When I sit down to write a romance, I’m rarely thinking first about the love story itself.

I’m thinking about belonging.

That quiet moment when someone realizes they don’t have to stand on the edges anymore. When a place begins to feel like home. When a relationship — romantic or otherwise — offers the safety of being fully seen and still welcomed.

I’m convinced every long-term relationship needs one thing:
A shared joke that never dies.

This month, mine arrived in the shape of a Mama clay quail with three babies. Each had turquoise swirls on their backs and their beaks and topknots looked almost… well… like tiny lumps that should not be on a bird.

In my first Romantic Fiction blog, I discussed how to write a book by beginning with an outline. After the outline comes the beat sheet. In any story, whether a movie script, play or book,  using a beat sheet keeps pacing on track. Pacing means the speed at which the story unfolds, the way the characters develop and most of all, the way the author builds tension moving toward the climax and conclusion. 

An Autumn Affection-The Apple Orchard Heir and the Music Teacher

Claire Monroe shook her head. Not one single music class in her new elementary school knew a thing about traditional mountain music. How had that happened? Having left her mountain home to teach in Richmond, Virginia, Claire had grown weary of the push and pull of city life. The Blue Ridge mountains beckoned, and she answered their call by gaining a position in the same elementary school she herself had once attended. 

The Ominous Outline

When I first decided to write a book, I thought an outline was the most boring and useless thing I could think of. My story unfolded as I wrote. The characters told me where they wanted to go. I was a “pantser.” I wrote by the seat of my pants. I didn’t need an outline. In fact, an outline would only get in the way.