Do Your Hobbies Find a Place in Your Stories? (Author Confessions) By Connie Vines #BWL #Author Hobbies #RoseGardens

FACT: Authors often engage in unique, active, or intellectual hobbies that enrich their storytelling.

Ernest Hemingway’s big-game hunting and Agatha Christie’s archaeology, to mention a few. 

Do you, as an author, include your hobbies or your personal culinary choices, etc., in your stories?  Or, as a reader, are you drawn into the story because of the sensory details and "realistic'' tone?

I know my choice of location/setting is from personal experience. While the name of my city may be fictitious, it is based on a 'real-life' place. 

What about your hobbies?

As a writer, do you find your heroine/hero likes to cook, play chess, or tend to a garden?

I like to include my pursuits. I find it enriches the characters of my stories. The reader will gain insite to a character. One pursuit will highlight a character's patience; another will highlight a skill, creativity, or impatience. 

From a reader's perspective? 

Care must be given not to "over tell" or to convert my readers.

I dislike green peas. It doesn't matter how the peas are seasoned, hidden, or blended. I will 'gage' when I try to swallow them. 

There are certain 'troups' that will not follow; certain 'historical periods" I have no interest in reading.

I recognize this to be a universal truth.

Do not be discouraged. I know a "great teaser", book cover, or promo can/will entice a new reader to purchase a book.

However, dedicated fans are really purchasing "your voice".  The 'author's' voice.

The way you weave your story, the tone, the humor/emotional intensity. 

It is the unique way you add bits of reality into your 'fictitious world.' Making your story a reality for your reader.

This post focuses on my rose gardens.  

The vivid colors, the scents, and, yes-- the thorns!

Authors, what bits of yourself do you add to your stories?

Readers, what draws you into the stories by your favorite authors?

What plot would you like to see? What hero do you adore? 

Your favorite novel?  

What story heroine is most like "you"?

Hobbies?

I have many. 

Today, I'll share my rose garden(s). 

While many of you are shoveling snow to melt, I'm dealing with a heat wave of 91 degrees / 32 Celsius. 

Happy Reading and Listening,  (Lynx is now an audiobook!!)

Connie 

Links:

books2read.com

https://www.overdrive.com/search?q=connie+vines

Amazon.com Search: Connie Vines ebook or audio

https://books.apple.com/us/author/connie-vines/id624802082 (audio and ebooks)

Also available at your favorite online book seller!

Where's Connie?

Instagram/Twitter (X), Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and my website: connievines-author.com 

Valentine’s Day weekend signing books for the Glendale Chocolate Affaire - by Vijaya Schartz

The shirt says: I write books, what's your superpower?
Glendale, February 14-15 2026 - Chocolate Affaire
find BWL Books here
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I forgot how much fun it is to do an impromptu book signing.

Glendale AZ is always sponsoring special events. One of the most popular is the CHOCOLATE AFFAIRE, a long tradition which started with the local Cerretta Candy Factory, and taking place around Valentine’s Day.

2013 - old covers tell the story. Chocolate on the table, of course.
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Before the pandemic, this event was held in Murphy Park, on the lawn around the old library, with vendors, food trucks, climbing towers, chocolate of course, live music, dancing, late night activities with glittering lights, and local romance writers signing their books for the duration.

2014 Chocolate Affaire Glendale, AZ
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As a member of a local authors group, I had been signing at this event since my first book was published, and I did it for many years. Then the pandemic changed everything. It became a small indoors event, geared for children, with none of the hoopla that attracted so many people, no night activities… and no authors signing their books.

2018 Chocolate Affaire, Glendale AZ
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This year, although it was still indoors and small, a well-known Antiques store (2 Share a unique boutique) decided to take advantage of the special event’s traffic and organize an author signing during these two days, in front of its entrance. The owner happened to be with us when we met with Jude in Arizona in late January, and she asked Dani Petrone and me to be the signing authors. We enthusiastically accepted.

2017 Chocolate Affaire - Glendale AZ
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After rushing to order the new titles, and Jude being wonderful as usual, making sure they would arrive on time, Dani and I filled our long table with our books. Only my latest books, to be sure (I have too many to display them all – It would take more than one table).

January 2026 Meeting with Jude (BWL), Dani Petrone, and John Hovey and his wife

On Saturday, we had a big draw and a little competition, as the window behind us was filled with lovely doggies for adoption (part of the 2 Share rescue program for working K9). Five were adopted that day. Yay!

Saturday, February 14, 2026, ready to go, with chocolate on the table.
The puppies have not arrived yet.
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We stood there, outside, from 10-11am to 5pm both days, talking to people about our books, selling a few, handing out postcards, bookmarks, and answering questions about where the Chocolate Affaire was happening, which was a few blocks away.

My latest book, CHI WARRIOR, was available there.
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Some friends came to visit and chat and buy my latest book. Dani and I were so excited, we totally forgot about lunch and survived the whole day on a single can of Coke. These two days were exhausting, but we were happy with the experience.

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The good news is, it looks like next year the Chocolate Affaire will be back in Murphy Park in all its splendor. Looking forward to the outdoors fun.

Happy Reading

Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author

Kick-butt Sci-fi Heroines, cats, romantic elements

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Newbie shout out to Jane Austen, romance writing ‘OG’ by Jeff Tribe

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/accountant-with-benefits

Newbie shout out to Jane Austen, romance writing ‘OG’

‘There’s nothing special about Shakespeare,’ the joke goes, ‘all he did was take a bunch of famous sayings and string them together.’

The punch line being of course, it was ‘The Bard’ who made those sayings famous.

William and I have a respectful relationship, meeting in high school through The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet and King Lear. My sister Lahring would be far closer to his writings however. A masters degree in English and History from Western University, career selling books, and at least one well-thumbed version of his complete works, the Riverside Shakespeare in her possession, will do that. Unlike her, I have not taken in a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in London, England. However we do trundle off to the Stratford (Ontario) Festival together annually to share the enjoyment from one of his plays.

‘Old, dead white dude,’ say some critics, others pointing out he may not have been above re-writing contemporary playwrights’ works.

‘Old dead white dude whose timeless truths resonate today as they did in the late 1500s’ at least two of his supporters might respond. That’s not to say we’re married to the past. We equally enjoyed Andrea Scott’s world premiere of Get That Hope, the study of a dysfunctional Jamaican-Canadian family based loosely on Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Hiro Kanagawa’s ‘Forgiveness’, a remarkable story of reconciliation.

In that spirit of trying new things, my wife agreed to vary a steady diet of Christmas romance movies. We settled on Pride and Prejudice based on the Jane Austen novel of the same name, figuring anything with Keira Knightley, Judi Dench and Donald Sutherland in it couldn’t be that bad.

Not only did we confirm it was better than ‘quite good,’ it wasn’t the departure we had expected. Lahring has embraced my foray into romance writing with an appreciated sense of humour, encouragement and advice while continuing to be a font of knowledge on things literary. You don’t know what you don’t know it turns out, including her confirmation Ms. Austen was a romance writing OG (original gangster), featuring the kind of brilliant dialogue which makes her books ideal candidates for movie adaptation. 

And like Shakespeare - who she was also a great admirer of - the quality of Austen’s work continues to resonate today.

Staying truer to original form than Shakespearean adaptations West Side Story (Romeo and Juliet) or 10 Things I Hate About You (The Taming of the Shrew), the Pride and Prejudice movie nevertheless underwent change. Austen’s brilliance shines through, as do principles both foundational to and echoed within modern romance: characters, one at least often wealthy or powerful who begin as enemies undergoing personal and character transformation, plot twists and turns featuring apparently insurmountable obstacles, gradual progression toward friends and then lovers surviving a late crisis to emerge with the happiest of endings. Add an interesting setting, sprinkle in a strong supporting cast - and some quality dialogue - and you’re halfway to a romance novel template.

The best part is, while Jane was arguably an early ‘be all’, she certainly wasn’t the ‘end all.’  Her work has led or inspired others through subsequent centuries. Across that time, romance readers may have a reasonable idea where a story is going, but individual author’s interpretations on how it gets there means the genre continues to evolve. Respecting the past, but moving forward into a dynamic future.

Take a look through BWL’s list of romantic offerings, and I’m confident you’ll find a writer, characters, setting and plot to your liking. Each will be original and each will have an author’s unique stamp, an attraction which continues to draw both new readers - and writers.

The list includes one ‘newbie’ bearing zero illusion his work will rival Jane Austen’s, but who has thoroughly enjoyed a journey leading to a first publication. Sincere thanks are in order to ‘OG Jane’, Jude, Jay and Nancy at BWL and of course, to anyone considering giving it a read.

I hope you enjoy it half as much as I have getting it here.

For those curious to learn more, following is a YouTube link to a 52-second video on my romance novel, Accountant With Benefits, and also, a link to a guest appearance on Dick Bourgeois-Doyle’s Dover Writes podcast.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F80CS3nDcc

 

https://soundcloud.com/user-447729085/jeff-tribe-doverwrites

 

My Agenda for Writing Mystery Novels by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

 

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/illegally-dead

https://www.amazon.ca/Illegally-Dead-Joan-Yarmey/dp/1773626655

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/the-only-shadow-in-the-house

https://www.amazon.ca/Only-Shadow-House-Travelling-Detective-ebook/dp/B075TFC2B1

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/whistlers-murder

https://www.amazon.ca/Whistlers-Murder-Joan-Yarmey/dp/1773627554

Authors have different ways of writing their novels. Some outline each chapter. Others wing it just going where their characters take them. Some start with a plot and add characters and some have characters around whom they build a story. A few take an event or an idea and build on it putting in characters and settings that go with it.

     I have never worked with a solid outline, or arc as it is sometimes called, for my novels, whether they are mystery, historical, or young adult. And this is mainly because I find that my characters seldom end up the way I first pictured them and the plot never takes the route I thought it would. I do start the story with a character in his/her everyday life so the reader can get to know them then I put in the trigger or problem that is out of the control of my main character or that starts the mystery. This puts the main character on his/her quest for a solution.

     I do have scenes pictured where characters are going to have a certain conversation or be at a certain place but unexpected conversations or character twists surface as I am writing the story. Some of these are surprises or mishaps or glitches that get in the way of my character’s quest. I strive not to make these predictable, nor so far out that they don’t make sense to the story. They should leave the reader with the thought that they should have figured that would have happen. Personally, I find that it is no fun to read a book in which you can foresee where the story line is headed and what is going to happen.

     If I get writer’s block or get to the end of an event and not really know what to write next, then I pick up one of the encounters that I know a character is going to have and I write that. Sometimes I will have two or three of them waiting to be put into the manuscript where they are needed.

     For the climax my character goes through the action of resolving the problem or solving the mystery. This has to be fast paced and sometimes at risk to my character. By this time the reader should be rooting for the main character and wanting him/her to succeed without injury. Hopefully, too, this is where the surprise comes in, where the reader goes. “Wow, I didn’t see that coming." or "I never thought it would be that person.”

     I have even been surprised or saddened or happy by the ending of my books. When I was nearing the end of writing one of 'The Only Shadow in the House', I still hadn’t figured out which of two characters had done the killing. Suddenly, a different character put up their hand and said, “I did it and this is why.” I was surprised but realized that it made total sense.

     I believe that if my emotions are rocked by the ending so, too, should those of the readers. When the book was published I had readers tell me that they had also fluctuated between the same two characters as I had and they, too, had been surprised by who was actually guilty. Something a mystery writer is always happy to hear.

The Art of Critiquing by Victoria Chatham

 

AVAILABLE HERE

Oh, that dreaded word, critique. I well remember finishing my first book, His Dark Enchantress, with a sense of doom hovering over my head. This was my baby, my first Regency romance. After carefully nursing it through the process from a barely formed premise to writing The End, I now had to run the gauntlet of another pair of eyes before I could consider submitting it anywhere.

My hesitation to pass it on stemmed from a one-off experience in a critique class – one in which the presenter showed no interest in reining in two women who jumped on everyone’s work and shredded it. One person in the class walked out, and another emailed the organizer to say they would not be back. Stubbornly, I hung on, determined to learn what not to do and to be as supportive as I could to the rest of the class, even to the two naysayers, who thought they had carte blanche to strip another’s work to the bones.

I entrusted my baby to two author friends, one who wrote Regency romance and the other, at the time, who was writing western historical romance. I breathed a sigh of relief when those first critiques came back to me. They both had many comments, and where their comments aligned, I knew I had work to do. One picked me up on some of my Regency accuracy. At the same time, the other asked questions about the era's terminology and customs, quickly eroding my blithe supposition that everyone would understand it. I wanted my readers (if there were any) to enjoy what they were reading without being tripped up by either situation, and I quickly learned that writing The End was, in fact, only the beginning.

Since then, I have worked with a handful of writer friends who critique my work, and I return the favour. The choice of reader depends on the genre I’m writing in. If it’s a historical novel, I ask someone who writes contemporary fiction to critique my work, as well as someone who writes historicals. Thankfully, I have that mix in my close critique group. We know each other well enough that none of us takes umbrage at the results, but some authors are very thin-skinned. Learning to take an honest, fair critique is part of the process.

courtesy img.freepik.com

When I am asked to give a critique, I’m looking for rounded characters and well-thought-out plots. If I come across awkwardly worded sentences, I will suggest an alternative – this is not for the author to use  – more to give them an idea of how to frame that sentence in their own voice. I will pick up on word choice, repetition, misplaced modifiers, and run-on sentences.

That first draft is essential to commit the story to the page in the first place. Subsequent drafts are for improvement all around, and I know I couldn’t do that without input from my ‘Dream Team.’ Personally, I read my manuscript aloud when I think it is finished and still catch problems, usually with syntax, which a text-to-speech program would likely miss. Once that is done, I put it aside for a few days, read it again, and if I’m happy with it, I submit it to my publisher. Having done all that, it still amazes me that when I have my print copy in hand, I will usually find an error or two.

As much as writing is a skill, so is critiquing. It is not helpful to a budding or a seasoned author to give their work to a family member or friend who will probably say they love it and haven’t you done well to write a whole book! An author needs another author, or a very perceptive reader’s critical eye, to see a problem, address it constructively, and together build a better book.

Victoria Chatham

AT BWL PUBLISHING INC

 ON FACEBOOK

 MY WEBSITE