Category Archives: Author

🐶 The Benefits of Adding Pets When Writing Romance Books 💖 #MondayBlogs #WritingCommunity

Featured

Posted on by
1

There’s something magical about a good romance book —the spark, the tension, the swoony happily-ever-after. But you know what makes it even better? A wagging tail, a judgy cat, or even a diva of a parrot chiming in at the wrong moment.

🐈 Whether it’s a loyal dog, a mischievous cat, or even a naughty hamster, animals can do more than create some comedy moments. Pets become catalysts for character development and drive your plot forward.

Here’s why adding pets to your romance books works:

  1. 🐾 Instant Relatability
    Most readers either have pets or have fond memories of them. Including a dog curled at a heroine’s feet or a cat demanding attention mid-conversation creates a moment of recognition. Those little details make your book’s world feel grounded and familiar.
  2. 🐶 Revealing Character Traits
    How a character interacts with an animal speaks volumes. A patient hero who adopts a rescue dog shows compassion. A heroine who spoils her cat reveals her nurturing side. Even a character who struggles with a pet can highlight flaws, growth arcs, or hidden softness beneath a prickly exterior.
  3. 🐈‍⬛ Natural Icebreakers and Plot Devices
    Pets can help two characters meet or reconnect—think of the classic “dog-walking encounter” in the park. They also create organic reasons for repeated interaction: pet-sitting, vet visits, or a runaway animal who keeps bringing two people together.
  4. 🦜Adding Humour and Lightness
    Romantic tension often benefits from levity. A cat knocking over a wine glass at the wrong moment, or a dog interrupting a kiss by jumping onto the couch, adds warmth and laughter without derailing the story.
  5. 🐕 Emotional Anchors
    Pets embody unconditional love. They can comfort characters through heartbreak, loneliness, or self-doubt, reflecting themes of loyalty and devotion. A pet’s presence often mirrors the growing bond between the romantic leads, offering a symbolic thread through the narrative.
  6. 🐱 Expanding the World
    Animals naturally expand a character’s circle. Dog parks, vet clinics, pet stores, or animal rescues all provide new backdrops and opportunities for character interaction, giving writers more variety in setting and pacing.
  7. 🐭 Building Reader Investment
    Readers often become just as attached to the fictional pet as they do to the main characters. That extra bond deepens emotional stakes, making the story more memorable and engaging.

    In romance, every detail matters—especially those that reveal heart. By weaving pets into the storyline, authors don’t just add charm; they enrich character depth, heighten emotional stakes, and create moments of humour and relatability that resonate long after the final page. 🐶🐾❤️

Here’s my latest book: The Christmas Dog Sitters – Humphrey the mischievous spaniel is the star of my book ❤️

Find out more about me and dog – click here for cute dog pics

💖 🚗 Writing the Perfect Commuter Romance: Turning Commuting into Love #mondayblogs

Featured

Posted on by
2

We’ve all been there — sitting on a train, bus, or on a busy tube, earbuds in, coffee in hand, watching two people exchange nervous smiles. Perhaps one tries to make interesting small talk or the other drops the book they’re reading, and they both reach down to pick it up. The romance author in me always wonders whether this is the start of a train, bus or tube love.

If you’ve ever wanted to write a romance that unfolds between the morning rush and the evening ride home, here’s how to make it work.

1. Make the Commute a Character

The setting is half the appeal of commuter romance. Whether your story takes place on a bustling city underground, a sleepy small-town bus or in the back of a pink mini, let the environment shape the story.

  • Use the sensory details — the hum of the tracks, the press of strangers, the smell of rain on pavement.
  • Let the commute set the rhythm — mornings can be hectic and filled with near-misses, while evening rides might be quieter, more reflective, and intimate.
  • Include the small rituals — favorite seats, missed connections, waiting for the right bus. These little moments can become emotional touchpoints for your characters.

2. Create Organic Encounters

The magic of commuter romance is that it feels like fate brought two people together. Avoid forced meet-cutes — instead, lean into the natural patterns of commuting:

  • Glances across the aisle that turn into smiles.
  • Shared frustrations when the train is delayed or the bus is too full.
  • Brief interactions that build over time — lending a pen, sharing an umbrella, swapping book recommendations.

This slow-burn format works beautifully because readers are invested in watching the relationship unfold in small, believable increments.

3. Play with Tension and Timing

A commute is inherently time-bound. Your characters only have a few minutes (or an hour at most) to interact before one of them gets off. Use this built-in constraint to your advantage:

  • Cliffhangers: One character is about to confess something… and then their stop comes.
  • Near-misses: One day, they don’t show up, and the other character has to grapple with how much that absence hurts.
  • Countdowns: Maybe one of them is moving to another city soon, giving their romance an urgent ticking clock.

This makes every interaction count — and keeps readers turning the pages.

4. Explore the Themes of Movement

Commuter romance isn’t just about getting from point A to point B. It’s about transformation.

  • The journey mirrors the character’s emotional growth.
  • The daily routine becomes a metaphor for breaking out of a rut.
  • Love literally takes them somewhere new.

Whether your characters are finding love while stuck in traffic or riding a high-speed train, their emotional arcs should mirror the motion of the world around them.

5. Don’t Forget the Destination

Eventually, your characters have to leave the train (literally or figuratively). A satisfying commuter romance shows what happens when their relationship steps off the platform and enters real life.

Do they keep seeing each other outside of the commute? Do they decide to make a big change — move, switch jobs, take a leap of faith? Your ending should feel like a reward for all those quiet moments spent sitting side by side.

Here’s my commuter romance: The Car Share

The Car Share

Embark on a heartwarming journey in this romantic comedy that proves it doesn’t matter where you’re going—it’s who you have beside you on the way . . .

After Lia’s old car breathes its last, the single mom must reluctantly take the bus to work . . . and face unwarranted attention from a troublesome teenager. It’s all too much to take—she’s been depressed since her fiancé’s death and even quit her beloved women’s football team. But it’s Happy Car Sharers to the rescue after her friends get her set up on the app.


Mateo, meanwhile, has recently moved to town, and his long walk to the train station is a literal pain due to an ankle injury. Soon he and Lia are riding each morning with a charmingly bossy driver and a rotation of colorful fellow passengers.


It’s not love at first sight. Technically it’s not even first sight: they’ve seen each other before at the nursing home where both their fathers live and Mateo plays piano for the residents. But with each trip they get to know each other better . . . and the more they know, the more they find to like.


With both of them consumed by personal losses and pressing family responsibilities—and another man getting in the way—can romance lie on the road ahead for these commuting companions?

The Car Share is a humorous exploration of love, loss, and the unexpected detours that lead us to where we truly belong.

🦋 What Taylor Swift Can Teach Writers About Symbolism

Featured

Posted on by
2

Help – I have fallen down the rabbit hole of symbolism in writing! Last week’s post on the symbolism of doors sparked something within me.

I wouldn’t say I was a Swiftie with regards Taylor Smith but I do have an appreciation of her music especially her albums; Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department. Both of these albums contain songs which are forever playing on my playlists.

I do think Taylor Swift is more than a singer / songwriter. To me she’s a master storyteller. The way she uses objects, colors, numbers, and repeating motifs to make her songs come alive, boggles my fiction writing mind.

When it comes to symbolism I think we can learn a lot from Taylor Swift:

Signature symbol. I love how the number 13 follows her across her albums, eras and performances. The number 13 needed Taylor Swift to take it under her wing as up until she came along it didn’t have great street cred. What can we learn from this? Give your protagonist or story a recurring object, number, or phrase that becomes uniquely tied to them. This could be a piece of jewelry, a meaningful song lyric, or even a personal superstition that appears at key moments.

Use of colours. I love how each album has a distinct colour palette and there is always meaning behind it. Her album, Lover, is bathed in a soft pastel pink which represents love and warmth. Grey and neutrals for her album, Folklore, to me were about nostalgia and Midnights was dark blue and lavender signifying introspection and mystery.

Small objects carry big meaning. This is my favourite part. Taylor does this very well. She gives small object so much emotional weight. Here are a few examples:

A scarf becomes a symbol of love and loss (All too well).

A mirrorball represents fragility and self-reflection (Mirrorball).

A cardigan is comfort and memory wrapped in one (Cardigan).

What can we use from this? Pick one or two objects in your story and let them evolve with your characters. Maybe a chipped mug follows your character from their old life into their new one, symbolizing what they carry with them.

Symbolism turns Taylor’s songs into things that linger in your mind long after they have stopped playing. It gives her songs a narrative emotional texture — that extra layer that makes listeners pause and say, “Ohhh, I get it.”

We can learn from her.

Things I am learning from Taylor Swift:

Choose one object, one color, and one repeated idea.

Plant them early in my story.

Letting them grow in meaning as my characters change.

I can’t leave this post without giving you my top 5 Taylor Swift songs:

  1. Mastermind (Midnights)
  2. So, Long London (TTPD)
  3. Look what you made me do (Reputation)
  4. My tears ricochet (Folklore)
  5. The Prophecy (TTPD)

Would love to hear your thoughts and your top 5 Taylor Swift songs 🦋

🎤 ❤️

If you want to know more about me click here

📝 10 Things That Helped Me Revise My Draft Novel

Featured

Posted on by
1

On Friday, I finished revising my latest draft novel. I think this novel has added a few more grey hairs and definitely a new wrinkle or two. I have now sent it to someone important (will tell you more in September – high-pitched squeal), and I can start writing my next book, which is desperate to get my attention.

I wanted to document the things that have helped me get through the revision of my draft novel, because it hasn’t been easy and I need some sympathy….

This book was planned out last year, and I wrote a messy short first draft last year. I rewrote it in April and May. So, the revision I have just done is the third draft.

  1. Feedback. I used a professional novel critique service (Elspells), which is one I have used before. There was a cost, but I trust Ellie, and even though her feedback was painful at times, I know she wants to see my draft novel improve and be the best version it can be.
  2. Post Feedback Emotional Breakdown. This was needed. I had to grieve for the old version of my draft novel, and I had to say goodbye to a character and a few storylines. For this, I needed a box of tissues, chocolate and my dog to hug me.
  3. Pocket Notebook. I found that new ideas for my revision didn’t come to me when I was sitting at my desk. They arrived while I was on the train, the bus or in the car. They appeared in the supermarket or shopping for clothes, and at the coffee machine at work. Carrying this notebook around with me has been useful.
  4. Shelved Novels. I have written 12 complete novels, and I have 6 half-finished, shelved novels. Only 5 of the 12 have been published, so I have a lot of characters, plots, and settings that didn’t work the first time but could be extracted and used in this new book. So, I went on a scavenger hunt through my old files.
  5. Junk Journalling. When I wasn’t writing, I was junk journalling, and this has proved useful as it is a great stress reliever for me. I think my brain needs a few creative outlets to work on. There is something magical about sitting down with glue, journal material, stickers, scraps of junk, and a blank journal.
  6. Kitchen dancing. Dancing whilst revising is a must. The kitchen at night became my dance floor, and let me tell you – I got creative with my arms and legs! A clap combined with a high leg kick is good for writer’s block. Just be careful you have no hot pans on the stove.
  7. Painful changes first. I worked on the painful modifications first. It was tough.
  8. Spreadsheet. I set up a revision spreadsheet, listed all my changes and ticked them off as I went.
  9. Red lipstick. I wore red lipstick as I made the big changes, like removing characters. It’s a power move.
  10. Read a different genre. I switched to non-fiction books while I was revising. I find that if you read the same genre you will find the book you are reading appearing on the page.

Revising your draft novel is tough, and it is a long, dark tunnel but you must keep moving.

Never lose hope and keep writing.

Learn more about me here

📚 10 Lessons I Learnt With 5 Published Books

Featured

Posted on by
2

Back in 2017, I decided to write my first full-length romance novel. Before this, I had written a dodgy space rom-com and a romance series, which was written via thirty-four weekly blog posts, called The Diary of Roxy Collins. One day I must turn her into a book.

The thought of being published back then felt like a pipe dream. It was something that happened to other people, not to someone like me.

After much daydreaming and procrastination, I had to set aside the dream of being published and focus on learning how to write a romance novel. This book would become “Instructions for Falling in Love Again.”

My first book was published in 2023 with Bloodhound books.

Here I am today, with five published books behind me, and I am ready to share the lessons I have learnt.

  1. Every book teaches you something different. It could be plot, character, setting or something about yourself. Book ideas don’t always come to you because they are meant to be turned into books. Most ideas come to teach you something.
  2. Every book will break you in some way. It’s true. They will either break you emotionally or mentally. At some point you will want to lie down by your desk, curl up in a ball and weep. Every book of mine has done this to me. Some break me at first draft stage, some second draft however most break me when I have to make harsh changes like deleting characters, large chunks of my plot and my book no longer feels like the one I first wrote.
  3. Editors are wonderful people. They are the unsung heroes of the book world,
  4. A book is never finished. I still think about my 5 books and what I would do to improve them.
  5. Promoting books never gets easier. To be an author you have to find new ways of promoting your book and you will have to be okay when your carefully crafted social media posts don’t perform.
  6. Reading is your rocket fuel. If you can’t write – read!
  7. Writer’s block is more likely to be due to tiredness/exhaustion/stress/burnout. Always try resting or taking a break first before you try and alleviate your writer’s block.
  8. Honest beta readers are invaluable. If you can find honest beta readers you are onto something good.
  9. Rejection never goes away. This is true. Rejection still happens even when you are an established author.
  10. Conflict. It’s all about the conflict. This is the secret sauce for any book. If you want to write a good book – add a good spoonful of conflict,

And I still feel like a beginner when it comes to writing a book 🤣

Learn more about me here

💖 Love, Lost and Found: Mastering the Second Chance Romance Plot

Posted on by
8

This blog post is going to help my writer brain focus on one of my current projects. I do hope someone else out there writing a second chance romance finds it useful.

Second chance romance is one of my favourite romance tropes. I could read these stories all day.

One of my current projects focuses on a second chance romance so I could really do with going back to basics with the trope in order to revise my story.

Below I have come up with a list of all the things to consider when writing a second chance romance.

How did they initially connect?

Were they childhood sweethearts? Maybe they met at work?

The secret here is readers need to see and feel how good that connection was between these two beautiful characters. This breathtaking romance has to be unforgettable for both readers and the characters.

Why did they split up? What made them walk away from each other? Were they too young? Was it a case of bad timing or did one hurt the other? What broke them?

Readers need to understand what made these characters go blubber into a box of Kleenex, wedge chocolate into their mouth and go for long solitary walks in the rain.

What personal growth have they experienced? What has life taught them in the years they were apart? What did other relationships teach them? Have they thought about why they have never connected with anyone on the same romantic level as they did with each other?

What made them want to give their relationship another chance? Why can’t they disentangle from each other’s lives? What has made them come together again? Why salvage a broken relationship?

The reader must understand and agree with these decisions. There must also be that old connection and the chemistry.

What stuff have they overcome? Have they resolved the old conflict? Readers need to see how these two characters might have had different priorities that caused their breakup. But now that those priorities have changed, so, maybe there is still a chance for them to work it out. It could also be a case of these two characters making mistakes and generally causing an emotional mess.

The reader needs to believe these two have changed for the better.

Here’s my second chance romance which got published:

Second chances at the Little Love Cafe

It’s never too late to try again… 💕

‘Must read summer book’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘A fantastic uplifting read that takes you direct to the cute Little Love Cafe.’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Click here for more