If you’ve read any of my books, you might have noticed I have a bit of a weakness for taking a familiar romance trope and asking, “Hey, what if we did that differently?” Take protector romance, for example. Usually, the hero is the one doing the protecting while the heroine is the one in danger. […]
One question I often get is “where did that idea come from?” And for Blackstone House, there’s one definite place the seed was planted. Many, many years ago, a good friend called me up and said, “Hey, want to go and watch another show at Pinewood?” Me: What kind of show? Her: Some magician? I […]
There’s something irresistible about a good romance trope. Yes, we might know exactly what kind of emotional payoff we’re going to get (spoiler alert: I’m never going to write a book without an HEA) but that doesn’t make the journey any less satisfying. If anything, the right trope gives us a promise: tension, chemistry, heartbreak, […]
I can’t believe it’s been over ten years since Emmy first ka-powed her way onto people’s bookshelves! Time flies when you’re having fun, right 😅 Because I like shelf trophies as much as the next book junkie, I decided to do something fun, and by “fun,” I mean crying into my coffee as I wrangled […]
Today, I’ve been invited over for chat (and cookies!) with Jez and co. Wish me luck… EN: Thanks for inviting me over, I think. Casa del Gato, huh? Interesting name. I like what you’ve done with— Wait, is that the kama sutra in the moulding? Sin: It adds a certain something, no? EN: I can’t […]
AKA How to Read Books Before They’re Published If you’ve ever seen readers talking about ARCs and wondered what they’re on about, here’s the short version: An ARC (Advance Reader Copy) is a free copy of a book given to readers before it’s published. Authors and publishers use ARCs to generate early reviews and build […]
I’ve already written about libraries, but with the sad demise of a major pirate site this week (Kidding! Authors are dancing in the digital streets) it’s worth sharing a few more free – and legal – ways to read. *Hops onto soapbox* With an alarming number of BookTokkers are weeping on social media about actually […]
For newcomers to Booktok and Bookstagram, terms like TBR, DNF, HEA, MMC, or POV can feel like a secret code. The book community has a huge number of acronyms and shorthand phrases, so here’s a cheat sheet explaining some of the most common ones: Character Types MMC = Male Main Character FMC = Female Main […]
Let’s talk about one of the best-kept secrets in the book world. Actually, it’s not a secret at all. It’s been sitting in the middle of towns and cities for centuries, joyfully offering books galore while everyone else gets distracted by Netflix and Amazon. I’m talking about getting free books from libraries. If you’re a […]
Author: Gregory Scott Katsoulis Series: Word$, Book 1 Genre: YA Sci-fi Tropes: Chosen one, dystopian society Spice: None Violence: 🔪🔪 Story Summary: Speth (weird name, but that’s the point – weird names are cheap) is about to turn fifteen, her transition to adulthood. From that moment on, she’ll be charged for every word she speaks. […]