35 Old Tips for New Writers, Amelia Grey – Author Guest Post + Giveaway

Thank you for having me at The Book Faery.  I’m very happy to be here.

It’s hard for me to believe, but I have been happily published for twenty years now. My first book came out in 1990 and now I’m thrilled my twenty-first book, An Earl to Enchant, the third book in the Rogues’ Dynasty Series has just hit bookstores.  I don’t know who said it first, but whoever did was right when he said, “My how time flies when you are having fun!”

I remember the early days of my writing career when I attended conferences held by Romantic Times and Romance Writers of America.  I was fortunate enough back then to sit under the tutelage of some of the Masters of romance books; Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, Lavyrle Spencer, Jayne Ann Krentz, Julie Garwood, Linda Howard, and Debbie MacComber just to name a few.

Did you know that in the early days we could take recorders into workshops and tape the sessions?  They don’t allow us to do that now.  I would take notes and record the speakers and then go home and type out useful one-liners from my notes. Over the years, I’ve collected some great advice for beginning and seasoned writers that I made into a check list.  I always read them before I start a new book.

Over the years, I didn’t keep up with which writer said what, but I thought you might like to read what I call my great one-liner tips from some of the best and most successful romance writers in the business.

1. Every writer has their own way to write a book
2. Think about your story for a long time
3. Collect all your research
4. Know your characters
5. Establish a character on first page
6. Don’t under estimate your first page or your first chapter
7. First page sets the pace
8. Study your first page – Did you tell who, what, when, where?
9. Best first lines are drama
10. Good first lines plunge hero or heroine into dire straits
11. The better you use your opening chapter, the better your book will be
12. Plunge your reader into conflict immediately
13. Reader involvement is the most important thing you can do
14. Get your reader early and you’ll keep them to the end of the book
15. Give the hero and heroine the promise of romance early in the book
16. But readers get bored with too much happiness
17. Write in a little misery, then resolve it
18. If you don’t pace yourself, you’re headed for trouble
19. But don’t be slow
20. No two people talk alike – remember your characters’ personalities
21. Never assume your readers know your characters just because you do
22. Don’t let your characters sit around and do nothing
23. Watch for uneven characters
24. Secondary characters should never take away from the hero and heroine
25. Go directly to action – Don’t stop for background
26. Give background in small segments
27. A sense of urgency is a must
28. Don’t make emotional scenes long or chatty
29. Don’t let your story lack life or excitement
30. There has to be a strong emotional concept
31. Motivation must be made clear
32. Don’t throw logic out of the window for the sake of drama
33. Make sure you have enough threads to hold the book together
34. Cut the trite and silly
35. Don’t be trendy
36. Keep up with today’s market
37. Don’t forget to read – all kinds of books

So after reading these fabulous tips from romance’s finest, do you think you’re ready to start a book?

The first chapter of my latest book An Earl to Enchant, the third book in the Rogues’ Dynasty Series is available on my website. I hope you’ll stop by and read it.

I love to hear from readers.  Please e-mail me at ameliagrey@comcast.net or visit my website at ameliagrey.com.

AN EARL TO ENCHANT by AMELIA GREY—IN STORES APRIL 2010

He’s determined not to be a hero…

Lord Morgandale is as notorious as he is dashing, and he’s determined no woman will tie him down. But from the moment Arianna Sweet appears on his doorstep, he cannot resist the lure of her fascinating personality, exotic wardrobe, and tempting green eyes…

She has a deadly secret…

Arianna Sweet never imagined the significance of her father’s research until after his untimely death. Now she is in possession of his groundbreaking discovery, one that someone would kill for. She can’t tell Lord Morgandale her secret, but she knows she needs his help, desperately…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Winner of the Booksellers Best Award and the Romantic Times Award for Love and Laughter, Amelia Grey’s books have been sold in Europe, Russia and China. Married for twenty-five years to her high school sweetheart, she has lived in Alabama, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and now calls Panama City Beach, Florida, home. For more information, please visit www.ameliagrey.com.

BOOK GIVEAWAY…Thanks to SourceBooks, The Book Faery Reviews is giving away 2 copies of An Earl to Enchant to one lucky commenter of this post. Commenter’s must have a US/Canada address and no PO Boxes. For additional entries you can do the following:

1) Got another writing tip you’ve heard of or use for yourself? Tell us for your main entry. OR leave a comment for the author.

2) Tweet (make sure you add in “@farrah1230 #tbfr” so I can find the tweet easily)

3) Post about this giveaway on your blog or other social networking site and leave me the link

4) Be an e-mail subscriber

5) Be an RSS Reader subscriber

This giveaway will run until April 30th, 2010.