Blog by Beth Linton, Paranormal Romance Author

Penning a first novel can be both a joyous and a painful experience. But for some writers, writing one book isn’t enough. They have plans, great, glorious plans! They want to write a series… but where and how do you begin? My name is Beth Linton. I’m a romance author, and I have seven novels published in my series so far. In this article, I’ve broken down the creative steps that helped me create The Guardians' Trust series in the hope that my experience might smooth the way f

Writer’s block calls to mind the image of a wild-haired author at her desk, empty coffee cups littering the surface as she stares desperately at the blinking curser on a blank Word page. Her mind is as blank as the page she’s looking at, her ideas elusive. It’s a painful image and one all writers would do almost anything to avoid… But writer’s block can manifest in several forms. It can be characterized by a lack of motivation to write even though the writer feels creative. O

I love to write, but as a busy working mum it's not always easy to find the time... it was even harder to find the hours needed to prepare my manuscript for publishers. In this blog I run through eight key lessons I've learnt along the way on my publishing journey and pool together some of my most popular #writingcommunity resources. I hope the information here helps. Contents of this blog: Introduction The First Lesson: Write and Love it! The Second Lesson: Know Your Genre &

Good readers make good writers. Why? Because when we read, we absorb the style and techniques of others, and we can, in turn, use those techniques within our own writing. In this #writerssupportingwriters blog, I explore two literary devices used by authors: personification and pathetic fallacy. These two devices are closely related, so I’ve endeavoured to break them down for you below with examples. Personification Personification is the process of attributing ANY human proc

The purpose of this #writerssupportingwriters blog is to run through the rules of two advanced punctuation types: brackets (and how to use them) and dashes. Below you can find the rules with examples and tips for use. Brackets (also called parenthesis) Round brackets are used to add extra information. The information included in the brackets is extra and could have been missed out of the text. Example: Jessica (never Jess) loved to read. Brackets can also be used to introduce

The purpose of this #writerssupportingwriters blog is to run through the rules of two advanced punctuation types: the semicolon and the colon. Below you can find the rules with examples and tips for use. Semicolon (;) The semicolon has three uses: A semicolon is used to link two independent clauses that are closely related in thought. The two independent clauses are complete and could be divided by a full stop (or with a connective like 'and' or 'but') as they are sentences i

The purpose of this #writerssupportingwriters blog is to run through the rules of ellipsis use to help romance authors/all writers. Below you can find the ellipsis rules, examples so you can see the punctuation type at work and tips for use. Ellipsis… The word ellipsis originates from Greek and roughly means 'to leave out'. An ellipsis is a series of three dots (which is why it also gets referred to as dot, dot, dot). This type of punctuation is used to: · signal an unfinishe

Trope = Cliché. Right? Wrong! Understanding tropes doesn’t make you a clichéd writer, quite the opposite. Understanding the conventions of the genre you wish to write is empowering, and it allows you to tap into a primed market of readers. In this #writerssupportingwriters blog I am going to explore: · What a trope is; · The benefits of understanding and using romance tropes; · Identify and explain 12 romance tropes; · Discuss how to make tropes fresh and interesting for read

Research Tips for Writers: Research matters. For a story to be successful, a reader has to buy into the narrative no matter the genre of the novel; a reader has to suspend their disbelief. And if details jar, or are inconsistent, that acceptance bubble pops. Whether fantasy paranormal romance or science-fiction, the rules are the same. Details matter. A recent review I received for The Guardians’ Trust: Siana said: “The attention to detail is second to none, and for that reas

As my #writerssupportingwriters blogs have been very popular (links to all of them at the bottom), I thought I’d tackle another area that the #writingcommunity might find of use: adding variety to your sentence construction. This blog isn’t designed to take you through simple, complex and compound sentences. Nor am I going to give you a grammar 101 lesson on clauses and subordinate clauses. What this blog will do is give you some practical ways you can add variety to your sen

Want to write a paranormal romance book? This blog is designed to aid writers who want to venture into the world paranormal romance novels and feel they would benefit from a little guidance about the genre. If you are serious about writing a romance and want to get published (whether through a traditional publishing contact or by becoming and indie author) have a look through my blogs as I cover a number of areas that might be helpful to you. Blogs include information about t