However, before you can produce a romance novel, there are a few things you should know. First, the 2008 report from Simba Information reported that romance fiction generated a whopping 1.37 billion dollars in revenue despite the worst economic slid since the Great Depression and snagged the largest share of the consumer market. Why is this? Despite the cynicism of some for romance fiction, it has proven to be smart, fresh and diverse.

Secondly, you first need to know how to write a romance novel. “Know the romance market,” says Sheri McGregor, author of “Under One Roof.” Romance novels make up more than 50 percent of mass market fiction. “Read in the genre and find where you think your story ideas fit. Get the guidelines. Then write your story with the market in mind, without letting go of your story’s heart,” McGregor says.

1. Know the story you want to tell, and know your characters.
2. Join a writer’s critique group, either online or face-to-face.
3. Write, write and write more. Nothing helps more than practicing your craft.
4. Develop a thick skin. No one writes a masterpiece the first time.
5. Learn from criticism, but don’t lose the voice that makes your writing unique.
6. Read books about writing, such as Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird,” Natalie Goldberg’s “Writing Down the Bones,” or Evan Marshall’s “The Marshall Plan for Writing a
Novel.”
7. Study your market, and be prepared to write for a specific genre.
8. Become familiar with the publishers in your genre and subgenre.
9. Join a romance writers’ club and attend writers’ conferences. Make sure to schmooze with agents at these conferences.
10. Submit your book to an agent to make the rounds of publishers.

Blessed is the author who continues to write despite the circumstances in their lives, for eventually their story will be published. Times are tough in the publishing industry? Write! Your personal life is going to hell faster than a jet? Write! You can’t find an agent? Write! Your manuscript is still orphaned? Write! Your book finally sold? Keep writing!

Until next time – stay well and be blessed!

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TIME TO WRITE?

I absolutely have a special time to write. It’s when the duties of mother, maid, cook, chauffer, doctor, business owner and referrer have ended. It’s when I stumble down the stairs, groping in semi-darkness for my best friend, the coffeepot. It’s when there’s graveyard silence in my house.

The illuminated numbers on the clock indicate one in the morning.

It’s the right time for me to write.

Until next time – stay well and be blessed!

HOW CAN I GET MY BOOK PUBLISHED?

The first tip I’d give an aspiring author is to prepare. Preparation can be accomplished in a variety of ways such as: reading books from authors published in the genre you want to writing in, taking courses or workshops, entering contests, and if possible, speaking with published authors in your targeted genre. Once you have a workable draft of your manuscript, join a critique group and above all, accept constructive feedback. All of these things will help in the end so that you provide a quality product for agents and editors to review.

A couple of books I’d highly encourage aspiring authors to purchase are: Building Better Plots by Robert Kernen and Writing Novels that Sells by Jack Bickham.

See you on the New York Times Bestsellers List!!

Until next time – stay well and be blessed!

SO, WHEN WILL YOU WRITE SO-IN-SO’S STORY?

First, let’s define who “so-in-so” is.” These are the secondary characters (flat characters) in a fiction novel. Although these characters rarely undergo any substantial growth or change in the story, they do provide a supporting role to a story’s main characters.

Not ever secondary character I create will have their story. Remember, they were created to serve a particular purpose in a particular story. However, I’ll go so far as to allow my intuition to take over so the character speaks to me outside of the role they were originally created for. If the character shows me their strengths and weakness, what they fear and what event will spark them to rise up and fight like hell then there’s a fair chance a story is in the horizon for them.

For those readers who’ve followed my writing career, they’ve become intimately acquainted with the Baptiste Clan. As the saga of this family has progressed, many secondary characters have emerged. Two of my favorites are: Alex Robinson and Zachary “Zach” Tate. Many readers have threatened me with bodily harm if I don’t come up with a story line for both of them. Only time will tell, so stay tune.

Until next time – stay well and be blessed!

WHERE DO YOU GET THE IDEAS FOR YOUR STORIES?

A casual conversation with friends, a newspaper article or even a television show can spark the beginning idea for a story plot. So far, the premises of my stories have dealt with the social issues I’ve experienced and/or taught as a public health educator for the past twenty-plus years. Trust me I’m not talking about your typical run-of-the-mill romance story plots, either. I love to take real-life issues individuals face every single day and spin a romance from it.

Now you would think after I’d come up with the idea that sitting down and outlining the story would be a fairly simply process, right? Well, most times it isn’t. Let me share an example.

It was Thursday, May 27, 2010. On this day, I walked through the doors at the Port of New Orleans with gleeful anticipation. After a grueling, but successful two-month promotion for my latest release, If I Were Your Woman, I was about to board the Carnival Triumph. The last thing I wanted to think about was another story. All I wanted was to enjoy total relaxation and kid-free bliss on my four-day sail to Cozumel, Mexico.

However, weeks prior to my cruise, I’d grappled with an idea for my next story. I’d become so acquainted with the persona of my characters, that I knew them as well as I know my best friend. Scenes from this yet to be named story boomeranged in my head. The premise for the story had even settled in my spirit. Still, I couldn’t take all of this and connect the dots. Oh well, I’ll deal with it after the cruise or at least that’s what I told myself.

The cruise was fabulous!! On day three, I spent hours shopping in Cozumel and had a few mango margaritas along the way. After dinner that evening, I made my way to the ship’s lower deck. Alone with the coolness of the night air at my face, I stood with my arms draped over the rail. For a moment, I glanced up and studied the stars. They were crystal clear against the velvet black skies. Then it happened.

Upon a midnight clear, the story I’d struggled with for weeks flashed before me from beginning to end.

No, I will not go on a cruise every time I have trouble outlining a story Here’s my point: The problem wasn’t that the story wasn’t there. It was. The problem was me. I wasn’t in a place to receive it. Before the cruise, I was juggling a zillion projects. But once I got into a setting where I was uninterrupted by the hustle and busy of life, the story manifested itself. Ever been there??

Until next time – stay well and be blessed!

Novel Spaces is an eclectic group of authors bound by a singular passion: writing. If you love reading great stories from across the broad spectrum of tales to be told, then you’re definitely in the right space.

Hop over to see what the topic of discussion is today!!

What truly motivates you in general? In your writing?
In general, I crave intellectual stimulation and creative outlets. I take them wherever I can find them! In my life, and in my writing, I’m inspired every day by seemingly ordinary people, places, and things in the world around me. In fact, I write a blog called Lisa Leibow’s Fodder for Fiction devoted to this very aspect of my personality. I share observations about the quirky, silly, deep, and meaningful things in life that not only entertain on the spot, but also contribute to a great store of facts and tidbits I draw from in developing character, setting, and plot in my fiction writing. It’s all fodder for fiction! Visit Lisa Leibow’s Fodder for Fiction .

What are your thoughts on love scenes in romance novels, do you find them difficult to write?
Early drafts of my debut novel, Double Out and Back, contained no sex. My critique partner chided me, “Lisa, you are writing a novel centered on fertility. Your characters need to ‘do it.’”

After turning several shades of crimson to burgundy, I set out to make certain my characters got some sex, and that it was not gratuitous. I checked my nervous giggle at the door and stared at a blank page for a while. It was then I decided to take a break from writing. Delving into my characters’ intimate moments proved to be a great stumbling block.

Like I often do when I’m stuck, I decided to turn to some of my favorite novels and reexamine, with a writer’s eye, what made me fall in love with the tale. It was then I picked up Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead. There are some extremely graphic sex scenes in Fountainhead. I cannot even begin to compare my craft to that of Ayn Rand. However, re-reading the scenes she wrote made me realize that could I write about sex without making my novel pornographic.

Well, it turns out; I’m pretty good at writing about sex. My critique group approved of the steamy new scenes I wove into the manuscript, as did my other early readers, and my editor.

What kind of research do you do?
I love to do research. I’m a recovering attorney, after all. It’s one of the remnants I can really use in fiction writing! I tend to get lost in the research as much as I get lost in the writing. For Double Out and Back, I needed to research not only locations, and medical advances in treatments for infertility, but also the rich history of South Africa, the paths of Jewish immigrants. Of course, the internet is a valuable tool for uncovering information. However, living in the D.C. metropolitan area, I have access to a wealth of information and artifacts through the Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, and a multitude of superb university library collections.

By way of example of how information I uncovered along the way impacted the novel, I point to two bits. First, I discovered a database listing where Jews leaving Eastern Europe emigrated at the turn of the century, including their stated occupations, family members, and planned destinations in and out of Liverpool. This gave me some of the background I used to bring Chandy’s grandmother to life in a meaningful way.

The more I read, the more I became fascinated by the melting-pot of diverse cultures in pre-Apartheid Cape Town. I became saddened with what happens when such a rich, cosmopolitan community is torn apart by political extremists. Another intriguing piece of information that influenced this aspect of Double Out and Back is a now-declassified briefing book from the US State Department on South Africa and its implementation of Apartheid. Through this collection, I was able to piece together more of Chandy’s history and the memories that haunt her.

Would you like to write a different genre than you do now, or sub-genre?
I don’t consider myself a genre writer. So, this is a difficult question for me to answer. Double Out and Back is mainstream fiction. It has some elements of historical fiction, multicultural fiction, chick lit, and dark romance. I guess if I had to classify it, I’d call it Smart Women’s Fiction.

That being said, of those “elements” I listed above, what I love writing most the most is historical fiction. I love the challenge of bringing to life a time and place I have not experienced first-hand. It forces me to use my imagination to build a world. I dabbled in this with Chandy’s story in Double Out and Back. I brought to life her past in South Africa during the implementation of Apartheid. With my second novel, which is perpetually almost finished, I explore pre-revolutionary Iran, in the 1960s, where miniskirted women with college degrees are subject to arranged marriages. Here, too, I bring to life a time and place I did not experience first-hand.

However, in each of these instances, the setting is one where I could interview people who had been there to obtain first-hand accounts. I see my interests in historical fiction deepening. Lately, I have been crafting a novel that takes place in colonial America. It will be my first truly historical fiction in that nobody alive today was there. I must rely on historical documents, museums, and the like to build a realistic portrayal of my characters and setting.

Tell us which Red Rose title you will be promoting on this campaign:

DOUBLE OUT AND BACK
Mainstream Fiction: Contemporary, Chick Lit, Interracial/Multicultural
ISBN: 978-1-60435-365-5
Cover Artist: Emmy
Editor: Wolf Cassell
Word Count: 103,130
Release Date: August 13, 2009

Not every woman who rides the fertility treatment roller coaster winds up like Octomom! Who will find friends, family, and fertility?

Three women’s lives are intricately intertwined, as Amelia Schwartz and Summer Curtis struggle with the complex dynamics of intrafamily embryo adoption, and Chandy Markum strives to make her patients’ dreams a reality.

After more than a decade, of mourning her parents’ deaths, anal-retentive Amelia Schwartz decides to take control of her life, pursuing single motherhood via embryo adoption. While her fertility doctor, Chandy, is preoccupied with the destruction of the cosmopolitan Cape Town of her youth and her first love in apartheid-torn South Africa, believing all is lost, her niece, a young, married, overachieving attorney Summer Curtis, juggles zealous career ambitions, demanding bosses, and friction with her husband over family and fertility issues. They must confront the painful reality that, no matter what technology humans devise to manipulate reproduction, prolong life, and construct family units; they have not yet mastered control over their beginnings and endings.

Thrown all into this is one story that can make or break. Are you up to it?

How can readers connect with you online?
Website
Blog
Facebook
GoodReads
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ATTENTION EVERYONE!!!
For a limited time today from 4 – 8 PM EST — visit -Red Rose Publishing to purchase a copy of IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN. Then stop by my promotional page to enter in your details, your Red Rose receipt/transaction number, and promotional code – LISA – to receive a download of Lisa Liebow’s new book, DOUBLE BACK AND OUT, absolutely FREE!

Your purchase and download today also guarantees you an entry in a drawing for a FREE Amazon Kindle to be given away on Saturday, March 13, 2010 @ 12 NOON PST/2 PM CST/ 3 PM EST right here at my blog.

Thank you so much for joining me and Lisa Leibow on the online campaign for IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN!

Here’s what Shantal shared with me about reading romance . . . .

Why did you decide to read romance novels?
Romance novels often reflect many aspects similar to everyday life. There is a great variety in romance as stories can encompass a wide range of topics and scenarios, so I guess you can say I read for the diversity that can be experienced in romance.

What are the elements of a great romance for you as a reader?
A clearly defined plot, well developed characters, and of course an intriguing and passionate path to a happy ending! The connection and passion between the main characters as well as the obstacles that a couple faces are also important to a great romance novel.

What is the hardest part of reading a romance/the easiest for you?The hardest part of reading a romance book is not neglecting other things in life (i.e. sleep, work, family). I don’t want to take breaks or have interruptions when I’m reading my romance novels. It’s also hard to wait for the next installment if a book is part of a series. The easiest part is simply enjoying the work of a great author.

What is the most rewarding thing about being a romance reader?The escape to someone else’s world and experiencing the ups and downs a couple takes to find their heart…the person they were meant to share their lives with forever.

Join the celebration and show Shantal some love by listening to her review of IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN!

All right fans and friends – go between the sheets with me right now and check out my Spotlight Novel Feature in, “The Hot Sheets,” the weekly newsletter from Between Your Sheets.

Between Your Sheets (BYS) is for those with a passion for books! If you’re a passionate reader then this website has a story, featured author, and the hottest book news for you. So join the celebration of IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN at BetweenYourSheets.com today!

Why did you decide to read romance novels?
It was the only genre left in my high school library that I hadn’t read.

What are the elements of a great romance for you as a reader?
Conflict/resolution
Sexy intimate scenes that are not necessarily sexual
Storyline that keeps me involved emotionally and intellectually that has a realness to it

What is the hardest/easiest part of reading a romance?
Hardest: Not becoming bored with the story

What is the most rewarding thing about being a romance reader?
That they give examples of what could be.

Join the celebration and show Mia Geyen-Tate some love by listening to her review of I WERE YOUR WOMAN!