• What are Instagram edits?

    If you’ve been scrolling through the bookstaverse on Instagram, you will have invariably come across ‘edits’. These are collages of images that allude to elements, scenes and characters in a story. Usually made by fans, they can also be created by authors, and are a wonderful way to create a mood and add visual context to the book they reference.

  • Overused Words

    As a writer, I’m more concerned with telling a story and taking characters and readers on a journey than I am with monitoring how many times I use certain words. However, once the first draft is set down and the editing process begins, then the spectre of ‘overused words’ rears it’s spectrely head like a spectre from another world entirely habited by spectres…

  • What is a Sex Index?

    There have been many great contributions to the world of literature. Gutenberg invented the printing press, Shakespeare invented romantic comedy, and J K Rowling invented Harry Potter. However, all of these achievements pale into insignificance compared to my contribution - the sex index. Seeing a hole, I filled it. Finding a gap, I plugged it. My invention of a sex index at the back of a romance novel is hands down the most exciting new development since the Kindle. So join me, readers and fellow authors, to drill down into what a sex index is, and what it can do for you…

  • Evieland Evie Land September

    Behind the Scenes in Evie Land – September 2021

    Egyptians have the pyramids, Cambodians have Angkor Wat, Americans have the Statue of Liberty, and I have the Smut Hut. September has been about finishing off this marvellous erection in my garden and going into extended labour to birth Highland Games. If you want to read all about this, plus what to do with nineteen thousand words of deleted sex scenes, read on!

  • writer self care

    How to practise self-care as a writer

    Never has it been so important to look after every aspect of my life in this current incarnation. I’m going to share some of the strategies that have worked for me and other authors in this blog. Hopefully it will help you, and also serve as a reminder that I need to practice what I preach…

  • 150 Romance novel tropes

    Tropes are everywhere. In Shakespeare, Austen, everyday language and your favourite TV shows. Tropes are common situations in narratives that help structure a story. ‘Enemies to Lovers’ is a very popular trope which can be found in The Taming of the Shrew, Pride and Prejudice, The Hating Game, and You’ve got Mail. Tropes are commonly used story devices that we all recognise on some level.

  • first draft of a novel

    How to Write the First Draft of a Book

    Every writer has their process, their way of getting from an idea in their head to words on a page. The first draft is one of the biggest milestones in the publishing process and I wanted to share how I got to the first draft of book three in the Kinloch series.