Rachel's Tip

I will admit I am not great at plotting in advance. I write synopses with great intentions, but the story always goes way off the rails as I'm writing it. I am definitely in the camp of authors who let the characters tell them the story. I have a lot of fun writing this way, and am often surprised and delighted by how things turn out.

My writing tip—or, at least, a tip that has worked well for me—is to write the scenes you are most excited to write first. I am not a linear writer at all. I like to just jump in and write whatever situation or conversation my imagination is telling me to write. If you don’t feel like writing a particular scene in that moment, don’t. Sometimes I put off writing a scene for so long I realize the book doesn’t even need it. And then I’ve saved myself the trouble!

This just reminded me of a related tip, and one that I try to keep in mind always when I am writing: if you, the author, are bored by what you are writing, the reader will be even more bored. If it’s boring, stop. Ask yourself why it’s boring. Fix it. If you can’t fix it in that moment, write a different scene and come back to it.

Carrie Cariello

Carrie is a mother of five. She writes about autism, motherhood, and marriage. People read her words and they see pieces of themselves in her story, like tiny bits of color and light floating against a purple sky.

Casie Bazay

A former middle school teacher, Casie Bazay now writes contemporary and speculative fiction for young adults. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband, two kids, five cats, three horses, two dogs, and two chickens. In addition to writing novels, Casie also writes freelance and blogs, mainly about horses.

Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed. Today, she continues to spin tales of monsters—both real and fantastical--while safely locked away in her writing cabin.

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In spite of a harrowing past still haunting her, Gwen Proctor is trying to move forward. Until a new assignment gives her purpose: the cold-case disappearance of a young man in Tennessee. Three years missing, no clues. Just Ruth Landry, a tortured mother in limbo. Gwen understands what it’s like to worry about your children.

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Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming — mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.

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Time-travelling, dimension-jumping, Librarian-spy Irene and dragon-prince Kai will have to team up with an unlikely band of misfits to pull off an amazing art heist—or risk the wrath of a dangerous villain with a secret island lair.

A Librarian’s work is never done, and Irene is summoned to the Library. The world where she grew up is in danger of veering deep into chaos, and she needs to obtain a particular book to stop this from happening. Her only choice is to contact a mysterious Fae information-broker and trader of rare objects: Mr. Nemo.

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Sparks fly when two feuding TV presenters are thrown together to host a live morning show in Lucy Parker’s latest enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance.

He might be the sexiest man in London, according to his fan site (which he definitely writes himself), but he’s also the most arrogant man she’s ever met.

She might have the longest legs he’s ever seen, but she also has the sharpest tongue.

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When the ladies of the ton of Regency London need discreet assistance, they turn to Rosalind Thorne—in these mysteries inspired by the novels of Jane Austen . . .

Trust is a delicate thing, and no one knows that better than Rosalind Thorne. Lady Melbourne has entrusted her with recovering a packet of highly sensitive private letters stolen from her desk. The contents of these letters hold great interest for the famous poet Lord Byron, who had carried on a notorious public affair with Lady Melbourne's daughter-in-law, the inconveniently unstable Lady Caroline Lamb. Rosalind is to take up residence in Melbourne House, posing as Lady Melbourne's confidential secretary. There, she must discover the thief and regain possession of the letters before any further scandal erupts.

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Constance Campbell, the Duchess of Kilmaine, once believed that all she needed in life was a duke. But everything unraveled when she realized her perfect husband was a perfect monster. Now broken beyond repair, she hides her misery behind a perfect Society mask...even from her childhood friend, Alec.

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“9-1-1. What is your emergency?”

Former army officer Ryan Davis doesn’t relish the high-profile role of town sheriff, but when duty calls, he responds. Even if it means helping animal rescuer Zoey Castillo find her missing dog. When Ryan asks her out, Zoey is wary of a relationship in the spotlight—especially given her past. If the sheriff wants to date her, he’ll have to prove that he’s as good a bet as man’s best friend.