Books We Love Insider Blog: #Kindle BestSelling Author

Showing posts with label #Kindle BestSelling Author. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Valentine's Day --A dash of spice; A splash of humor, or? By Connie Vines #Romantic fiction, #Valentine's Day, #The Big Easy #Perfume

Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day! 😍💘💕💋🍫🍷

A dash of spice? A splash of humor? Or..a full-on die-hard romantic?

I confess, I'm on team "a splash of humor"!

Of course, a romantic dinner, soft bluesy music, and a walk along the beach certainly check all the boxes.

While many may consider breakfast in bed a dream-come-true, I would upend the tray and be sitting in a puddle of coffee. ☕

"Fondue night" might be a bit cheesy, but I think it's an original idea for an at-home Valentine's Day. Start with dipping your favorite veggies, breads, and proteins into melted cheese for a savory dinner, then switch it up with chocolate for dessert — marshmallows, fruit, cookies, and graham crackers.

One of my faves:

"Love is sharing your popcorn!" Stay at home and watch a favorite romantic movie or catch a new release.

💞It's the thought and effort behind your actions that truly count.💖

What is your idea of a "perfect" Valentine's Day?

🐊

Here's a teaser from my anthology, "Gumbo Ya Ya". (4 stories in one book!)

LOVE POTION # 9

The determined barking of his pedigreed champion Catahoula Leopard dogs sent Cooper T. Landrieu darting for the back door. There was another party at the plantation house, not that he cared. He spent a large part of his time in Lafayette or traveling,g so his opportunity to go fishing was limited to a few times each year. But, damn, of all the weekends for the Dubois' to throw one of those parties complete with band and pyrotechnics, that had to pick this one!

Expecting his cousin, he yanked open the door. Just when he opened his mouth to shout at the hounds, he almost fell against the screen door.

Cousin Beau wasn't anywhere to be found.

Instead, he spotted a woman standing on his doorstep.

He knew the woman.

"Persia?"

Even when she remained silent, Cooper T. knew it was she. There was no sane reason for finding Persia Antoinette Richmand Laudrieu, his soon-to-be-ex-wife, on his doorstep in the middle of the night; she was there nonetheless.

Yanking open the screen door, he grabbed her wrists. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, dragging her inside.

Her golden skin glowed in the light of the swaying porch-light, and her almond-shaped blue eyes stayed focused, unblinking on him.

"What happened to you?" he asked. She clung to the edges of some sort of slinky wrap that she'd draped around herself. The stench of stagnant swamp water dripping from its shredded remains.

Persia brushed back her damp, slightly tangled tawny bangs from her forehead. "There was an unfortunate incident... with my car."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, darlin', but aren't you supposed to wait until after the divorce before you start to celebrate?"

He watched her perfectly arched eyebrows draw together in a slight frown. Why had he'd ever thought the habit endearing, he couldn't recall. He took a closer look at the woman. Maybe she wasn't his wife after all.

Naw.

She sounded like his wife: the liquid tones of her smoky voice were cultured, one-hundred-percent Creole, straight out of the Garden District of New Orleans Parish...

🐊

There is nothing better than a friend, unless it's a" good book" and a box of chocolates!

Happy Reading,

Connie

https://www.amazon.com/Gumbo-Ya-Connie-Vines-ebook/dp/

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gumbo-ya-ya-connie-vines

Or at your favorite online vendor.

https://connievines-author.com/

Watch my book trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OumB8pFI6oc

(Love Potion #9, Marrying off Murphy, A Slice of Scandal, and 1-800-FORTUNE).

Remember: There is nothing better than a friend, unless it's a good book and a box of chocolates!

Connie

Thursday, August 28, 2025

Making a Story Seem and Feel More Realistic to your Reader By Connie Vines #AudibleAudiobook #Rodeo Bull Rider, #Silver Buckle

Making a Story Seem and Feel More Realistic to Your Reader.

The challenge for every fiction writer or non-fiction writer creating a fictional story is to craft a believable one. This challenge is taken to new levels for writers of realistic fiction. These stories, which are woven around real events that have occurred, can be formed from memoirs, historical moments, and even horror stories if desired. Realistic fiction doesn't blend well with other genres of fiction. It must stand on its own.

That's why it's essential to know how to write realistic fiction in a way that can relate to the reader, be realistic, yet avoid including fantasy elements that may drive readers away. Here's how I keep it real for my readers.

#1. Don't go crazy with your characters. Most people in real life don't have crazy names (though spelling names phonetically is the latest craze). If a parent wishes his/her child to go through life spelling his/her name, that's their business. However, I don't give my characters unusual names. Sometimes a guy named Joe, Jacob, or Chris is good enough for realistic fiction.

#2. Give your story a good structure. Realistic fiction requires characters to be fully developed and engaging. People like to see what happens to them because realistic fiction puts the reader into the character's shoes.

#3. Create a good introduction. You want your readers in realistic fiction to begin developing relationships with the characters immediately. This will help to draw them into the story. Let the first couple of pages be the setting where your readers develop a dialogue. Then let the events of your story begin to unfold for your characters. This will lure the reader in so they don't want to put the book down.

#4. Make sure your settings are realistic as well.

#5. Create conflicts that are integral to the character's dialogue. Even close friends will inevitably experience conflicts from time to time. In realistic fiction, these conflicts must also have a touch of realism.

#6. Build to a solid climax. The most common error seen in proposed realistic fiction is that the entire story builds up to a climax at the very end. Remember to include plot points, dark moments, and mini-resolutions in your subplots.

#7. Create a conclusion with a twist. Have you ever worked hard for something only to have something unexpected happen? Sometimes the conclusion of a realistic story is predictable, and that's a wonderful thing. Readers love it when everything works out as it should. For some characters, life throws them a twist.

By keeping things real, you create stories that will help readers relate to your characters in a very personal way. There is no better method to create a story that people won't want to put down until they've finished it.

I don't wish to give too much away in my works-in-progress or my published stories.

But here are a few teasers and hints of what is to come in my novels:

Current (work in progress):

"Perfume Paradise" is a sweet romance...with a hint of mystery.

"Gumbo Ya Ya," an anthology for women who like Cajun romance, is a current release (4 stories).

Each story has a 'Cajun' main character. And, of course, food is also part of the realistic slant of each story.