L.J. Greene's Blog
October 28, 2023
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Writing Romance Breakups
I received an interesting question via Goodreads about my approach to writing breakups and thought it might make a useful post. It’s true that one of the most common criticisms leveled at romance is the predictability of story flow: fall in love, break up, reconcile. But that flow is the bargain we romance authors strike with our readers at a crossroads at midnight and it’s sacred to our relationship. Readers like the breakup. And they expect a really great reconciliation!
In romance, the purpose of a breakup scene is to put rocket fuel under the character arc. Breakup scenes move that arc along in a massive way, illuminating something problematic – often unfaced – and unsolvable for the characters in that point in their journey.
But breakup scenes are like sex scenes. They’re an incredibly powerful storytelling device and therefore they must be crafted with great precision. The most effective breakup scenes are highly specific to those two particular characters at that specific moment in time. They can’t be generic or superficial. After all, how much do we despise when a breakup happens as a result of a simple miscommunication, easily avoidable with a couple lines of dialog? And how annoying is it when the breakup feels like nothing more than a ploy to add a little manufactured drama?
We often think of breakups as the event that follows a catastrophic argument, and sometimes that is exactly the right thing for your story. It can be devastatingly satisfying to have your characters let it all out in one good, long brawl. But remember that as a writer, you have a wide array of emotions and circumstances from which to choose, so you don’t have to limit yourself to that one option. A quiet word in the right conversation can be equally devastating. And don’t forget that emotionally speaking, breakups can be gut wrenching or confounding or infuriating or liberating or even humorous.
In romance, breakup scenes can come in so many different forms that they can be anything but predicable! Having said that, there are certain rules that should always guide them. It’s kind of like having a tiger by the tail; you have to take care that it doesn’t turn on you. So here are a few things to consider:
1. Foreplay
The best breakup scenes are set up over the entire course of your story, from the very first chapter. Plan for them meticulously and let the circumstances build over the course of your story because that’s what gives them their impact: your reader has an inkling of what’s coming – can feel it coming, and oh God, does not want it to happen. Foreplay is what makes us as readers want to race to that point in your story and then crash with it in utter aching heartbreak.
2. Timing is everything
Don’t treat a breakup scene like it’s the obligatory 80-percent mark. Sure, sometimes it might rightly come at that point because you need enough time to build up the stakes. But it can also happen much earlier, especially if the intent of the breakup is to allow your characters to come back stronger so they can solve a problem together. Side Effects, my fourth novel, has two breakup scenes – the first comes before the MCs have even gotten together as a couple and it serves the purpose of revealing feelings that neither character was ready to admit. It causes major difficulties in their relationship that take time to resolve.
3. Oh no you didn’t!
Disagreements between human beings are rarely so straightforward as ‘you always leave your dishes in the sink.’ We humans are complicated creatures with long and detailed memories. We can be triggered by things, we can be irrational, we can be vulnerable, and we are usually not at our best when we’re emotional. Arguments can start as one thing and become something else. Or they can mask something much deeper. That complexity is the red meat of a great breakup scene and exploring it with gusto is what will give your scene its superpower.
4. Wrong, right; who can say?
There are times when one character is clearly in the wrong and that’s absolutely the appropriate choice for your story. Maybe they’ve done something colossally stupid, but for a good reason. Or maybe they have a tendency to be self-destructive, which can be utterly devastating. But sometimes the most tragic breakups come when both characters are absolutely right in their positions, when the heartbreak of their situation is that, with all good intentions, they have come to an impasse in which there is simply no good way forward. Surfacing a character’s needs, desires, and motivations creates that delicious complexity that gives depth and realness to your story. Whatever it is, dig in there, and dig in deep!
5. Wait for it
With all that juicy complexity, the impasse may not be resolved in one conversation or with a single heartfelt apology. It’s important to let your characters suffer. It’s important to let them be mad. It’s important to give the reader the satisfaction that a character who has been wronged gets to experience that injustice and then be awarded their due. Hold the tension as long as you can and really make your characters work for the resolution. Your readers will appreciate you for that!
6. Words matter
One of the cardinal rules in writing a breakup scene is that words matter. A lot. What your characters say to each other in the heat of passion can have a massive impact on whether your readers even want them to get back together at all. Personal attacks and name calling should be undertaken with extreme caution. It’s one thing to criticize someone’s behavior (You lied to me!); quite another to disparage them as a human being (You slut!). Of course there are times when name calling can be perfectly acceptable to your reader, and can even add a bit of humor. (Pig-headed man!) But if the name used triggers past trauma or some deep-seated insecurity for a character, it can be unforgiveable to your reader, no matter how innocuous that name may be.
The excitement of writing breakups is that all of these choices are yours to make and you have such a variety at your disposal. Be very deliberate in those choices so they feel deeply personal and individual to your characters in that moment. Breakup scenes are among the very most pivotal in your storyline and they deserve the greatest of care.
For myself, over the years, I’ve come to recognize the impact that writing breakup scenes has on my own psyche. It’s a funny thing – I tend to approach them with a profound mixture of anticipation and dread. Conflict in general is highly interesting and exciting to write, but breakup scenes in particular often make me feel legitimately sad for those days I spend putting words to paper. They can be absolutely exhausting to write. And I suppose, maybe, that’s the point. Life is hard sometimes, and good writing should be a reflection of that. But it's always such a relief to get past that moment where it all goes catastrophically wrong, and then to watch my characters grow and evolve and blossom into the very best versions of themselves.
That’s what I love most about writing romance. Romance readers are, perhaps by nature, a kind and generous bunch. And their passion for stories of triumph, their love of happy endings, and their belief that everyone deserves one – particularly after a doozy of a breakup! – is the reason I put words to paper. We live in a time when people can look anywhere for cynicism and horror. But romance readers seek out joy, unapologetically, and that’s the blissful payoff of a heartfelt breakup. For no one more than the writer herself.
A Fall of Light is out now.
A Fall of Light
In romance, the purpose of a breakup scene is to put rocket fuel under the character arc. Breakup scenes move that arc along in a massive way, illuminating something problematic – often unfaced – and unsolvable for the characters in that point in their journey.
But breakup scenes are like sex scenes. They’re an incredibly powerful storytelling device and therefore they must be crafted with great precision. The most effective breakup scenes are highly specific to those two particular characters at that specific moment in time. They can’t be generic or superficial. After all, how much do we despise when a breakup happens as a result of a simple miscommunication, easily avoidable with a couple lines of dialog? And how annoying is it when the breakup feels like nothing more than a ploy to add a little manufactured drama?
We often think of breakups as the event that follows a catastrophic argument, and sometimes that is exactly the right thing for your story. It can be devastatingly satisfying to have your characters let it all out in one good, long brawl. But remember that as a writer, you have a wide array of emotions and circumstances from which to choose, so you don’t have to limit yourself to that one option. A quiet word in the right conversation can be equally devastating. And don’t forget that emotionally speaking, breakups can be gut wrenching or confounding or infuriating or liberating or even humorous.
In romance, breakup scenes can come in so many different forms that they can be anything but predicable! Having said that, there are certain rules that should always guide them. It’s kind of like having a tiger by the tail; you have to take care that it doesn’t turn on you. So here are a few things to consider:
1. Foreplay
The best breakup scenes are set up over the entire course of your story, from the very first chapter. Plan for them meticulously and let the circumstances build over the course of your story because that’s what gives them their impact: your reader has an inkling of what’s coming – can feel it coming, and oh God, does not want it to happen. Foreplay is what makes us as readers want to race to that point in your story and then crash with it in utter aching heartbreak.
2. Timing is everything
Don’t treat a breakup scene like it’s the obligatory 80-percent mark. Sure, sometimes it might rightly come at that point because you need enough time to build up the stakes. But it can also happen much earlier, especially if the intent of the breakup is to allow your characters to come back stronger so they can solve a problem together. Side Effects, my fourth novel, has two breakup scenes – the first comes before the MCs have even gotten together as a couple and it serves the purpose of revealing feelings that neither character was ready to admit. It causes major difficulties in their relationship that take time to resolve.
3. Oh no you didn’t!
Disagreements between human beings are rarely so straightforward as ‘you always leave your dishes in the sink.’ We humans are complicated creatures with long and detailed memories. We can be triggered by things, we can be irrational, we can be vulnerable, and we are usually not at our best when we’re emotional. Arguments can start as one thing and become something else. Or they can mask something much deeper. That complexity is the red meat of a great breakup scene and exploring it with gusto is what will give your scene its superpower.
4. Wrong, right; who can say?
There are times when one character is clearly in the wrong and that’s absolutely the appropriate choice for your story. Maybe they’ve done something colossally stupid, but for a good reason. Or maybe they have a tendency to be self-destructive, which can be utterly devastating. But sometimes the most tragic breakups come when both characters are absolutely right in their positions, when the heartbreak of their situation is that, with all good intentions, they have come to an impasse in which there is simply no good way forward. Surfacing a character’s needs, desires, and motivations creates that delicious complexity that gives depth and realness to your story. Whatever it is, dig in there, and dig in deep!
5. Wait for it
With all that juicy complexity, the impasse may not be resolved in one conversation or with a single heartfelt apology. It’s important to let your characters suffer. It’s important to let them be mad. It’s important to give the reader the satisfaction that a character who has been wronged gets to experience that injustice and then be awarded their due. Hold the tension as long as you can and really make your characters work for the resolution. Your readers will appreciate you for that!
6. Words matter
One of the cardinal rules in writing a breakup scene is that words matter. A lot. What your characters say to each other in the heat of passion can have a massive impact on whether your readers even want them to get back together at all. Personal attacks and name calling should be undertaken with extreme caution. It’s one thing to criticize someone’s behavior (You lied to me!); quite another to disparage them as a human being (You slut!). Of course there are times when name calling can be perfectly acceptable to your reader, and can even add a bit of humor. (Pig-headed man!) But if the name used triggers past trauma or some deep-seated insecurity for a character, it can be unforgiveable to your reader, no matter how innocuous that name may be.
The excitement of writing breakups is that all of these choices are yours to make and you have such a variety at your disposal. Be very deliberate in those choices so they feel deeply personal and individual to your characters in that moment. Breakup scenes are among the very most pivotal in your storyline and they deserve the greatest of care.
For myself, over the years, I’ve come to recognize the impact that writing breakup scenes has on my own psyche. It’s a funny thing – I tend to approach them with a profound mixture of anticipation and dread. Conflict in general is highly interesting and exciting to write, but breakup scenes in particular often make me feel legitimately sad for those days I spend putting words to paper. They can be absolutely exhausting to write. And I suppose, maybe, that’s the point. Life is hard sometimes, and good writing should be a reflection of that. But it's always such a relief to get past that moment where it all goes catastrophically wrong, and then to watch my characters grow and evolve and blossom into the very best versions of themselves.
That’s what I love most about writing romance. Romance readers are, perhaps by nature, a kind and generous bunch. And their passion for stories of triumph, their love of happy endings, and their belief that everyone deserves one – particularly after a doozy of a breakup! – is the reason I put words to paper. We live in a time when people can look anywhere for cynicism and horror. But romance readers seek out joy, unapologetically, and that’s the blissful payoff of a heartfelt breakup. For no one more than the writer herself.
A Fall of Light is out now.
A Fall of Light
September 4, 2023
IT'S RELEASE DAY for A Fall of Light!
Today is launch day for A Fall of Light! I’m thrilled to announce that it is now available in ebook and print formats, pretty much anywhere you like to buy books online.
A Fall of Light is a standalone contemporary M/M romance set in the world of music and featuring a bit of intrigue, a dash of humor, and lots and lots of Big Feelings! Here is the description:
LJ Greene brings to life one of her most compelling characters: the intensely creative bass guitarist, Greg Van de Meer. A Fall of Light weaves together the strands of Greg’s private and public lives—a shattering personal history, a love affair with potentially disastrous consequences, and family bonds that are stretched to their breaking point.
It’s been fifteen years since Greg was outed by his fundamentalist father at age sixteen and sent from home, with devastating consequences for both he and his younger brother, Asher. Now unlaid ghosts from the past are stirring. With his band’s success on the world stage, Greg’s life takes a complicated turn when he develops a friendship with Louis Angel, an ex-Marine with a secret of his own, and finds himself facing familiar threats from an unexpected source.
Strained loyalties, a private affair, and Greg’s own guarded history collide dangerously until a visit from an old foe forces him to confront past wounds and present beliefs. Allegiances are called into question and he must decide whether the secrets he’s fighting to protect are worth the life he’s finally ready to have.
I’m so excited for you to read it and if you do, I hope you'll share your thoughts with this incredible community of book lovers! Thank you for supporting indie writers like me and for allowing us to add our voice to the chorus. xo
A Fall of Light
A Fall of Light is a standalone contemporary M/M romance set in the world of music and featuring a bit of intrigue, a dash of humor, and lots and lots of Big Feelings! Here is the description:
LJ Greene brings to life one of her most compelling characters: the intensely creative bass guitarist, Greg Van de Meer. A Fall of Light weaves together the strands of Greg’s private and public lives—a shattering personal history, a love affair with potentially disastrous consequences, and family bonds that are stretched to their breaking point.
It’s been fifteen years since Greg was outed by his fundamentalist father at age sixteen and sent from home, with devastating consequences for both he and his younger brother, Asher. Now unlaid ghosts from the past are stirring. With his band’s success on the world stage, Greg’s life takes a complicated turn when he develops a friendship with Louis Angel, an ex-Marine with a secret of his own, and finds himself facing familiar threats from an unexpected source.
Strained loyalties, a private affair, and Greg’s own guarded history collide dangerously until a visit from an old foe forces him to confront past wounds and present beliefs. Allegiances are called into question and he must decide whether the secrets he’s fighting to protect are worth the life he’s finally ready to have.
I’m so excited for you to read it and if you do, I hope you'll share your thoughts with this incredible community of book lovers! Thank you for supporting indie writers like me and for allowing us to add our voice to the chorus. xo
A Fall of Light
August 12, 2023
Our Core Stories
I recently read an interview with an author I admire in which he was talking about how writers tend to have core stories – themes that show up regularly in their work, though they may not even be conscious of it. It really got me thinking about my own body of work and my own core stories. Did I have core stories? Would I even know what they were? I’ve certainly never set out to weave particular themes into my books and I’d probably doggedly insist that all of my works are quite different, except...
The truth is, when I was writing my fourth book, Side Effects, I did have a frankly shocking revelation that all of my books contained a strong element dealing with the sacred responsibilities and complexities of father-son or mother-daughter relationships. In fact, my first book, Ripple Effects, so blatantly explores this theme that you’d think I’d have worn the topic threadbare – but no, apparently not; upon reflection, it seems to be a recurring plot point in every single book I’ve written!
And being the lucky mother of two girls, I do find that rather revealing, even if, candidly, I’m not sure what it reveals – at the very least, it probably shows that this is a topic of great importance to me, and always near to the surface.
So as an interesting exercise, I decided to put some thought into what other core stories might be lurking within the pages of my smallish body of work. Sure enough, there were a few that jumped out:
• The enduring imprint of childhood experiences;
• Cooking as a symbol of the creation of home;
• An ongoing fascination with creativity, creative people, and the creative process;
• And of course, people do tend to red drink wine, read a lot, and bake with varying degrees of success.
But we all have our core stories, don’t we? Whether they’re things wrestle with, things we love, things we can’t quite understand but want to, somehow. They’re the things that make us uniquely who we are as individuals, and yet there is a commonality to them, as well, that is so lovely and reassuring. That’s the beauty of books, I think, for both readers and writers. Words connect us. There is no human experience that any of us knows alone. Someone has walked that path before. Someone has said in words what it feels like, what it means. Every story is important – yours, mine, ours. And yes, they’re very much worth repeating.
My fifth novel, A Fall of Light, is out Sept. 4.
A Fall of Light
The truth is, when I was writing my fourth book, Side Effects, I did have a frankly shocking revelation that all of my books contained a strong element dealing with the sacred responsibilities and complexities of father-son or mother-daughter relationships. In fact, my first book, Ripple Effects, so blatantly explores this theme that you’d think I’d have worn the topic threadbare – but no, apparently not; upon reflection, it seems to be a recurring plot point in every single book I’ve written!
And being the lucky mother of two girls, I do find that rather revealing, even if, candidly, I’m not sure what it reveals – at the very least, it probably shows that this is a topic of great importance to me, and always near to the surface.
So as an interesting exercise, I decided to put some thought into what other core stories might be lurking within the pages of my smallish body of work. Sure enough, there were a few that jumped out:
• The enduring imprint of childhood experiences;
• Cooking as a symbol of the creation of home;
• An ongoing fascination with creativity, creative people, and the creative process;
• And of course, people do tend to red drink wine, read a lot, and bake with varying degrees of success.
But we all have our core stories, don’t we? Whether they’re things wrestle with, things we love, things we can’t quite understand but want to, somehow. They’re the things that make us uniquely who we are as individuals, and yet there is a commonality to them, as well, that is so lovely and reassuring. That’s the beauty of books, I think, for both readers and writers. Words connect us. There is no human experience that any of us knows alone. Someone has walked that path before. Someone has said in words what it feels like, what it means. Every story is important – yours, mine, ours. And yes, they’re very much worth repeating.
My fifth novel, A Fall of Light, is out Sept. 4.
A Fall of Light
August 5, 2023
Taylor Swift, Giveaways, and A Fall of Light
In just under a month (Sept. 4) I’ll be releasing my fifth novel, A Fall of Light. It’s a lovely M/M romance, featuring all the good stuff we romance readers want: Big Feelings, Big Conflicts, Big Endings. And starting today…BIG GIVEAWAYS! Right here on Goodreads, you can enter for a chance to win a free copy – and who doesn’t love free?
I could not be more excited to release it, or to finally give a happily-ever-after to a character, Greg Van de Meer, who has been unfinished business for me since 2016. Greg was sketched out as a small but pivotal character in Sound Effects and then essentially left, in love (secretly) with a man he couldn’t have because that man was a) straight, and b) in a happily-ever-after situation with his own lady love. (Perhaps this is a good time to note that A Fall of Light is a standalone and you need not have read any of the Effects series in order to enjoy it.) Nonetheless, it’s the worst of all worlds for a romance writer to create a beloved character and then just leave the poor guy without hope of his own HEA.
And that’s where Taylor Swift comes in. If you know the album, Folklore, you’ll know the song, “right where you left me,” a lovely ballad about having your heart broken and not being able to move on. It’s fair to say I was obsessed with that album for a while and every time that song came on, I thought of Greg Van de Meer, waiting patiently, with dust settling in his overly thick, unruly hair, for me to come back and finish his arc. So I guess you could say Taylor Swift made me do this.
The truth is, I wanted to write his story for a long time, but the idea never went far because, though he is bisexual, I always felt that his happily-ever-after would be with a man, and, candidly, I didn’t see myself as the right teller for that story. My fear was that as much as I might want to elevate his journey from a side story to the main story, there were things about his life that I will never understand, could never understand—that even if I were able to tell it perfectly, I simply may not be the right mouthpiece. It’s scary to write these days. Nonetheless, his was a story I felt compelled to write for a bunch of very loving reasons.
But I will also say this: any time we step outside our own experiences to write characters or stories that differ from what we know firsthand, we have a solemn obligation to do everything possible to get it right – to tell stories fairly and accurately, to not advance stereotypes, to avoid casual racism or gender norms or misogyny or anything else that can be hurtful. Because words do matter.
A Fall of Light is a Taylor Swift-inspired, free-for-a-hundred-people, contemporary M/M romance out Sept. 4 and I’d be honored to have you read it.
xo
I could not be more excited to release it, or to finally give a happily-ever-after to a character, Greg Van de Meer, who has been unfinished business for me since 2016. Greg was sketched out as a small but pivotal character in Sound Effects and then essentially left, in love (secretly) with a man he couldn’t have because that man was a) straight, and b) in a happily-ever-after situation with his own lady love. (Perhaps this is a good time to note that A Fall of Light is a standalone and you need not have read any of the Effects series in order to enjoy it.) Nonetheless, it’s the worst of all worlds for a romance writer to create a beloved character and then just leave the poor guy without hope of his own HEA.
And that’s where Taylor Swift comes in. If you know the album, Folklore, you’ll know the song, “right where you left me,” a lovely ballad about having your heart broken and not being able to move on. It’s fair to say I was obsessed with that album for a while and every time that song came on, I thought of Greg Van de Meer, waiting patiently, with dust settling in his overly thick, unruly hair, for me to come back and finish his arc. So I guess you could say Taylor Swift made me do this.
The truth is, I wanted to write his story for a long time, but the idea never went far because, though he is bisexual, I always felt that his happily-ever-after would be with a man, and, candidly, I didn’t see myself as the right teller for that story. My fear was that as much as I might want to elevate his journey from a side story to the main story, there were things about his life that I will never understand, could never understand—that even if I were able to tell it perfectly, I simply may not be the right mouthpiece. It’s scary to write these days. Nonetheless, his was a story I felt compelled to write for a bunch of very loving reasons.
But I will also say this: any time we step outside our own experiences to write characters or stories that differ from what we know firsthand, we have a solemn obligation to do everything possible to get it right – to tell stories fairly and accurately, to not advance stereotypes, to avoid casual racism or gender norms or misogyny or anything else that can be hurtful. Because words do matter.
A Fall of Light is a Taylor Swift-inspired, free-for-a-hundred-people, contemporary M/M romance out Sept. 4 and I’d be honored to have you read it.
xo
July 12, 2023
I’m Thrilled to Announce … A Fall of Light (!)
I am so excited to announce my upcoming book, A Fall of Light – out Sept. 4 – a standalone M/M contemporary romance. This may be my favorite book yet, featuring extortion, betrayal, a sting operation, Big Feelings, the sweetest of sweethearts, and an ending to make you cry.
Here’s the blurb:
LJ Greene brings to life one of her most compelling characters: the intensely creative bass guitarist, Greg Van de Meer. A Fall of Light weaves together the strands of Greg’s private and public lives—a shattering personal history, a love affair with potentially disastrous consequences, and family bonds that are stretched to their breaking point.
It’s been fifteen years since Greg was outed by his fundamentalist father at age sixteen and sent from home, with devastating consequences for both he and his younger brother, Asher. Now unlaid ghosts from the past are stirring. With his band’s success on the world stage, Greg’s life takes a complicated turn when he develops a friendship with Louis Angel, an ex-Marine with a secret of his own, and finds himself facing familiar threats from an unexpected source.
Strained loyalties, a private affair, and Greg’s own guarded history collide dangerously until a visit from an old foe forces him to confront past wounds and present beliefs. Allegiances are called into question and he must decide whether the secrets he’s fighting to protect are worth the life he’s finally ready to have.
And it should be said...
If the name Greg Van de Meer sounds eerily familiar, it’s because he’s a pivotal side character in Sound Effects. But this book is not part of that series and you need not have read Sound Effects to enjoy it.
It’s available for pre-order in print and ebooks, most places you like to buy them.
Hope you enjoy it!
xo
Here’s the blurb:
LJ Greene brings to life one of her most compelling characters: the intensely creative bass guitarist, Greg Van de Meer. A Fall of Light weaves together the strands of Greg’s private and public lives—a shattering personal history, a love affair with potentially disastrous consequences, and family bonds that are stretched to their breaking point.
It’s been fifteen years since Greg was outed by his fundamentalist father at age sixteen and sent from home, with devastating consequences for both he and his younger brother, Asher. Now unlaid ghosts from the past are stirring. With his band’s success on the world stage, Greg’s life takes a complicated turn when he develops a friendship with Louis Angel, an ex-Marine with a secret of his own, and finds himself facing familiar threats from an unexpected source.
Strained loyalties, a private affair, and Greg’s own guarded history collide dangerously until a visit from an old foe forces him to confront past wounds and present beliefs. Allegiances are called into question and he must decide whether the secrets he’s fighting to protect are worth the life he’s finally ready to have.
And it should be said...
If the name Greg Van de Meer sounds eerily familiar, it’s because he’s a pivotal side character in Sound Effects. But this book is not part of that series and you need not have read Sound Effects to enjoy it.
It’s available for pre-order in print and ebooks, most places you like to buy them.
Hope you enjoy it!
xo
December 27, 2021
4 Books That Redefined Romance for Me
I didn’t grow up reading (or writing!) romance. The romance genre to me was always the books with the muscular, long-haired man on the cover and some maiden being swept away aboard a ship. I never thought of it as real or relevant or, honestly, of much interest. As I look back on my own early attitudes towards romance, I see clear fingerprints of the ever-present snobbery that (sadly) exists against the romance genre. But these four books (or series) not only redefined romance for me, but inspired me in different ways to want to add my own voice to the chorus.
The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley’s retelling of the Arthurian legend from the perspective of Morgaine isn’t technically a romance – there are few happy endings to be found in its pages – but it remains for me one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read. It is also the sole reason I came back to reading for pleasure as an adult, in my early twenties. It’s a book of female heroism, something my former self had never conceived of in romance, and of the many, quiet, devastating sacrifices women make for those they love. It is enduringly relevant to the female experience and so beautifully crafted that its 900-page length is a treat worth savoring.
Outlander - I am well aware that Diana Gabaldon would not appreciate me for including her books in a blog about romance. But the fact remains that whatever else her books may be, they are also romances, and there’s no shame in that. For me, the Outlander series is most instructive of the fact that as a writer, you can pen almost any scenario you like, as long as you take the care to write it well. It’s been a good reminder for me in my own work, when storylines have sometimes gone places I wasn’t sure I could or should go. This series tackles everything from violence to intimacy to plural marriages to nose-picking with an equally deft hand. The storytelling is absolutely brilliant. If you’ve only ever experienced Outlander through the television show, you’re missing out. The richness of the books is impossible to translate, even as I readily admit that Sam Heughan is about as perfect a Jamie as any reader of the series could ever hope for… 😊
Beautiful Player - This book, for me, is contemporary romance perfected. This is the book I always wished I had written and honestly still strive to. It’s the book that inspired me to finally put pen to paper. Beautifully developed characters, lots of humor, and full of heart. You’d be hard pressed to find any writer (or writing duo, in this case) who can pen more authentic, layered, and loveable male characters told from the first-person POV than Christina Lauren. And I’ll also say that before they changed their writing style to omit on-page love scenes, they also wrote, in my opinion, the very best love scenes in contemporary romance – supremely crafted, sexy without being gratuitous, and always underpinned with the emotional complexity of real, human experiences. Beautiful Player is the quintessential CLo novel for me, but Dark Wild Night, Wicked Sexy Liar, and Autoboyography are sure bets, as well.
Bad Things - RK Lilley’s trilogy is a master class in character development. It’s been eight years since I read these books and I still haven’t recovered. This was one of the first romance books I ever picked up, and the one that unflinchingly demonstrated just how raw and real and relevant romance could be. Tristan remains for me one of the most beloved, flesh-and-blood characters I’ve ever encountered in the genre. RK Lilley’s bravery in tackling his story arc is remarkable. And the execution of it is something to behold. I have no doubt that this series took its own pound of flesh from the author herself, as books often do. You can feel the way she never shies away from the tough stuff and the result is gut-wrenching. If you’ve somehow missed this series, I recommend you rectify that situation right now. But don’t say I didn’t warn you… 😊
The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley’s retelling of the Arthurian legend from the perspective of Morgaine isn’t technically a romance – there are few happy endings to be found in its pages – but it remains for me one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read. It is also the sole reason I came back to reading for pleasure as an adult, in my early twenties. It’s a book of female heroism, something my former self had never conceived of in romance, and of the many, quiet, devastating sacrifices women make for those they love. It is enduringly relevant to the female experience and so beautifully crafted that its 900-page length is a treat worth savoring.
Outlander - I am well aware that Diana Gabaldon would not appreciate me for including her books in a blog about romance. But the fact remains that whatever else her books may be, they are also romances, and there’s no shame in that. For me, the Outlander series is most instructive of the fact that as a writer, you can pen almost any scenario you like, as long as you take the care to write it well. It’s been a good reminder for me in my own work, when storylines have sometimes gone places I wasn’t sure I could or should go. This series tackles everything from violence to intimacy to plural marriages to nose-picking with an equally deft hand. The storytelling is absolutely brilliant. If you’ve only ever experienced Outlander through the television show, you’re missing out. The richness of the books is impossible to translate, even as I readily admit that Sam Heughan is about as perfect a Jamie as any reader of the series could ever hope for… 😊
Beautiful Player - This book, for me, is contemporary romance perfected. This is the book I always wished I had written and honestly still strive to. It’s the book that inspired me to finally put pen to paper. Beautifully developed characters, lots of humor, and full of heart. You’d be hard pressed to find any writer (or writing duo, in this case) who can pen more authentic, layered, and loveable male characters told from the first-person POV than Christina Lauren. And I’ll also say that before they changed their writing style to omit on-page love scenes, they also wrote, in my opinion, the very best love scenes in contemporary romance – supremely crafted, sexy without being gratuitous, and always underpinned with the emotional complexity of real, human experiences. Beautiful Player is the quintessential CLo novel for me, but Dark Wild Night, Wicked Sexy Liar, and Autoboyography are sure bets, as well.
Bad Things - RK Lilley’s trilogy is a master class in character development. It’s been eight years since I read these books and I still haven’t recovered. This was one of the first romance books I ever picked up, and the one that unflinchingly demonstrated just how raw and real and relevant romance could be. Tristan remains for me one of the most beloved, flesh-and-blood characters I’ve ever encountered in the genre. RK Lilley’s bravery in tackling his story arc is remarkable. And the execution of it is something to behold. I have no doubt that this series took its own pound of flesh from the author herself, as books often do. You can feel the way she never shies away from the tough stuff and the result is gut-wrenching. If you’ve somehow missed this series, I recommend you rectify that situation right now. But don’t say I didn’t warn you… 😊
December 20, 2021
3 Things I Didn’t Want to Learn But Did, Writing Side Effects
Today the author copies of Side Effects arrived in the mail. Ninety-thousand two-hundred and seventeen words – beautifully formatted, professionally edited, and wrapped in the most gorgeous, perfect cover I could’ve ever hoped for. When you hold a finished book in your hands, it feels effortless. Like the story just appeared somehow, was transcribed by the author, and then sent off to be packaged up for bookshelves everywhere. It feels that way, but anyone who’s ever aspired to write a book knows that it isn’t. Not even close.
The truth is, I never thought I’d hold this particular book in my hands. As I write this, it’s still a bit of a wide-eyed, blinking wonder to see it completed. Side Effects was the book I always wanted to write – an enemies-to-lovers story with a magnificently razor-sharp MC, who you love most when he’s at his worst. That untouchable, slightly damaged, beautiful-in-a-scorpion-sort-of-way, secretly honorable man who steals every scene he’s in.
Our Loki.
Our Loki with a secret, nonetheless. I had big ideas for this book, plot points mapped out, full scenes of dialog written, dragons (!), corporate mayhem and mischief, and more! The first fifty pages whipped by in a blur. I was the dog with her head out the car window, in love with the wind. This was my fourth book, and I was calling on all I knew to make it my best. Thousands more words went down on pages. Chapters upon chapters written from both MCs’ perspectives, because that’s what I knew how to do. That’s how all my books were written. That’s how it’s always worked.
And then.
And then, a year into the writing (!), I realized I had no idea how to tell a story in which one MC has a secret that the other needs to discover – and more importantly, that the reader needs to discover. I’d never written a story like this before. My progress slowed. Words became arduous. Full chapters felt forced and problematic. Though I very much didn’t want to believe it, I was coming to suspect that my first-person dual-POV format was a problem. A big one. I was stuck.
And then.
And then came COVID – that year we’d all like to forget when we were sheltering in place, and scouring the internet for toilet paper, and trying to figure out how to do work and school in an overstuffed house. And it turns out that fearing for the safety of oneself and one’s family, along with worrying whether one’s entire job might disappear can have a rather negative impact on creativity and inspiration. As Virginia Woolf so aptly put it, “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”
As such, my high hopes of spending the pandemic in a whirlwind of creative output evaporated on the wind. My book and I blinked at each other in a silent stand-off throughout 2020 – both thinking the other was crap. It was clear that one of us was going to have to give. (Me. It was going to have to be me.) If I was going to get this book written – and I was too stubborn not to (See also: writer’s best and worst quality) – I was going to have to learn some things. Painful things.
These things:
1. The story, not the writer, dictates the format. Nearly two years in, I stopped fighting that little nagging voice in my head that, of course, already knew this, because those voices are always right. I put on my big-girl pants and cut more than half of those hard-won chapters. Tens of thousands of words from Marcus’s POV gone from the text. It was heartbreaking, terrifying, dispiriting, and also exactly what the book needed in order for the tension in the story to finally come through. I’d been twisting myself into knots trying to keep Marcus honest as a narrator while not allowing him to give away The Secret. It simply wasn’t possible. The story didn’t work if Marcus co-narrated it. So all but two of his chapters were cut – months and months of agonizing work sent to my Deleted file. But when it was done, an enormous weight had been lifted. The book began to take a new shape, a far better shape because the story could finally be told in the way it was always meant to be told.
2. There are no shortcuts to a strong ending. There’s nothing quite like getting three-quarters of the way through writing a novel and realizing you still have absolutely no clue how it’s going to end. It’s not an uncommon problem. How many books have you read in which the writer just seems to throw in the towel and has the resistant lover suddenly show up on her man’s doorstep and tell him she’s decided to forgive him for everything because *love*? Or when the guy who couldn’t have been anywhere nearby actually did hear that crucial conversation and is now jarringly revealed to be the Big Baddie, after all. No one likes when writers do that. It’s cheating.
But I’ll admit (just between us) that there was more than one moment during the writing of Side Effects when I was tempted to pull the ‘change-of-heart’ ripcord and just be done. (Oh, no, of course I intended that character to be a murderous psychopath all along!) After all, we were in a pandemic, for God’s sake, and this book had already been a monster to write, and I was tired. But when I thought about taking an easier way out, that little voice (there it was again!) told me no. Emphatically no. It may have even used some unsavory words to make the point. Because in my heart, I knew my characters deserved (and readers deserved) a more nuanced ending that was believable, authentic, and engaging. The ending of Side Effects didn’t come easily. There was no lightning strike of creativity. It was a slog every day. I still don’t know how it happened but somehow the story found that small patch of grass in the clearing between the rocks and the hard places. It was a rough landing, but looking back, an intensely gratifying one. The resolution allowed my characters to stay ‘in character’ all the way through – they never do or say anything that would cause a reader to think, they wouldn’t do that – and they arrive at a place that feels deeply satisfying. And a little bit magical, if I’m being honest, because the writing process is a mysterious thing – to no one more than the writer, herself. The moral here is this: Don’t pull the ripcord. Crash if you have to, and then just fix the damned thing.
3. Perseverance is everything. If the above two lessons say anything, it’s this: writing is hard. Sometimes it’s totally unsatisfactory. But the only way to write a book is *apparently* to write it. I wish there was an easier way. I haven’t found one. So even on those days when I felt like a monkey hammering away at the keyboard, when the ideas wouldn’t come, and the dialog was terrible, and COVID was terrible, and nothing came out like I saw it in my head, I just kept going. Too stubborn not to. There were chapters that took weeks to write. They were just wrong until they weren’t, and the only thing to do was to keep working them, every day. Just keep getting the story down and have a little faith that eventually, somehow, I’d get to what I intended (See above: mystery). It was ugly a lot of the time but that’s what I did. Had I not, I wouldn’t be holding Side Effects today. I’m not sure what I’m prouder of – the book itself, or simply that I finished it. Both, really, and I’m not ashamed to admit that.
This lesson of perseverance isn’t terribly insightful, nor is it game-changing or earth shattering in any way. It’s just true. It’s just so overwhelmingly true that we as writers have to learn it over and over and over again. Even when we don’t want to. Even when we don’t think we have it in us. We can never allow ourselves to forget it because the moment we do, we close our laptops, say unkind words to ourselves, and let the hard days win.
The truth is, I never thought I’d hold this particular book in my hands. As I write this, it’s still a bit of a wide-eyed, blinking wonder to see it completed. Side Effects was the book I always wanted to write – an enemies-to-lovers story with a magnificently razor-sharp MC, who you love most when he’s at his worst. That untouchable, slightly damaged, beautiful-in-a-scorpion-sort-of-way, secretly honorable man who steals every scene he’s in.
Our Loki.
Our Loki with a secret, nonetheless. I had big ideas for this book, plot points mapped out, full scenes of dialog written, dragons (!), corporate mayhem and mischief, and more! The first fifty pages whipped by in a blur. I was the dog with her head out the car window, in love with the wind. This was my fourth book, and I was calling on all I knew to make it my best. Thousands more words went down on pages. Chapters upon chapters written from both MCs’ perspectives, because that’s what I knew how to do. That’s how all my books were written. That’s how it’s always worked.
And then.
And then, a year into the writing (!), I realized I had no idea how to tell a story in which one MC has a secret that the other needs to discover – and more importantly, that the reader needs to discover. I’d never written a story like this before. My progress slowed. Words became arduous. Full chapters felt forced and problematic. Though I very much didn’t want to believe it, I was coming to suspect that my first-person dual-POV format was a problem. A big one. I was stuck.
And then.
And then came COVID – that year we’d all like to forget when we were sheltering in place, and scouring the internet for toilet paper, and trying to figure out how to do work and school in an overstuffed house. And it turns out that fearing for the safety of oneself and one’s family, along with worrying whether one’s entire job might disappear can have a rather negative impact on creativity and inspiration. As Virginia Woolf so aptly put it, “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”
As such, my high hopes of spending the pandemic in a whirlwind of creative output evaporated on the wind. My book and I blinked at each other in a silent stand-off throughout 2020 – both thinking the other was crap. It was clear that one of us was going to have to give. (Me. It was going to have to be me.) If I was going to get this book written – and I was too stubborn not to (See also: writer’s best and worst quality) – I was going to have to learn some things. Painful things.
These things:
1. The story, not the writer, dictates the format. Nearly two years in, I stopped fighting that little nagging voice in my head that, of course, already knew this, because those voices are always right. I put on my big-girl pants and cut more than half of those hard-won chapters. Tens of thousands of words from Marcus’s POV gone from the text. It was heartbreaking, terrifying, dispiriting, and also exactly what the book needed in order for the tension in the story to finally come through. I’d been twisting myself into knots trying to keep Marcus honest as a narrator while not allowing him to give away The Secret. It simply wasn’t possible. The story didn’t work if Marcus co-narrated it. So all but two of his chapters were cut – months and months of agonizing work sent to my Deleted file. But when it was done, an enormous weight had been lifted. The book began to take a new shape, a far better shape because the story could finally be told in the way it was always meant to be told.
2. There are no shortcuts to a strong ending. There’s nothing quite like getting three-quarters of the way through writing a novel and realizing you still have absolutely no clue how it’s going to end. It’s not an uncommon problem. How many books have you read in which the writer just seems to throw in the towel and has the resistant lover suddenly show up on her man’s doorstep and tell him she’s decided to forgive him for everything because *love*? Or when the guy who couldn’t have been anywhere nearby actually did hear that crucial conversation and is now jarringly revealed to be the Big Baddie, after all. No one likes when writers do that. It’s cheating.
But I’ll admit (just between us) that there was more than one moment during the writing of Side Effects when I was tempted to pull the ‘change-of-heart’ ripcord and just be done. (Oh, no, of course I intended that character to be a murderous psychopath all along!) After all, we were in a pandemic, for God’s sake, and this book had already been a monster to write, and I was tired. But when I thought about taking an easier way out, that little voice (there it was again!) told me no. Emphatically no. It may have even used some unsavory words to make the point. Because in my heart, I knew my characters deserved (and readers deserved) a more nuanced ending that was believable, authentic, and engaging. The ending of Side Effects didn’t come easily. There was no lightning strike of creativity. It was a slog every day. I still don’t know how it happened but somehow the story found that small patch of grass in the clearing between the rocks and the hard places. It was a rough landing, but looking back, an intensely gratifying one. The resolution allowed my characters to stay ‘in character’ all the way through – they never do or say anything that would cause a reader to think, they wouldn’t do that – and they arrive at a place that feels deeply satisfying. And a little bit magical, if I’m being honest, because the writing process is a mysterious thing – to no one more than the writer, herself. The moral here is this: Don’t pull the ripcord. Crash if you have to, and then just fix the damned thing.
3. Perseverance is everything. If the above two lessons say anything, it’s this: writing is hard. Sometimes it’s totally unsatisfactory. But the only way to write a book is *apparently* to write it. I wish there was an easier way. I haven’t found one. So even on those days when I felt like a monkey hammering away at the keyboard, when the ideas wouldn’t come, and the dialog was terrible, and COVID was terrible, and nothing came out like I saw it in my head, I just kept going. Too stubborn not to. There were chapters that took weeks to write. They were just wrong until they weren’t, and the only thing to do was to keep working them, every day. Just keep getting the story down and have a little faith that eventually, somehow, I’d get to what I intended (See above: mystery). It was ugly a lot of the time but that’s what I did. Had I not, I wouldn’t be holding Side Effects today. I’m not sure what I’m prouder of – the book itself, or simply that I finished it. Both, really, and I’m not ashamed to admit that.
This lesson of perseverance isn’t terribly insightful, nor is it game-changing or earth shattering in any way. It’s just true. It’s just so overwhelmingly true that we as writers have to learn it over and over and over again. Even when we don’t want to. Even when we don’t think we have it in us. We can never allow ourselves to forget it because the moment we do, we close our laptops, say unkind words to ourselves, and let the hard days win.
December 13, 2021
I Loathe, I Mean, I Love You: Our Attraction with Enemies-to-Lovers
Side Effects is out TODAY (!!!) and in honor of that, I wanted to write a quick post on the enemies-to-lovers trope. Because what is it about Rey and Kylo Ren, or Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, or Belle and The Beast, for that matter, that we find so addicting? We know we do. It’s why Bridgerton was one of NetFlix’s biggest original series launches of all time. The truth is, there is something ridiculously satisfying about watching two people who cannot stand the sight of one another finally, gloriously, discover that they’re meant for each another, after all.
Side Effects is my first enemies-to-lovers story. In my previous novels, I’ve written acquaintances to lovers (Ripple Effects), strangers to lovers (Sound Effects), and friends to lovers (Aftereffects). All have their unique challenges, but writing an enemies-to-lovers story requires especially meticulous care, which is probably why I worked my way up to it. These are stories that can’t be rushed. There must be a good slow burn with small, believable turns, each of which must feel distinct and satisfying. In a good enemies-to-lovers story there are lots of them. But here are some of my favorites (and some classic enemies-to-lovers moments you may recall):
The Claws-Out moment:
“How can you be so blasé about this?”
“Because I didn’t cause these problems, Miss Knope, your government did.”
― Parks and Recreation
The Claws Out moment has to happen very early on and be downright breathtaking. The more devastating the moment, the more satisfying their eventual love will be. Because these couples are not just starting from zero; we’re in deep negative territory here. Just getting to neutral is a big step. In Side Effects, Marcus accomplishes his Claws Out moment with a single word. Just one word. God, he’s a bastard! 😊
The Two Lizards-in-a-Box moment:
"She did have a terrible singing voice. He hated that he knew that, but he couldn’t resist glancing over his shoulder. Nina’s hood had fallen back, and the thick waves of her hair had escaped her collar.
Why do I keep doing that? He thought in a rush of frustration. It had happened aboard the ship, too.
He’d tell himself to ignore her, and the next thing he knew his eyes would be seeking her out."
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows
This is my favorite of all moments, I have to say. It’s that moment when our couple finally reaches a very fragile neutrality. They don’t like each other; they certainly don’t trust each other. Maybe they feel stuck together – eyeing each other warily – but they know they have to cooperate in order to achieve some shared purpose. Nina and Matthias have some truly amazing Lizards-in-a-Box moments in Six of Crows. Here’s one more just for fun:
“It's not natural for women to fight."
"It's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand.”
The moment Something Changes:
Think: Ryan Reynolds in his bed of comforters on the floor in The Proposal singing “It Takes Two” to Sandra Bullock.
In reality, there are probably a number of small moments in a good enemies-to-lovers story that Change Everything. As a writer, capturing them is pure joy. It’s that first bit of trust, that first real smile, that first moment when one character comes to the defense of another. It’s the moment when one character recognizes the humanity in the other. Each and every one is rewarding and wonderful. In fact, don’t we usually need a trilogy to capture them all?
And, at last, Sweet Surrender:
“You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love—I love—I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on.”
― Film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice
Need I even say more about this one! Deep sigh… The more hideous the beginning, the more satisfying this is. I loved giving Marcus his happily-ever-after because he truly deserved it and he needed it. As we all do, right?
Side Effects is out today!
Side Effects is my first enemies-to-lovers story. In my previous novels, I’ve written acquaintances to lovers (Ripple Effects), strangers to lovers (Sound Effects), and friends to lovers (Aftereffects). All have their unique challenges, but writing an enemies-to-lovers story requires especially meticulous care, which is probably why I worked my way up to it. These are stories that can’t be rushed. There must be a good slow burn with small, believable turns, each of which must feel distinct and satisfying. In a good enemies-to-lovers story there are lots of them. But here are some of my favorites (and some classic enemies-to-lovers moments you may recall):
The Claws-Out moment:
“How can you be so blasé about this?”
“Because I didn’t cause these problems, Miss Knope, your government did.”
― Parks and Recreation
The Claws Out moment has to happen very early on and be downright breathtaking. The more devastating the moment, the more satisfying their eventual love will be. Because these couples are not just starting from zero; we’re in deep negative territory here. Just getting to neutral is a big step. In Side Effects, Marcus accomplishes his Claws Out moment with a single word. Just one word. God, he’s a bastard! 😊
The Two Lizards-in-a-Box moment:
"She did have a terrible singing voice. He hated that he knew that, but he couldn’t resist glancing over his shoulder. Nina’s hood had fallen back, and the thick waves of her hair had escaped her collar.
Why do I keep doing that? He thought in a rush of frustration. It had happened aboard the ship, too.
He’d tell himself to ignore her, and the next thing he knew his eyes would be seeking her out."
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows
This is my favorite of all moments, I have to say. It’s that moment when our couple finally reaches a very fragile neutrality. They don’t like each other; they certainly don’t trust each other. Maybe they feel stuck together – eyeing each other warily – but they know they have to cooperate in order to achieve some shared purpose. Nina and Matthias have some truly amazing Lizards-in-a-Box moments in Six of Crows. Here’s one more just for fun:
“It's not natural for women to fight."
"It's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand.”
The moment Something Changes:
Think: Ryan Reynolds in his bed of comforters on the floor in The Proposal singing “It Takes Two” to Sandra Bullock.
In reality, there are probably a number of small moments in a good enemies-to-lovers story that Change Everything. As a writer, capturing them is pure joy. It’s that first bit of trust, that first real smile, that first moment when one character comes to the defense of another. It’s the moment when one character recognizes the humanity in the other. Each and every one is rewarding and wonderful. In fact, don’t we usually need a trilogy to capture them all?
And, at last, Sweet Surrender:
“You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love—I love—I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on.”
― Film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice
Need I even say more about this one! Deep sigh… The more hideous the beginning, the more satisfying this is. I loved giving Marcus his happily-ever-after because he truly deserved it and he needed it. As we all do, right?
Side Effects is out today!
November 30, 2021
Under the Covers: The Ripple Effects Series in Pictures
This idea that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover is total crap. Of course we should. That’s why we have covers. They’re supposed to tell us something about the book we’re picking up – to give us some visual cues about what we’re likely to encounter, to help us find the kinds of books we like and help us avoid things that aren’t our taste. After all, books are expensive.
I, myself, am a baby. A knife covered in blood on the cover? I’ll pass. A handsome man in a cravat? My cat ears swing to full attention. Don’t put a handsome man in a cravat on the cover if you’re going to deliver me descriptions of entrails and people very graphically taking a knife to the eye. I’m just saying. That’s what covers are for. Put the bloody knife in the handsome man’s hand, at least, if that’s your intention.
When I was thinking about the cover for Side Effects, I had the opportunity to go back and redesign my previous three covers in the collection and make them all fit today’s romance cover fashion. (See also: bright colors, friendly looking fonts, vaguely illustrated people doing cute things.) As tempting as it was to want to fit in with the current style, I realized that the covers for Ripple Effects, Sound Effects, and Aftereffects were doing exactly the job they’re supposed to do. They tell the reader what to expect: Adult, contemporary romance with tasteful (not gratuitous) on-page love scenes. If you’re looking for a bloody knife, not going to find it here. Prefer your sexy times behind closed doors? I totally respect that – this series may not be for you.
So…great. But what of Side Effects? This is also an adult contemporary romance, but its cover presented a new challenge for two reasons: first, Marcus, my MC, is a different kind of romance hero, more cerebral and edgy. Think: Loki, as opposed to Thor. So a bare-chested character didn’t quite seem to fit him. Second, and this is both a blessing and curse, I had a very definite, real-life person in mind when I thought about how Marcus looks. This isn’t usually the case. For my first three covers, I was overjoyed to find photos that were a pretty darn good match to the characters I saw in my head – especially Keir in Aftereffects. But in the case of Marcus, no stock photography even came close, and I simply could not accept anything less (because, I mean, what a face!).
Then came a lightning strike of an idea and whole lot of luck. The idea was this: Marcus is a video game designer, and the game at the center of the story is an adventure of magic and mystery (dragons!), where you can’t shoot your way out of trouble, you have to think your way out. And (!) in the book, Marcus has created his own avatar that looks like him. (Of course, he would!) So why not illustrate the cover and feature Marcus’s avatar within the game, so he could be drawn similarly to the picture in my head without attracting ire from the actual flesh-and-blood man whose face was my inspiration?
Bingo. But finding the right artist was another matter, and on this, I got very lucky. Théa Magerand, the genius behind the Side Effects cover, does a lot of her work in the horror and fantasy genres. Her characters are vivid, graphic, and sometimes truly horrifying. When I reached out to her about doing a contemporary romance cover, she thought I’d misfired my request to the wrong artist. LOL. But I’d chosen her because she’s a gamer herself, and many of the characters she’s created look like they could walk right out of the most awesome video game you’d ever want to play.
I sent her pictures of how I imagined Marcus looked; I sent her an idea for his avatar’s clothing; I told her there was a dragon and sent her the written description. And then I just got out of her way. What came back is exactly what you see. She nailed it on the first go. No, more than that. She gave me a work of art, gorgeous in its own right and a perfect fit to the contents of the story.
So how does the Side Effects cover fit the book and how does it relate to the Effects collection?
1. Most importantly, it captures Marcus well. There’s a line in the book that says, “Marcus was handsome. It wasn’t the first thing you noticed about him because you were always dealing with a razor-sharp mind.” Thea’s Marcus is handsome, especially if you zoom in on him. But he’s also commanding a high-stakes surrounding, which is a perfect metaphor for the book.
2. It captures the setting well. Gaming is the story’s backdrop, and the dragon is important in more ways than one.
3. From a heat perspective, there are fewer love scenes in Side Effects than in my previous books (two scenes in total) and they are a bit more subtle, as is fitting for the characters. So within the collection of Effects covers, you would accurately guess that there is less emphasis in Side Effects placed on the main characters’ physical relationship than in my previous books.
But the covers are most definitely linked – that also was a deliberate choice. In addition to sharing a naming convention, the covers all have the same fonts, same focus on the male MC, same basic layout. No bloody knife. If you know the series or look at the collection of covers, you’ll know what you’re getting with Side Effects: an adult, contemporary romance with tasteful (not gratuitous) on-page love scenes. And some gaming. And a dragon. I hope you love it. I do. And I’d be very proud to have you judge it by its cover.
Side Effects is out December 13th.
I, myself, am a baby. A knife covered in blood on the cover? I’ll pass. A handsome man in a cravat? My cat ears swing to full attention. Don’t put a handsome man in a cravat on the cover if you’re going to deliver me descriptions of entrails and people very graphically taking a knife to the eye. I’m just saying. That’s what covers are for. Put the bloody knife in the handsome man’s hand, at least, if that’s your intention.
When I was thinking about the cover for Side Effects, I had the opportunity to go back and redesign my previous three covers in the collection and make them all fit today’s romance cover fashion. (See also: bright colors, friendly looking fonts, vaguely illustrated people doing cute things.) As tempting as it was to want to fit in with the current style, I realized that the covers for Ripple Effects, Sound Effects, and Aftereffects were doing exactly the job they’re supposed to do. They tell the reader what to expect: Adult, contemporary romance with tasteful (not gratuitous) on-page love scenes. If you’re looking for a bloody knife, not going to find it here. Prefer your sexy times behind closed doors? I totally respect that – this series may not be for you.
So…great. But what of Side Effects? This is also an adult contemporary romance, but its cover presented a new challenge for two reasons: first, Marcus, my MC, is a different kind of romance hero, more cerebral and edgy. Think: Loki, as opposed to Thor. So a bare-chested character didn’t quite seem to fit him. Second, and this is both a blessing and curse, I had a very definite, real-life person in mind when I thought about how Marcus looks. This isn’t usually the case. For my first three covers, I was overjoyed to find photos that were a pretty darn good match to the characters I saw in my head – especially Keir in Aftereffects. But in the case of Marcus, no stock photography even came close, and I simply could not accept anything less (because, I mean, what a face!).
Then came a lightning strike of an idea and whole lot of luck. The idea was this: Marcus is a video game designer, and the game at the center of the story is an adventure of magic and mystery (dragons!), where you can’t shoot your way out of trouble, you have to think your way out. And (!) in the book, Marcus has created his own avatar that looks like him. (Of course, he would!) So why not illustrate the cover and feature Marcus’s avatar within the game, so he could be drawn similarly to the picture in my head without attracting ire from the actual flesh-and-blood man whose face was my inspiration?
Bingo. But finding the right artist was another matter, and on this, I got very lucky. Théa Magerand, the genius behind the Side Effects cover, does a lot of her work in the horror and fantasy genres. Her characters are vivid, graphic, and sometimes truly horrifying. When I reached out to her about doing a contemporary romance cover, she thought I’d misfired my request to the wrong artist. LOL. But I’d chosen her because she’s a gamer herself, and many of the characters she’s created look like they could walk right out of the most awesome video game you’d ever want to play.
I sent her pictures of how I imagined Marcus looked; I sent her an idea for his avatar’s clothing; I told her there was a dragon and sent her the written description. And then I just got out of her way. What came back is exactly what you see. She nailed it on the first go. No, more than that. She gave me a work of art, gorgeous in its own right and a perfect fit to the contents of the story.
So how does the Side Effects cover fit the book and how does it relate to the Effects collection?
1. Most importantly, it captures Marcus well. There’s a line in the book that says, “Marcus was handsome. It wasn’t the first thing you noticed about him because you were always dealing with a razor-sharp mind.” Thea’s Marcus is handsome, especially if you zoom in on him. But he’s also commanding a high-stakes surrounding, which is a perfect metaphor for the book.
2. It captures the setting well. Gaming is the story’s backdrop, and the dragon is important in more ways than one.
3. From a heat perspective, there are fewer love scenes in Side Effects than in my previous books (two scenes in total) and they are a bit more subtle, as is fitting for the characters. So within the collection of Effects covers, you would accurately guess that there is less emphasis in Side Effects placed on the main characters’ physical relationship than in my previous books.
But the covers are most definitely linked – that also was a deliberate choice. In addition to sharing a naming convention, the covers all have the same fonts, same focus on the male MC, same basic layout. No bloody knife. If you know the series or look at the collection of covers, you’ll know what you’re getting with Side Effects: an adult, contemporary romance with tasteful (not gratuitous) on-page love scenes. And some gaming. And a dragon. I hope you love it. I do. And I’d be very proud to have you judge it by its cover.
Side Effects is out December 13th.
October 13, 2021
Announcing . . . Side Effects! Coming December 13th!
I am so excited to announce SIDE EFFECTS. This is the book I always wanted to write – an enemies-to-lovers story (!) centering around one of my favorite side characters, Marcus Abby. It takes place in the world of video game development (thus, the incredible cover by Thea Magerand!) and features the kind of corporate shenanigans for which I’ve had a front row seat in my professional career for more than two decades now.
Here is the description:
Who can you trust?
Ally Michels is fresh out of her MBA program at Cal and has landed her dream job at hot, up-and-coming video game developer, Jet Stream Studios, all thanks to her uncle, Jet’s largest venture capital investor. She’s feeling pretty good about her future until an inadvertent blurt in a company meeting brings down upon her the dangerous attention of Jet’s co-founder and chief developer, Marcus Abby.
Beautiful, brilliant, and vicious, Marcus is every bit the arrogant, deceitful founder her uncle warned her about. But in the power-fueled world of venture capital investing, things aren’t always what they seem. When Ally finds herself caught up in a play for corporate control, she must work with Marcus to save the company and an ideal she believes in, while navigating perilous family loyalties and fighting to hold onto her own integrity.
For Ally, there’s just one rule: never, ever trust Marcus Abby. Because the one man she needs to stop a high-stakes plot is the one man who has every reason to want her gone.
SIDE EFFECTS is a standalone adult contemporary, twisty, underhanded, certainly unscrupulous . . . romance.
The writing of Side Effects was a somewhat humbling experience: both realizing how much I didn’t yet know about how to tell a story of this nature (see also: tens of thousands of words from Marcus’s POV left on the cutting room floor), and coming to terms with the creative paralysis of the pandemic. (It turns out that fearing for one’s safety and that of one’s family, along with worrying whether one’s income might disappear overnight, can have a startlingly negative impact on creativity and inspiration.)
Thus, it has been a two-and-a-half-year endeavor of grit and perseverance but in the end, I’m overjoyed with the result. I love the characters and their journeys toward self-acceptance, which, to me, feels like everyone’s journey, my own included. I have often wondered why some of the kindest people I know are so unkind to themselves. And today, coming out of a year that changed everything, kindness and joy feel very much required.
This book also completes the Ripple Effects collection that began in 2013 as a Bay Area traffic-induced musing about a science teacher. It has been an incredible creative expression for me for the last eight years, allowing me to explore the big themes in my own life, like the power and responsibility of mother-daughter/father-son relationships, what it means to live passionately, the experience of grief and loss, and ultimately self-discovery.
Side Effects comes out December 13. Stay tuned for details on a giveaway!
Side Effects
L.J. Greene
Here is the description:
Who can you trust?
Ally Michels is fresh out of her MBA program at Cal and has landed her dream job at hot, up-and-coming video game developer, Jet Stream Studios, all thanks to her uncle, Jet’s largest venture capital investor. She’s feeling pretty good about her future until an inadvertent blurt in a company meeting brings down upon her the dangerous attention of Jet’s co-founder and chief developer, Marcus Abby.
Beautiful, brilliant, and vicious, Marcus is every bit the arrogant, deceitful founder her uncle warned her about. But in the power-fueled world of venture capital investing, things aren’t always what they seem. When Ally finds herself caught up in a play for corporate control, she must work with Marcus to save the company and an ideal she believes in, while navigating perilous family loyalties and fighting to hold onto her own integrity.
For Ally, there’s just one rule: never, ever trust Marcus Abby. Because the one man she needs to stop a high-stakes plot is the one man who has every reason to want her gone.
SIDE EFFECTS is a standalone adult contemporary, twisty, underhanded, certainly unscrupulous . . . romance.
The writing of Side Effects was a somewhat humbling experience: both realizing how much I didn’t yet know about how to tell a story of this nature (see also: tens of thousands of words from Marcus’s POV left on the cutting room floor), and coming to terms with the creative paralysis of the pandemic. (It turns out that fearing for one’s safety and that of one’s family, along with worrying whether one’s income might disappear overnight, can have a startlingly negative impact on creativity and inspiration.)
Thus, it has been a two-and-a-half-year endeavor of grit and perseverance but in the end, I’m overjoyed with the result. I love the characters and their journeys toward self-acceptance, which, to me, feels like everyone’s journey, my own included. I have often wondered why some of the kindest people I know are so unkind to themselves. And today, coming out of a year that changed everything, kindness and joy feel very much required.
This book also completes the Ripple Effects collection that began in 2013 as a Bay Area traffic-induced musing about a science teacher. It has been an incredible creative expression for me for the last eight years, allowing me to explore the big themes in my own life, like the power and responsibility of mother-daughter/father-son relationships, what it means to live passionately, the experience of grief and loss, and ultimately self-discovery.
Side Effects comes out December 13. Stay tuned for details on a giveaway!
Side Effects
L.J. Greene
