Romancing the Story: Writing Romance, Storytelling, and Book Structure
Story enthusiast and romance writer Sarah Gamez explores the creative craft and pragmatic aspects of writing with niche topic discussions, inspirational pieces and industry insights. Join in on conversations with authors and experts on creating engaging stories, marketing your books, and navigating the (self) publishing world. Whether you write romance or not, there's plenty of tips to be found on storytelling, genres, and medias. Sometimes, with a twist of romance.
Episodes
89 episodes
Ep 88 - Wattpad & Serialized Fiction: Writing That Hooks Readers with Lux Raven
"There's a reason a lot of the marginalized characters start out in places like Wattpad...it becomes this people driven publishing house in a way...."Watty award winning author, Lux Raven, understands how platforms like Wattpad are influ...
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57:34
Ep 87 - Ambition and Finding Purpose: Someone's Gotta Give with Alisha Fernandez Miranda
"Someone said to me in my twenties...you can have it all but not all at the same time and that has stuck with me for a long time." Award winning author, Alisha Fernandez Miranda joined me to chat the myth of “having it all,” motherh...
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52:07
Ep 86 - Writing a Witchy Holiday Romance using Yule Magic and Lore with Morgan Lockhart
"...usually (writing) my central character is early for me and my central themes are early for me and everything else springs from that, and that includes the magic..."Author and Veteran video game writer, Morgan Lockhart blends magic, g...
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44:41
Ep 85 - Addiction Recovery and Resilience in Romance Novels with Thea Claire
"My therapist and I talk all the time about how the support system you have and where you're at (in life) totally dictates how you handle recovery."Romance Author Thea Claire portrays realistic recovery from addiction in her novels and h...
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52:31
Ep 84 - Dark Fantasy Worldbuilding: Rebellion and Magic with Sarah Hawley
"You want to (write dark themes) in a way that's sensitive and include the dark content but also consider the impact." Sarah Hawley, USA Today Bestselling Author, writes dark fantasy worldbuilding that makes rebellion feel inevitabl...
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45:11
Ep 83 - Time Travel RomCom: Chivalry in Modern Romance with Bryn Donovan
"One thing I love about the romance genre is that you're allowed to have those big, emotional moments....without apology."Romance Author and former Hallmark creative producer, Bryn Donovan discusses the charming and humorous moments tha...
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46:40
Ep 82 - Character Development using Enneagram with Krystal Shannan
"...each enneagram has a really unhealthy bar all the way up to a healthy bar. So for me, it's 'where did my character start on the bar?' and 'how do I get them to a healthy place of the enneagram through the story?'..."USA Today Bestse...
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55:23
Ep 81 - Political Romance: Writing Love in the Public Eye with Alicia Wilder
"For (the politican couple), it's almost a negotiation - I know what I want. Are you able to give it to me? And just having that back and forth."Romance Author Alicia Wilder created a not-so-secret, forced proximity romance set in...
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44:22
Ep 80 - Writing Through Pain: Chronic Illness Portrayal with Cara Dion
"...if I want readers to be able to identify with the character then I want them to be able to identify with the illness specifically...I can't be ashamed to put the name (of illness) on the page."Romance author Cara Dion knows...
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54:34
Ep 79 - Illustrating a Novel: Prose to Pictures with C.A. Szarek and Gilbert Perez
"I think initially planning it out was kind of difficult. Only because...(the writer) is very descriptive. She says she can't draw, but in my mind, (they) just do it differently. (Writers) do it with words."USA Today Bestselling Author ...
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52:40
Ep 78 - Book Adaptation: Turning Novels into Screenplays with Emily Roberson
"....(Screenwriting) is, to me, a lot more puzzle-like than novels...if somebody gives me a screenplay to read that is 140 pages, I know it doesn't work."Award-winning author Emily Roberson explores the intricacies of adaptation as she ...
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52:32
Ep 77 - Romance in Film: Crafting Romantic Stories with Tosca Musk
"As a romance fan, we couldn't get anybody or any of the networks to buy into....(or) pay to make these adaptations, and so we started our own streaming platform..."Tosca Musk, CEO and founder behind streaming service Passionflix, takes...
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48:10
Ep 76 - Character Development: Writing an Identity Not Your Own with Alex Temblador
"...and if you create this single story for a people of a certain historically, marginalized identities; you know, that gets taken by readers and it gets inside of them in ways we might not expect or intend to..."Award-winning author Al...
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49:28
Ep 75 - Writing Family Dynamics to Reveal Character with Amber Royer
"...Introducing family shows a different side (to the character) and allows the character to be a little more well-rounded in the way they interact..."Writing instructor and multi-genre author, Amber Royer, encounters the challenges and...
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52:11
Ep 74 - Indie Romance Audiobook: Production and Narration with Melissa Whitney and Harlow Wilde
"It's been fun to kinda see (Melissa's writing) evolve also in the narration I have done for her....her stories get better and better with time. It's the same with narration too."Romance author Melissa Whitney Author and narrat...
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48:52
Ep 73 - Audiobook Marketing: How to Grow Listeners with Karen White
"If you're just starting out, I personally would recommend waiting (to invest in audiobooks) until you have a full series that...is selling well. ...If the series isn't working, you're not going to know that until the series has been out fo...
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58:01
Ep 72 - Narrative Flow: Building Emotional Arcs with Kimberly Packard
"I try to write really fierce, headstrong characters...but at the same time, it's ok to be vulnerable. It's ok to say I don't have all the answers."Author Kimberly Packard lovingly calls women's fiction the "trash can punch" genre since...
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45:53
Ep 71 - The Write Transition: From Podcast to Literary Life with Amy Kelly
"If it feels like I'm trying to force something...that's usually when I know to kinda let go. Either set it down or hold it with an open hand and see what happens. Whatever happens with it, let that be. "Amy Kelly, the new leader at Lon...
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48:22
Ep 70 - Using AI Ethically to Make the Most of Your Writing with Marcy Pusey
"There's this living in alignment, in integrity, and I don't like to do things out of alignment...and this is an area that has some consequences."Bestselling Author, Tedx Speaker, and therapist, Marcy Pusey helped me delve into the ethi...
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1:00:12
Ep 69 - The Authorpreneur Mindset: Blooming in Adversity with Kathryn McClatchy
"(It) started as a blog, Unleashing the Next Chapter, to document my stroke recovery and unleashing is a nod to the fact that I had just gotten Gizmo (service dog)...to (now) having a boutique marketing agency..." Kathryn McClatchy is a...
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1:02:44
Ep 68 - Beyond Stereotypes: Crafting Authentic Characters with Disabilities with Melissa Whitney
"....Whenever you are going to write disability or anytime you're going to write outside of your lived experience, first you have to ask yourself: Do you already platform and support this community?"As a romance writer with a disability...
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48:35
Ep 67 - Tragedy and Humor: Creating a New Happily Ever After with Courtney Deane
"...I certainly hope that (this book) reaches the people who do, for one reason or another, feel that the world has just been so unfair to them and why can't it pick on somebody else for once..."After both her parents died, Courtney pen...
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41:31
Ep 66 - Collaborative Magic: Crafting a Holiday Novella Series with Lark Green, Lucy Limon, and Catrina Bell
"...as we're solving problems in our own stories, we're creating problems for the other stories that (Lark and Catrina) had to work in... It made for some really creative outcomes." - Lucy LimonAs critique partners and writers with comp...
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55:54
Ep 65 - Building an Interconnected Series with C.A. Szarek
"They always say start your book on a day that's different. That's called an inciting incident. That's what I try to do naturally. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't."A decade into writing her Highlander series, USA Today Bestsell...
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44:40
Ep 64 - Overcoming Writer’s Block and Procrastination with Dr. Nicole Janz
"We need to see writer's block in a different way. It's really not the enemy, but...it's a sign. And usually, it's that your body and your mind are telling you something is off..."Author and writing coach, Dr. Nicole Janz, helps creativ...
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48:01