome to Debra Parmley, who’s saving me a lot of time and imagination by interviewing herself. Thanks a lot, Debra! How does it feel when you write? It feels different each time I come to the blank page. In this way, it reminds me of yoga, or dance, for our bodies and spirits can be […]
Be My Baby is the closest I’ve come so far to romantic suspense. My hero and heroine, Lars and Jess, are both single parents fighting off a very determined kidnapper. In this excerpt, they’ve both just gone through a shock and are, well, recovering together. Jess’s fingers moved to his chest again, rippling through his […]
So here’s a little more from the first love scene in Wedding Bell Blues. Janie is teaching Pete to dance. Or anyway, that’s what she thinks. Of course, things begin to move beyond dancing pretty quickly. Janie rose against him, her legs opening against the warm heat of his arousal, trying to find the right […]
So I’m reading this urban fantasy, and the heroine’s a real mess. Total badass. Given to leather pants and attitude. She gives the hero nothing but grief even though he’s clearly nuts about her. But she’s even harder on herself because she had this really awful childhood. Her mother neglected her. The kids made fun […]
Romance is written in third person. That’s not an absolute rule, but it’s close enough. Occasionally, an author will be successful with a first person romance—Kristan Higgins has a few, for example—and chick lit is notoriously first person. But what we might call “traditional” romance never ventures far from third personhood. Of course, romance isn’t […]
Okay, this excerpt comes from my first Konigsburg book, Venus In Blue Jeans. The hero (Cal) and the heroine (Docia) are getting ready to make love for the first time–so it’s their first view of each other naked. Here we go! Cool fingers wrapped around his shaft, measuring him, sliding lightly down the length of […]
