The Insufferable Writer’s Podcast Episode #3: Creating the Perfect Writing Space, Romance Sub-Genres, and A Sort of Book Review
In the third episode of the Insufferable Writer’s Podcast, I discuss how to set up your perfect writing space for maximum creativity. Then I discuss the most popular subgenres of romantic fiction, and I finish the podcast with a mini book review of In Her Hands by Adriana Anders.
Where to Listen:
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Show Notes from Episode #3:
Spotify Quarantine Stories Playlist
The Yankee Widow– by Linda Lael Miller -Historical Romance. Note* The description of this book given in the podcast is incorrect*
Where The Lost Wander by Amy Harmon – Historical Romance Mentioned in the Podcast about the wagon train.
Fat Tuesday by Sandra Brown- Contemporary Romance
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren- Contemporary Romance
Make Me by Beth Kerry- Erotic Romance
The Breathless Trilogy by Maya Banks- Erotic Romance
Neon Gods– by Katee Robert- Paranormal Romance
The Red by Tiffany Reisz- Paranormal Romance
The Ghostwalker Series by Christine Feehan- Paranormal Romance
The SeaHaven Series by Christine Feehan- Paranormal Romance
In His Hands– Book #3 in the BLANK CANVAS SERIES* Series by Adriana Anders
Verity by Colleen Hoover- Book Review Mini
Transcript of Episode #3:Creating the Perfect Writing Space, Romance Sub-Genres, and A Sort of Book Review
Please note: this transcript was generated using A.I. so it will NOT be completely accurate.
Podcast Episode #3: 4/26/2022
Hello, and welcome back to the insufferable writers podcast. I’m your host and self-professed and sufferable writer, Jackie Thomas. In episode three. Today, we’re going to discuss. Writing space or a writer’s writing space and why it’s important and why it matters. We’re also going to discuss the genres of romance.
Not all romance is created equal, lots of different stories and types of stories to tell. And then we’re going, I’m going to give kind of, sort of a book review. I know that sounds crazy, but I’m two thirds of the way through, in his hands by Adriana Anders, which was the third book in the under her skin series.
Really good. So far wanted to share my thoughts about that and maybe think about what I’m going to read. So let’s kick off about writing space, because I feel like this is the most basic, jumping off point for an insufferable writer. If I’m going to talk about being an insufferable writer.
Like it’s the actual writing. So where do you write? And I think a writing spaces is as unique to a writer as the words that they write. And that is probably the most insufferable sentence I’ve ever uttered in my entire life. But with that being said, um, I want to, just to describe kind of my journey in defining my writing space and how I’ve learned, what works for me and what doesn’t work for me.
And. Discuss the different kinds of writing spaces out there and the different options for writing spaces and maybe, help somebody out there who’s struggling and setting up their own space or, you know, go, oh, well, that really works. Or no, that definitely doesn’t work. So my writing space , is a space that has really sort of come together over time.
And I imagine it’s probably for anybody who’s been writing for a little bit of time, it’s probably very similar. , it’s evolved. Into what it is today. And it’s a space that I love and it’s a space that I feel like I can be very creative in which I’m so thankful for. , when my husband and I bought our house, , one of the selling points of the house was there was this big empty room in the house.
And my husband, who is a writer himself, ,said from the get-go like that is going to be a library in our house, which is insane because. Who has a library in their house, but we are very blessed or lucky or however you want to look at it that we found a house with a space for a library. So the room that I’m recording in right now, , and my defacto office, since I, I work currently work from home, is my library.
And I’ve always written in this room. It’s always been a spot where I’ve kept a desk. And when I started writing, in this room, I had to secondhand tables and, I had a computer and. I honestly, I didn’t think about writing space creativity and lighting and sound and all of those good things.
Like there was no time when I started writing and I know I’ve shared this before, but, and I’ve definitely shared it on the blog, but the first book I ever sat down and wrote like romance novel, like I wrote it in a week with a cold, I even wrote some of it in bed, on my laptop. Like it came screaming out of me and there was no stopping and there was no.
Time for like, thinking about creative process or any of that stuff. So fast forward I wrote the first book and then I always like from then on, I’ve always been writing and, and as a writer who is continuing to write and continuing to create what that space has looked like over time has changed. You know, I remember like, Uh, I think the second novel I wrote, I did a NaNoWriMo, which if you’re not familiar with it, it’s national novel writing month.
And it happens in the month of November and my husband and my sister, um, both have done it successfully several times. And they said, Jackie, you really should get in on this. And I, I wasn’t sure, but, so I. Oh, okay. All right. I’ll I’ll do it. So the second novel I wrote, I participated in NaNoWriMo and they have, um, like writer, meetups, local chapters that get together and support each other.
Talk about plot and all of that. And, and so, , Is insufferable and cliche, as it sounds, of course it has to be in a coffee shop. So I went to a couple of the meetups in the coffee shops in the area and kind of wrote publicly with my laptop. And I found it to be very distracting and at least for me, and there’s no judgment if it works for other people, Hey, if it works for.
Run with it. But for me, I, it just felt a little cliche to be like that writer with a laptop in a coffee shop. But I get that for some, this really works, but like I said, it was, you know, hearing dishes, clinking, and people laughing and coming and going. Like, I just like, I could not focus, but, It’s funny about like kind of, I talk a lot about sense of place in the blog.
Um, but I actually started that project in a coffee shop and I, for some reason it felt very important to me to sit in the same spot. I started the book to finish it in the same spot. So I actually finished it in the coffee shop, but, Other than that, I think the following year, when I did NaNoWriMo the next time, I tried to start it again in a coffee shop and I mean, I did.
Okay. It was a different coffee shop this time, a little smaller, a little quieter. Very good coffee. , unfortunately. They’re not around anymore, which they were because actually that spot kind of works, but only because it is a little quieter. Um, so yeah, I didn’t, you know, not a public writer. I I’m, it’s not like some, I’m not ashamed of it.
It’s not something to be done in private, but I just have a really difficult time in, writing is somewhere that’s loud. So I realized that. Like fast forward a couple of years and I was still writing and, I had just, Taking a job where I was going to be working from home. And I invested in a desk.
I bought a beautiful desk, which I could not afford at the time, but it has served me so well. And it matches the bookshelves in the library. And funny story, like trying to get this desk home. Um, I bought a car. I bought, I drive a wagon and. You know, I thought like everything would fit in the back of this vehicle, but nothing fits in the back of this vehicle.
So like I went and like it’s a higher end desk. So I went and picked up the desk because being typical, impatient me, I had to have it right away. I didn’t want to wait for it to be delivered. So I went and picked up this desk and drove like, I don’t know, 70 miles with the trunk or the hatch tied down because it didn’t fit in the back of the.
Car, but it didn’t make it here in one piece. And I was absolutely thrilled to have it. And I’m actually sitting at the desk now. I work at it, which poses its own challenges, like working in a space and then trying to be creative in a space. And that’s something that I’ve struggled with, since working from home and I’m sure, lots of fellow writers can relate with, you know, w word being virtual and that sort of thing.
Over time. I’ve, I’ve learned some things that work for me. And some things that don’t work for me, I should say. , I I’m a private writer. I like a private space. I don’t like to write when, you know, with others or near others. And, Very very recently, I was actually gifted a set of French doors to the entrance, to my library, which sounds like again, super bougie, most insufferable thing ever.
But, um, it’s not, I wanted to set a doors for like, Since we’ve moved in the house like six or seven years. So I’m just literally about two months ago, I was gifted a set of doors, which is fantastic. I can shut the doors and it can be private. And it’s wonderful. And I, I have a sign on my door, so that my family has learned if the sign is on the door chances are, I’m either taking a conference call for work or hopefully I’m writing.
And so they’ve been pretty good about honoring the sign on the door, which is great. Yeah, it’s, it’s definitely allowed me to shut away and focus my thoughts. And, um, just when I remove myself, , I find that my thoughts flow much easier and, more seamlessly. So. Which kind of brings me to my next point about your writing spaces noise.
I know that some people, again, some people thrive with noise, like thrive writing in a coffee shop, or, you know, need total silence. I’m I’m a music listener. I need music when I write. And I do mean need music. Like I do not write very well in total silence. I, it’s a little silly, but, as I write romance, you know, every couple has a song and for just about every project I’ve completed, There’s a song that accompanies the book.
, so, and it’s been varied. It’s been like Kings of Leon or edit James or some instrumental music or it’s just, it’s been, you know, I feel like again, warning and sufferable moment coming here, but I feel like the project itself speaks to the type of music that. The music influences the book, the book influences the music.
It’s like it’s symbiotic. It, it just, it works. Like I said, I have to have music when I write and my music choices again are very varied. when, when I’m writing, depending on the project, am I writing a di a dramatic scene? Am I writing a love scene?
And I feel like the music I choose for a project sets the tone for the project as well, which is nice. It, it has that music kind of helps keep me on track too. I don’t share my writing playlists with the exception of quarantine stories. I do have a playlist on Spotify for quarantine stories.
And if you’re not familiar with what that is, , at the beginning of the Panda. In early spring of 2020, I wondered what a loves stories look like in lockdown, in the era of COVID what, like, how do people meet and people who’ve already met, like, but can’t be together because at the time, you know, if you were a healthcare worker, you, you know, people were camping in their backyards.
If you were healthcare workers to not come in the house and get family sick and you know, or if you were. You know, in a long distance relationship, like how did that work? Or if you hadn’t met somebody and wanted to meet somebody, like, do you start dating virtually what is virtual dating look like? And so these were all things like creatively.
I was like, pondering, like, how does this work? And so I came up with the idea of, of quarantine stories and I wrote 20 short stories in a. 20 days or about a month. So it was like March 20, 20 to April, 2020. And I wrote love stories set during the beginning of the pandemic. And it was, uh, it stretched me incredibly as a writer to be able to turn around and turn out those stories like every day.
Yeah, I had music and, and each, I think there were 20 songs on the playlist. Like each story has a song and you know, it was fun. It was fun to publish the playlist because it went very well with the, with the book and. If you’re interested in reading quarantine stories. I, it, they are available on Amazon.
I learned a lot with that project too, like self-publishing, and maybe I’ll talk about that another time, but. Yeah. So music is coming back around. Music is such a big part of, of my writing and it is such a big part of my writing space.
The project that I had mentioned in the last podcast, a new piece that I had started was actually inspired by a song. Um, it’s inspired by, uh, the song, Claire and Eddie from Kings of Leon, I think. Um, yes, it’s Kings of Leon, uh, and. , it was just like this spark of creativity, imagination, like the song set off my mind, thinking about the characters and the song and, and the book.
Isn’t the characters in the song. But it, I think that it borrows generously, um, from, from kind of the scene that is set in the song. So coming full circle, I have to have a way for my writing space to be successful, to listen to music. I’m very lucky that I have a room to my own, to write in. But if I didn’t, and there’ve been times where, you know, either my husband’s needed this room for something he’s doing, or for whatever reason, I, you know, in a pinch, I find that a good set of headphones are worth investing in, headphones or earbuds or AirPods, or, you know, however you prefer to listen to music.
But I find that. Especially if I’m somewhere that I’m very busy. If I pop on a set of headphones, it’s like an instant room for me. And it’s like a, I’m like cocooned in that sound and I can, I can focus and I can write ironically, the exception to the rule to writing publicly. As long as I have headphones is an airplane.
, don’t ask me why. Like, I don’t know why I can write in a confined space very well with 300 other people, but I do write very well on an airplane. I pop my headphones on and maybe because it, you know, there isn’t all the distraction from the outside world and that kind of, I don’t know, it just works, but, and it works exceptionally well, but I obviously.
Can’t always be flying to. Right. So in a pinch, I do recommend a good set of headphones or however you prefer to listen to music. Um, if you do prefer to listen to music while you write, I find that , for me it works very well. Yeah. So. So now that, you know, I’ve got my space, I’m closed off. I’m away when I can be in that, you know, I’m out of the way of other people.
, and so I’ve got a door, I’ve got my room, you know, I’ve got my music going, and like you said, that it’s varied based on what I’m writing next comes the lighting, which. If you’re not a writer, like I don’t blame you for rolling your eyes at this point. I’m a writer and I’m almost rolling my eyes, but I swear to you, the, the lighting makes a difference.
I write very best if it’s dark outside and I’ve got just my desk lamp on again, it creates this feeling of intimacy, this feeling of not necessarily privacy, but it just. I dunno, I feel like I’m on an island. If that makes any sense, like, I I’m completely shut away and I write very, very well. And now granted, I, I choose to write on a computer.
I know there are lots of people who write in lots of different ways, but for me, it’s, it’s getting it into the computer. It works for me. I re more recently, after working from home working remotely for about two years, I finally did invest in some, in some good lighting for the library, , and for my office and for my writing space.
And I really did keep that in mind while I was shopping for, shopping for lighting. I, you know, I know others like. Loved to sit in the sun and write and don’t get me wrong. Like I adore sitting in the sun when it is lovely and warm outside, but I don’t write very well in that setting again, maybe because it’s outside.
I don’t know if it’s. Or I’m too warm. I don’t know. But it just, it doesn’t work. So, you know, task lighting, I would imagine, um, probably for most,, I mean, if you’re not writing on a computer, you absolutely need good lighting because how else are you going to see what you’re writing?
So for me, very little lighting works, works really well in my writing space and task lighting works exceptionally well. it just creates an intimate space, which is great. Next comes. I, and I just hinted at it a little bit. How are you writing? What are you writing on?
Where are you capturing? What you’re writing? I have seen, I cannot tell you how many memes I’ve seen about writers and notebooks. And I, you know, you have those who are really passionate about a typewriter. You’ve got the computer. I mean, I, I think there are a million. To write, to write and to capture your ideas.
And I think that for me, it’s, it’s gotta be a computer. I am not organized enough to keep it on paper. I’ll just be honest writing something like physically writing it on paper is just incredibly too slow for me , and I do like writing on my computer. , I, again, I’m, I’m very lucky.
I have a desktop and I have a laptop and I, you know, sometimes I have to take my writing with me if I’m out of town. And I just, I like that, with, services like Dropbox or Scrivener or even word, um, Google docs, there are ways to, you know, pick up writing where you left off, where you don’t have to physically be at one time.
I’ve never entertained writing on a typewriter, if I’m perfectly honest, , I’m, I’m dyslexic. And so, , I’m a terrible, terrible speller, but I’ve learned and tried my very best to overcome this and, looked at lots of different editing software and that kind of thing to catch those mistakes. And so.
Like the idea of doing it on a typewriter. Like I would, single-handedly like raise the quarter’s profits for the whiteout company, because it would just be a hot mess. Like, I, I love the sound of the typewriter and I know that there are purists out there who are all about it. And if it, you know, with, with all of this being said with writing space, like if you found something that works for you by all means run with it.
And I really do, like, I feel for the. Um, writers out there who do write really well, like in a coffee shop and then coffee shops have been closed. I mean, they’re, they’ve been open for a little while now, at least in the part of the country that I’m in. But gosh, I could only imagine if, you know, if you’re a very public writer, if you like the noise and you like writing in public and then suddenly you can’t do that, that’s gotta be incredibly difficult.
But yeah. So again, you know, I write, I write on a computer. I’ve traditionally I write in Scribner. They do make the, they do make it for apple and for, I believe they do make it for, windows as well. It is a awesome tool to write in. I absolutely love Scrivener. It breaks things down by chapter. It, it has distraction free writing mode.
, I love Scribner. Sing its praises highly enough. The current project I’m working on though. And I haven’t done it in a very long time. I’m writing in word. Don’t ask me why I’m writing in word. Well, okay. Let’s be honest. I’m writing in word this time for the current project I’m working on because I felt like.
As I shared in my last podcast, like I would hit that 10,000 word mark in a project and then suddenly the muse or the inspiration or the drive or whatever you want to call. It was like gone and I was dead in the water. And so this time around writing this project and word, it just felt like, oh, just add a little more, just add a little more.
Like I wasn’t necessarily starting a new chapter. Although when I do sit down to write, I do try and write a full chapter at a time, if I can, unless it’s a, you know, a love scene or it’s a really tense scene, sometimes I’ll break a chapter down and be like, just get this, let’s say love scene down on paper.
Um, and that, that works. But for this time around, you know, I’m writing in word, , it’s got. Bonuses and that it didn’t feel, it felt easier to kind of get past that 10,000 word mark as I wasn’t like starting a new chapter every time. Like I wasn’t visually seeing myself start a new chapter, like I would be in Scribner.
, but I still wrote with my, you know, do a whole chapter. Uh, kind of ethos when I write. But it, you know, it, it has its drawbacks too, like finding the chapter where I left off. Like, I mean, I always do a page break after a chapter, and I give a chapter a heading, but still it’s no, I, you know, I could, I could go on a long time about different writers.
Uh, spots to write on a computer and I won’t bore you about it, but there are a lot of different ways. And I know there are a lot of great products out there for writers, but, I’m not like getting paid or anything to promote any one program over another, but I would definitely say if you have not had a chance to check out Scrivener, definitely, definitely do yourself a favor.
Give, give it a look. I’ve been using it for more than five years now. And I will say that I’ve probably only scratched the surface of the things that it can actually do. Uh, it is comprehensive and it’s, you can tell that, you know, when it was developed that it really was developed with creativity and writing in mind, it wasn’t a different platform that it was like, oh, well, I guess we can kind of make this a writing platform.
No Scribner was made specifically for writers, , and lots of different writers like they do, what is it? Fiction, nonfiction and script format, which is pretty cool. So it’s pretty comprehensive and I really do like it. So kind of coming full circle to my writing space, , that is literally the spot where my words are captured.
I did speak a little bit about. You know, like the physical furniture. , I shared a little bit about my desk, and , how my desk came into being, , and it really wasn’t until, , I became a remote worker that I did invest in my space more. I bought myself a really good office chair.
That’s comfortable, , Although I worked best in this space. I didn’t want to sell them. Like I can only work in this space. I can work at a lot of different spaces, but I also recognize where I’m most successful. And so I, invest in a really good chair , something that you can sit in for a long time.
I mean, there have been. Times where I’ve spent a whole weekend writing or a whole night writing , I also have a standing desk. I find that if I’ve got to get through a really tense scene or a scene where I really, really have to concentrate, like, let’s say a love scene, like concentration for writing a love scene, at least for me, like I have to be incredibly in the.
Incredibly focused. When I’m writing a love scene, you’ve got to pay attention to where hands are and feed and, you know, body parts are, and that kind of thing, you know, you want to make sure to somebody, it doesn’t sound like somebody has grown a third arm or something, you know? So I have to be very focused in doing that.
And so sometimes that requires. I said, or stand for an extended period of time, but additionally, like what other furniture do I have in my writing space? I do have a big chair. , I can’t remember who said it and I apologize for that, but I think somebody said you right at the desk and you edit on the couch or you.
In the, in a big chair or something like that saying you don’t edit where you write. And I found this to be exceptionally true when I try and edit where I write, I end up writing more than I’m editing. So. I have a spot where I can sit and read what I’ve written, when it’s time to edit and I can go back through.
And I think that’s, for me, I’m very lucky that I’ve got the space to do that. Again. I have a light next to that chair. So if I want to create a very intimate environment, I can do that to, read. For the first time ever, just a couple of weeks ago, I actually sat in the big comfy chair and wrote, it was very comfortable, but until I got up and then my back was like, why did you sit here for a couple of hours with no support?
, won’t make that mistake again, but you live, you learn. , I’m in a library, so I’m surrounded by bookshelves and books, thousands of books. And I’m not kidding. It really is thousands of books, but, and to me, there’s something very, very special about that. Again, You’re listening to the insufferable writers podcast.
So I’m going to be totally insufferable here for a moment, but it feels like, you know, every book that is sitting on the shelf in my library, as someone who took the time to share their ideas, to tell a story, to put the words down on paper, if I’ve bought the book, You know, I would say like 98% of what I have in my, in my library physically have in my library has been traditionally published.
Those authors have went through that process that I’m striving to go through. And it just feels like, kind of like I have this vision of kind of like running a marathon, right. It publishing is running a marathon and the. The books on my bookshelf are those authors who have made it to the finish line.
And those who are cheering you on saying, come on, keep going. You can, you can, you know, you can do it. And so in a lot of ways, , the space is very encouraging to me and it pushes me forward in my writing. And it’s like, okay, well, All of these folks, these brilliant people can do this. I’m not saying I’m brilliant, but if all of these people can do it, you can do it too.
Just keep writing. So all in all, that’s my writing space. I know that a writing space is just as unique, , as the words, the writer puts on the page , but I just wanted to share what works with me or works for me, I should say. And what doesn’t work. I hope you’re have the opportunity to make a writing space of your own, play around, find what works, you know, and embrace it and, and be able to step away from what doesn’t work. And for those of you who are public writers, I, you know, I’m so glad that things are open for you guys again, and you can get out there and you can write publicly and in a space that makes you creative and happy.
So moving on, I wanted to talk about. , genres of adult romance, because I think that, you know, if you’re not a romance reader, and I, I write romance, it just has this like cliche of like, oh, the kissing books or, oh, the dirty books, or I don’t know, it just. There are so many different types and genres, sub genres within romance.
And so I just wanted to take a little bit of time to, so if you’re not familiar with the genre itself or the sub genres like romance is having its most. And I know, I think I shared in the last podcast, I think it was last year or the year before romance was the top selling genre, including sub genre, um, in American publishing.
And so when I say romance is having its moment is really having its moment. And so I think it is awesome that there are lots of different types of romance out there. And. Again, I just wanted to kind of talk about what these are and, , if I can give an example, I will. And if I can’t, well, I probably don’t read that John rub, but, or sub-genre I should say, but yeah.
So the first one is historical romance, and I like to think of this one as. And I mean, it kindly as the bodice busters, , you know, this is like, , when I was a girl, my grandmother had a collection of romance novels, and it was always like this guy in a big flowy shirt, you know, with a woman dressed in a ball gown or something like that.
And, , he had come to rescue her and, so that’s kind of this cliche that I had of historical romance and. Upfront, like it is not my preferred sub genre to read. It’s not that I haven’t read it. I think. It’s a different time, you know, with gender roles and that kind of thing. It’s, it’s just not my cup of tea, but, that’s not to say that I dislike all historical romance.
I’ve just not found a historical romance that I’ve read that I’ve actually loved. Oh, wait, actually I take that back. I did read a historical romance that I adored. The last historical romance that I w that I read and I loved, I believe was called the Yankee widow, I’ll have to put the show, put it in the show notes but it was set during a wagon train across the us and. So good could not put it down although it’s set in the past, you know, when I tend to think about historical romances, tend to think more like, you know, bridge curtain or something set in Regency or something set like more than 200 years in the past, but it doesn’t have to be that.
So then, You have contemporary romance, which contemporary romance or books that take place now. And a lot of romance could be classified as contemporary romance. So dramatic romance, Saifai erotic romance, paranormal romance, romantic comedy, like all of those. Fit under the, uh, or I should say most of them could fit under the, the sub genre heading of contemporary romance.
I write contemporary romance and I’ll be honest. I write contemporary romance because writing historical romance. It seems really, really hard. There’s a lot of research there. You want to have your facts pretty close, you know, especially if you’re writing about historical events, you want to have it, right.
So I don’t write historical romance, my hats off to those of you who do, and those of you who do it very well. Like Bravo. So contemporary romance is any romance that takes place now, , in the present day.
And there are tons of great contemporary romances, , uh, gosh, most of the bookshelf books, if they’re not historical and they’re not Saifai they’re contemporary. So I’m just trying to think, like maybe Sandra, Sandra Brown’s books, Christina Lauren’s books, , those would be considered contemporary romances.
Like I said most, most books that I see on the bookshelves at my local booksellers are actually contemporary romance unless they’re historical romance. Next is romantic comedy, pretty self explanatory and romantic comedy out of all the sub genres of romance is the highest selling. Sub-genre of romance and, and, and definitely leads the pack.
I mean, there is not a shortage of romantic comedy out there. I don’t write romantic comedy. I’m not that funny. I can admit it. I have so much respect for those writers out there who can tell a whole story and be funny, or be charming. Romantic comedies tend to be a little more sweet. , And I kind of shared my thoughts about this last in the last podcast for me, love is love, can be sweet, but it’s also scary and dramatic and can be very tense.
I’ve tried so, so hard to really get into romantic comedy and, I have such respect for romantic comedy writers. I think that usually you can tell what is a romantic comedy just by looking at the bookshelf. It’s usually has like a cartoonish cover on the front.
Tends to be a little cute looking sweet. And I’m not using any of these terms in a derogatory way at all. Because I understand. And completely respect that there’s an audience for this, or it wouldn’t be the top selling sub genre. , so we’ll just move on. Uh, you have a Roddick romance and this is like your 50 shades of gray.
, let me think. My, a banks does a lot of erotic romance and these are like, , they’re definitely adult they’re graphic sex scenes in these books. They are so much fun to read. , there’s nothing like a good steamy book. , I was going to say on the beach, but let’s be honest.
There’s nothing like a good steamy book whenever, because they’re fantastic., if you haven’t picked one of these up, and you are a romance reader, I highly recommend it. I will say, you know, not all Roddick romance is created equal as far as, you know, the writing goes, I know.
Different people read different things for different reasons and don’t get me wrong. I love a good CME romance, but the story has got to be there too. And there have been some writers where holy cow, like this book should be called wrapped in brown paper. I’m not really, I’m joking. Like the story is not there.
Like the sex scenes are super hot and super entertaining, but like the rest of the story fall short for me. But then there were other, um, books where the story is absolutely fantastic. And. The love scenes are hot as hell. And like, that is awesome , like I said, I’m not going to name names in this genre, but there are definitely some that do it well, and then there are some, in my opinion, who don’t do it very well, no pun intended there,
The next sub-genre is paranormal romance or science fiction romance. This one I’m not super familiar with. I know I’m if you follow, romance, neon gods was a big one. Was that last year or the year before. , I’ll have to put the book in the show notes. And in fact, I’ll try and put a list of the books that I’ve liked in each genre.
In the show notes. So that they’re, that they’re there. So paranormal romance. I’ve not read a whole lot of this genre at all. , I know that, you know, things with, um, psychics or there’s a lot of like psychics in romance, like, you know, the gift of sight or, that sort of thing.
Uh, vampire. Aliens werewolves, like this would kind of fall under paranormal romance. The first romance books that I ever read, um, called the ghost Walker series. Loved loved, loved, loved these books. Um, again, I’ll put a link in the show notes to them, , it’s a group of psychics who are, genetically predisposed through weird experiment, like government experiment to fall in love with each other.
And, they have psychic abilities in the later books in the series. They’re human DNA has been melded with, you know, different types of animal DNA to kind of make them super soldiers. And, yeah, it’s a little bit of a leap, but. It’s been really fun to, to read. There’s a series, about a bunch of sisters who live on, on the west coast and they’re witches and psychics. And that, that series was absolutely a blast to read. Very of the paranormal element, but also they’re very dramatic books and I really, really loved them last but not least what I hold nearest and dearest to my own heart is romantic suspense.
And so this can be anywhere from a romantic thriller it’s the genre I write in , where it’s high stakes. It keeps the reader at the edge of their seat.
I’m either, you know, you’re, solving a mystery in the book. It’s , things are not. That’s a whole, like, things are not, they’re not sweet. They’re not funny, but they are really entertaining and they hopefully are very gripping and they keep you at the edge of your seats. Hopefully, this gives a good overview in the, to the sub genres of romance.
So if you have not had a chance to take a look and you, , have questions or that kind of thing, and you go into the bookstore now, you know, a little bit more about. and again, I will put some links and some recommendations for the different romances that I’ve read, , in the sub genres, in the show notes.
, if you’ve got a favorite one that you think speaks really well to the sub genre, let me know. I’m always open for book recommendations.
The last thing I wanted to do was sort of a book review, which sounds funny. I read the third book or. I’m two thirds of the way through the third book in the, uh, called in his hands by Adriana, Anders. I think it’s the, in his hands series. It’s the one that I was mentioning.
And again, uh, I’ll put the link to the book in the show notes. Um, it’s the third book in the series. It’s a dramatic romance. Um, it’s a suspenseful romance. It’s contemporary. Um, it’s the story of a woman who lives within a Colt and her neighbor is a French wine maker who is wonderfully dishy.
And it’s definitely what I would call a slow burn. , and what I mean by that again, if you’re not familiar with romance there’s sexual tension from the get-go, but neither acts upon it. So I’m two thirds of the way through the book. I really liked it out of the three books out of the series.
, so far. I would not say it’s the strongest book out of the series. I really, really liked. Um, I liked the first one. I liked Ooma story. But it’s really enjoyable. It’s still, it’s so great. And I will definitely circle back around, , You know, to get my final verdict on the book and to give a more in-depth review.
. It’s interesting on how the story is being told because it’s in the same universe. Literally the same town as, as the first two books in the series. And I would say I was probably halfway through this third book before, unknown character pops up. And well, I don’t want to give anything away, but part of it’s now set in town.
And so it’s going to be interesting to see where unders goes with this and how like to see if we see any more people from, from the other books. And I always really do enjoy those kinds of, um, drips of information about how the characters from the past books are doing and you know, what’s going on in their lives.
I think that that’s really exciting. I’m almost done with the book. , in all honesty, I think I probably have maybe five or six chapters left and the chapters in that book are short. Um, so , I could do a couple chapters in a sitting easily. So starting to kind of think about what I’m going to read next, I’m always open to recommendations.
, I would love defined, um, I gave a book review of Verity from Colleen Hoover in my last podcast, I would love loved finding another romantic thriller holy cow. By far, one of the best books I’ve ever read. And I know that some folks really love Colleen Hoover and some people like she’s not their cup of tea and I’ve read some other work by her.
I think I did ugly love, , which was good. It was good. It wasn’t, , it was enjoyable. But it wasn’t one of those, like it wasn’t Verity. I’ll just be honest. Like, I’ll just say it. Like Verdi ticked every box for me. So I’m going to have to do some research into looking for a really good romantic thriller.
Um, if you know of one or you’ve read one recently, please feel free to reach out and recommend.
Thank you for tuning in to episode three and listening to this insufferable writer, drone on about romance and writing spaces and a sort of book review until next time, have a great time.
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