We hope you enjoyed our month-long focus on author voice in romantic fiction and found it helpful! To round off the month, we asked our editors to let us know what makes a manuscript stand out from the crowd. What makes a romance submission unique and fresh? (And we included key tips from our guest…
Harlequin editors read a lot of romance books. Sometimes a scene idea or plot twist that seems fresh to a new author is actually one we’ve read many times. And that’s not surprising. When starting a new creative venture, it’s natural to emulate artists whom you admire, including aspects of their “voice” – word choice,…
Ah, it’s that time of year again when love is in the air, Christmas is all around, preteens cover Mariah Carey and that guy from The Walking Dead declares his undying love for his best friend’s wife with what you either consider a grand romantic gesture or the behavior of a stalker in the movie,…
Today, we bring you a post from our Archives as we continue our Inside Harlequin series. Harlequin editor Carly Silver offers a breakdown on what happens at the line editing stage of a book. By this point, the book has had a substantive edit, to work out the big-picture kinks with characterization and plot development.…
Today on the blog we launch our Inside Harlequin series! We talk with Nic Caws, Associate Editor at Harlequin, about what a day in the life of an editor entails, what she looks for when acquiring a book, and what upcoming titles she’s particularly looking forward to! What does a typical day look like…
The romantic comedy is having a moment in film and television right now, and our romance editors are loving it! Earlier this fall the editors from all three Harlequin offices went to see Crazy Rich Asians. We were curious to see how a romcom would be updated and refreshed for the 2018 screen, and what…
by Patience Bloom On a somewhat regular basis, we’d like to discuss what we’re reading, watching, and talking about. In addition to To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, Crazy Rich Asians, and, okay, The West Wing (again), I am absorbed by The Bold Type and am trying to get friends in the office…
By Patience Bloom, Senior Editor, Harlequin Romantic Suspense What is a black moment? In a romance novel, the black moment occurs when the hero and heroine lose all hope in love. Their lives might be in danger, too, or another crisis might wrench them apart. But the main issue is that their happily-ever-after may not…
This week, we wanted to bring out one of our former colleagues Grace Thiele’s posts, one which gives you some excellent advice on how to intensify conflict! Perfect especially for those who are contemplating submitting to our #RomanceIncludesYou blitz! Good afternoon, turtle doves! Today I am feeling decidedly conflicted about London weather – relieved that it is…
If the clothes make the man, then characters make the story. If you don’t have fleshed-out, fully-realized, believable characters, you don’t have much of a book, no matter how earth-shatteringly great the prose may be. Just think of your favorite book from childhood or adolescence. Perhaps you were (still are) a great devourer of anything written by Jane…