Contemporary Romance Café

JuNoWriMo and Dreams of Beachside Living in Costa Rica

June 2, 2015 by ReeseRyan

Today things have been a little crazy pants. I’m struggling with a physical ailment, working toward writing a 50,000 word novel in a month, trying to tame my garden gone wild and planning the untimely demise of an underground colony of yellow jackets.

Amidst the craziness, it’s also my turn on both of the group blogs of which I’m a member.

Over on Hot M.A.M.A. Land, I’m talking about June Novel Writing Month (JuNoWriMo) and some of the other write-a-novel-in-a-month challenges and why these challenges can be beneficial, even when you don’t hit the goal of 50,000 words. Come on over and tell me about any experience you’ve had with either reading or writing challenges, and why you would, or wouldn’t, recommend them.

On the Contemporary Romance Cafe, this month’s theme is inspiring places. There I’m kicking off the topic with a discussion about why I need a 12-step program for my HGTV addiction and how House Hunters International made me fall in love with the idea of moving overseas and living in a tropical, Central American paradise. Pop in and tell me what places inspire you and if you need your own HGTV intervention.

I look forward to seeing you!

What Comes After THE END?

April 8, 2015 by ReeseRyan

As a reader, reaching the end of a good book is a bittersweet experience. I’m glad the characters have received their happy ending, or that the hero has completed his journey. yet I’m sorry to bid goodbye to the characters I’ve become so invested in.

As an author, working with a publisher, it was a great relief to type those two words: THE END. Once I finished revising and polishing book, I’d send it off to my editor and the marketing team, for them to do their magic.

But this time things are different for me. It’s the first time I’ve finished a novel that I’ll be indie publishing. There is still, of course, that moment of giddy excitement that the darned thing is finally completed. But then there was an almost immediate sense of panic because I didn’t have a pre-selected team of creatives to bring the project to fruition. There was just…me.

So I’ll admit, a slight bit of panic ensued. But there was also the heady feeling of being in complete control of my own project. I’m over at the Contemporary Romance Cafe talking about my new adventures as an indie author, and what happens after THE END. I’d love it if you pop over to the Cafe and tell me how you feel once you finally reach THE END.

PS: To be among the first to learn about the progress of my new series (including some exciting news coming later this month) and eligible for cool prizes, sign up for my mailing list in the sidebar on the right.

The End courtesy of Oliver Hammond.

Taming the Monkey Mind and Hot M.A.M.A. Land Debut

October 7, 2014 by ReeseRyan

Hey Gang!

Today I’m making the rounds in cyberspace. I’m over at the Contemporary Romance Cafe talking about my struggle with a ridiculous case of monkey mind and the steps I’m taking to get my next manuscript finished.

I’m also over at Hot M.A.M.A. Land, where I’m now an official member of the group, with my debut post about why I wanted to be a part of the Hot Multicultural Authors of the Mid Atlantic. Later today, we’ll be celebrating in grand style at the Hot M.A.M.A. Land welcoming party on Facebook. Be sure to pop in for your chance to win prizes.

Ballons. Courtesy of Nicole Hanusek. Some rights reserved.

Note to self: Publication is a journey, not a destination

August 5, 2014 by ReeseRyan

This month over on the Contemporary Romance Cafe the topic is: the road to publication.

I turned that thought over and over in my head and I just couldn’t come up with anything. Sure, I have my basic story of how I came to be published, but it didn’t feel like it even began to scratch the surface of the real story.

Publishing has changed dramatically in the past few years. While stories of the road to publication fit the old model of publishing, they only tell the partial story of what it’s like getting published and then staying relevant in the digital age where e-books rule supreme and publishers are consuming each other faster than Ms. Pac-Man gobbled up those darned power pellets.

While many authors are still going the traditional publishing route, there are other treks available. Small publisher. Digital-first publishers. Indie publishing.

Best of all, we aren’t obligated to take one trek or the other. Many authors have found great success going the hybrid route, whether it begins with trad publishers or as indie publishers. All of this is empowering for both authors and readers.

Yet, my basic “road to publication” story didn’t cover any of those exciting nuances.

Then, this morning, it hit me. Like happiness, publication isn’t a destination, it’s a journey.

Signing that first contract, seeing our first book in print (or online), that’s only the first step. Like reaching the first check-in point on a long-distance trek. There are many, many more peaks and valleys ahead and the geography is constantly changing.

I invite you to hop over to the Contemporary Romance Cafe where I share my journey of publication. I’d love to hear yours.

PS: The cover on display is from my first foreign language edition, Una stagione eccitante, recently released in Italy.

Ciao!

Recap: Life on the Other Side of 40, the Romantic Comedy Drought and the How I Met Your Mother Finale

April 4, 2014 by ReeseRyan

The past couple of months have been insanely busy. Though I haven’t posted frequently here on the Reese Ryan Diaries, I’ve been pretty active around the ‘net. This week:

Here at RRD I reminisced over my favorite How I Met Your Mother episodes.

In light of the volatile reactions to the show’s ending, I shared my take on the How I Met Your Mother Finale and the Promise of Happy Endings over at the Contemporary Romance Café.

Jana Richards, a fellow member of the Contemporary Romance Café wrote a brilliant post on how to write successful romantic comedies. That prompted my plea: Someone revive the romantic comedy, PLEASE! over on the Sulia Romance Novels Channel.

Today I’m over at All Things Girl, where it all started for me, talking about The View from Here (or life on the other side of 40).

Got a minute to pop over to one of the above stops to say hello? I’d love to see you! In the meantime, happy reading.

By the way, if you haven’t already registered for my VIP mailing list, you can do so by clicking on the hot pink bar on your left, or by popping your email address into the form on the top right sidebar. The next newsletter will go out next week and this month and next there will be exciting announcements and prizes. I want you to be the first to know.

Smooches!

Bad Boys Gone Good, Teatime Romance and the Year-End Splash

November 9, 2013 by ReeseRyan

The first full week of November is in the books as we speed toward 2014. How was your week? Have you put together your goals for 2014. I’m way behind on doing this, but I hope to have my list completed before the end of the month. I’ll share part of the list with you here. In the meantime, it’s been a busy week.

Earlier this week I posted over on Contemporary Romance Café about why I love bad boys gone good and ask who are your favorite bad boys of literature, television and film?

Author Kelsey Browning stopped by on Thursday to chat with me about the fun new series she’s co-written with Nancy Naigle, The Granny Series.

Today I am doing a fun interview with my Heart of Carolina chaptermate, Erica Monroe, over on Teatime Romance. The final question was about which five books I’d save in case of a disaster. I love my books, so that one hurt. See what I said here.

Lastly, I’m participating in the exciting Year-End Splash over on The Romance Reviews. A Q&A about Making the First Move is featured today. (It’s Question #6.) So, be sure to hop on over to answer a super-easy, multiple-choice question for your chance to win a copy of Making the First Move and lots of other great prizes.

I Heart Bad Boys Gone Good

November 5, 2013 by ReeseRyan

Love Me Not by Reese Ryan — Available for pre-order on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Today I’m over at the Contemporary Romance Café talking about my love of bad boys in film and literature. James Bond, Raylan Givens and Jonny Miller’s Sherlock Holmes, anyone?

I’m also talking a little about the romantic notion that the love of a good woman can change an inherently bad boy into the perfect prince. (Doesn’t work when you kiss frogs in real life either!)

Lastly, I’m pulling back a few layers and revealing secrets about three of the bad boy heroes in my ongoing Bad Boys Gone Good series. Grab a cup of coffee and your favorite pastry then join us over at the Café and tell us who your favorite bad boys are in books, television and film.

If you’d like to sample the first two chapter of Love Me Not–the next installment in my Bad Boys Gone Good series–be sure to join my mailing list below. You’ll get immediate access to your two free chapters once you confirm your subscription to the email list. For other goodies, be sure to visit my new Reader page.

Sexism in Romance (or Romance Heroines are Mad as Hell and Not Gonna Take It Anymore)

July 2, 2013 by ReeseRyan

This morning I’m over at the Café discussing a topic that has long bothered me. Sexism in romance.

We normally accuse men of being sexist. Of wielding double standards. Yet in literature–and romance in particular–we are the ones who condemn brash, strong heroines and saddle them with uncomplimentary designations. I’ll admit that I’ve determined a heroine unlikeable and closed the book on her whereas I’ve pushed through to the end of a book even though the hero made me want to strangle him…from the very first chapter.

Why the double standard?

If a character needs to be likeable for me to read the book, shouldn’t that apply to both the hero and the heroine? It’s a question I asked myself while reading Janet Fitch’s literary fiction title, Paint It Black several years ago. To say her main character Josie Tyrell is deeply-flawed is like saying that deep-fried Twinkies aren’t an optimal dining selection. The truth is she’s horrid. Irresponsible. Self-absorbed. Yet the story is quite compelling.

So I ignored everything in me that screamed for me to shut the pages on Ms. Josie Tyrell and move on to a nice, sympathetic heroine. Or a least a flawed, but funny one like Heather Wells from Meg Cabot’s Size 12 is Not Fat. But the story pulled me forward. So I kept reading and was introduced to a woman who was perhaps even more unlikeable…Meredith–the mother of Josie’s dead boyfriend.

I finished the book. And I’m glad that I did. It opened my eyes to the beauty that can be found in tales of broken, seemingly unredeemable female characters. I was drawn to more stories and characters like this–even in romance where we are assured a happy-ending–if only for now. This type of character also made her way into my own writing. At first she was always a secondary character–maybe even the best friend. But Jamie Charles–the best friend character in my upcoming debut novel, Making the First Move, had a lasting impact on me. I wasn’t satisfied to just know that she was a better person now. I wanted to go back and delve into the dirt to find out why she’d changed and witness the process. Jamie gets her own story later this year.

Grab a cup of coffee and join me over at the Contemporary Romance Café to discuss why we hold heroines to a much higher standard than romance heroes and if that trend is changing. Plus meet Jamie in an excerpt of Making the First Move.

See you there!

Photo courtesy of Philippe Leroyer. Some rights reserved.

Interview w/ THE IMPACT OF YOU Author Kendall Ryan

June 8, 2013 by ReeseRyan

One of the things I am constantly impressed with is the generosity of fellow members of the writing community. The competition to get our books noticed grows tougher as an increasing number of books hit virtual bookshelves each day. This phenomenon is both a pro and con of the ongoing self-publishing/digital publishing revolution.

You’d think that writers would become territorial, stake their claim, and sabotage fellow writers. Well, it happens. But such instances are quite rare. Instead the majority of writers are willing to reach down and extend aspiring and new writers a hand. They share their knowledge, wisdom, and hard-learned strategies. And they often do so without expecting a thing in return.

The explosion of digital and social media has also shortened the space between authors and their readers. Some authors don’t like this change. The majority have embraced it. This is particularly true of indie authors.

Rising indie author Kendall Ryan embodies both concepts. I met Kendall online after I posted a glowing tweet about her book Make Me Yours which I absolutely adored. This led to an interview which I did for All Things Girl and then a second interview for The Contemporary Romance Café that went live today.

The success Kendall is experiencing is no lucky break or happy coincidence. The woman has a serious work ethic that would put lots of corporate workers (and CEOs) to shame. She generously shares her knowledge and experience as an indie author in these interviews. Kendall is also graciously connects with her fans. Any author can learn a lot from what she has to say.

Join me over at the Contemporary Romance Café for a chat with Kendall Ryan.