#romance reader
Ever wanted to know how we develop our characters? Take a look at these early drawings of Cordelia from Courting the Crown. Our original concept was to make her an old male wizard, but as the story developed, we decided that making her a young woman gave her more agency, and opened up more possibilities for her in both Courting the Crown and future stories. What do you think? Did we make the right choice?
Art developed by @erenangiolini
To celebrate the ending of Courting the Crown and let you catch up To celebrate the ending of Courting the Crown, we are giving away infinite hourglasses this weekend only! Catch up while you can!
Wanna win stars for the app? Participate in the book club HAPPENING NOW on our twitter and you might!
Behind the scenes with the sketch that became Maeve!
Artist: @erenangiolini on instagram.
Happy National Sibling Day! They can drive you nuts, but you don’t know what you’d do without ‘em!
When Nicky is done reading his newspaper, he likes to take a moment of his morning to do the word jumble. But this one seems to be about him…? How many Two Against The World related words can you find?
The FictIf socials will be silent tomorrow for the Day of Silence to draw attention to the bullying and harassment of members of the LGBTQIA+ community. We promote FictIf as a safe space for all and encourage our community to share their stories and help promote tolerance and acceptance.
Your first adventure into Arvore is coming to a close, read all 11 chapters in the app today, and decide who you want to start your new beginning with.
Wanna win stars for the app? Participate in the book club next week and you might!
New chapters, new adventures!
Meet Serena, aka. Captain Hook! You’ll get to hang out with her very soon…
Sergio has been called to go back into the office - no more WFH attire for him . Personally, we think he looks rather dashing without his pants - what do you think?
Dressing this heart-throb is too much fun! Which outfit is your favorite?
Do you prefer cats or dogs? And… How about their owners?
Did you know that Sawyer from Snow Falling In Love is the brother of Tess from Roadkill? Get to know him even better with this handy pie chart!
Does your LI match your vibe? Pick one, then turn your device to see who you matched with!
Happy Pride Month! We want to thank you all for being part of FictIf. No matter how you choose to identify yourself, and who you choose to love, you are all loved in this community.
By popular vote, here is your cast for Ghosted! Let us know if you agree with the rest of the community.
Photo credits: IMPACT ARTISTS GROUP, Getty Images, Ted Ely.
He may look like a kindly gent, but this villain hides his true identity behind lies and falsehoods. Can you work out his true intentions before it’s too late?
Solving your boyfriend’s murder can be exhausting… So take a break and help Jesse solve this word jumble instead!
Fin gets a very warm welcome from Jasper the fire elf, and is just getting used to his new ears! But what is that, flying overhead? Has his dark past followed him into the elven woods?
We know you have a sweet tune that reminds you of your boo ❤ Share it in the comments!
How into this book am I? Let me tell you. I actually spent more time on the treadmill than I’d planned because I couldn’t stop reading. This is love, people.
Post link
I was like you once.
I thought romance novels = cheesy, bodice-ripping, heaving breasts and burning loins. I assumed people who read them were pathetic, lonely, in need of something they couldn’t get in real life - so they had to escape to a world of fantasy, instead.
And then I had a dream two years ago that I just had to put down on paper (well, in a Word doc). And that dream about me saying goodbye to somebody I was secretly in love with (my real-life husband - you know how dreams can be) became a short story, which I fleshed out into a full-length first draft over the course of a three day write-a-thon. Still unpublished. Maybe it’ll never be published. But it doesn’t matter because I had fun, and I figured out that I wasn’t bad with a sex scene, either.
Then, I found out how hugely popular the romance genre is. I discovered how many publishing houses and independent authors look for ghostwriters to craft books for them. I dove in headfirst and have yet to come up for air. I wrote 2.3 million words in 2016 alone, according to Grammarly, and am constantly reading to keep myself up-to-date on what readers expect.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
Romance is just as valid as any other genre.
It doesn’t have to include any throbbing or heaving of any body parts (my brother occasionally asks me if I’ve written about any throbbing lately - one day I’ll just start reading an excerpt for him to shut him up permanently). It can be intelligent and funny and sexy without a hint of cheesiness in sight.
It can be realistic, involving true-to-life characters in true-to-life situations. Second chances. Twists of fate. Broken hearts that need time to mend. Compromise. Relationships, in other words. It’s not always all about the sex.
And it can be fun, too. Sometimes you’re simply in the mood for fluff, and romance can deliver that in spades. It can also deliver scenes so hot, they make you fan yourself. And it’s all good. To each their own.
It takes work to write a romance, just as much work as any other genre. Romance is not inherently easy to write just because it sometimes involves sex. In fact, sex scenes aren’t always easy. They rarely are for a writer who doesn’t want to fall into common romance traps, the traps people make fun of. Throbbing members and heaving breasts and quivering…you get the idea. You have to stay on your toes to keep it fresh and hot. Not easy.
Its popularity means it reaches something in people. Again, not just titillation all the time. Sometimes a reader wants to get swept up. They want to imagine themselves in the hero/heroine’s shoes. They want to swoon a little over an all-consuming love affair. They want to escape. What’s wrong with that?
So I don’t shy away from announcing to friends what I do for a living, even if my name hasn’t shown up on the cover of a book yet. Because romance is valid, and it might even be what the world needs a little more of.
In the Old Woods, smaller than the human eye could ever see, there is a world of elemental harmony to be discovered. Play Into The Mist now on our sister app, Fictif.
february reading journal flip through + march setup!
february felt like it flew by at the speed of light but I managed to read 6 books, here’s a look at the finished spreads and my setup process for the new month
