New Book Publication Spotlight & Author Guest Post: Sun, Sea and Summer Vibes by Zoe Allison

Tips for New Romance Writers

I consider myself new to this game. I only began writing around six years ago, in my late 30s (not trying to hide my age by being vague, I’m just so old that I can’t remember). My first book was published in 2020 and Sun, Sea and Summer Vibes is my third novel of 2021. I don’t consider myself an expert by any manner or means. I’m a doctor by trade and I have no qualifications in English or writing except for my trusty GCSEs in English Literature and English Language (yes, GCSEs. That’s how old I am). However, there are some things I’ve found helpful, which I can share.

1. Firstly, the post important thing is to write. Get your ideas down on paper. It doesn’t matter that it’s unpolished and rubbish to start with, practice makes perfect.

2. Read craft books. I had never written anything substantial before, so to start with I read a book about writing romance and another one about writing dialogue, because that was the area where I felt least confident. What’s a beat? What’s a tag? How do you separate different characters’ speech?

3. Don’t start off a book with description. It’s doesn’t capture the reader’s attention. Start with action or dialogue. Enter the story as it’s underway.

4. Don’t include stuff about the non-central characters unless it’s driving the main characters’ stories forward. Otherwise it can make the story drag and the reader gets bored.

5. Show don’t tell. Don’t explain things to the reader as the narrator, show them how someone feels or what their backstory is through action and dialogue.

6. Read your work out loud. When it comes to self-editing, you catch so many more repeated words, missing words or errors of flow if you read out loud. An editor recommended this to me and I’ve found it invaluable.

7. Whatever path you want to take for your romance book, I’d recommend trying to get a place on the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme. The RNA website tells you more, but at the start of each year you can apply for a place on the scheme which has many benefits and a mahoosive one is the opportunity to submit a manuscript once per year to be read and critiqued by a professional writer. This is a big deal in order to improve your writing in general and also to a publishable standard (no matter what sort of publishing path you want to go for).

8. Get a copy of The Writers’ and Artists’ yearbook. This is a helpful resource for writers, and contains information on how to go about getting an agent and getting published. An up to date one comes out every year.

9. Get on social media. Join the writing community on Twitter. There’s a lot of mutual support out there and getting to know other writers virtually helps you along the way. I’m mainly active on Twitter and now also TikTok, which is video based. I’m also on Instagram and Facebook but don’t find those quite as much fun, however there are many choices and you can delve in to see which suits you best.

10. Make a website. This s a good idea no matter what stage you’re at, you have control over the content and you can use it to display your brand and pop a link on your social media to direct people to it.

11. There is no one path! If you ask one hundred different writers you will not find two stories which are the same. Everybody’s journey is different and there isn’t one more valid than the other.

Now get writing!

Sun, Sea and Summer Vibes

Sometimes first impressions are far from the truth...

Nina Darwish is a scientist who likes to proceed with caution and careful deliberation. When she arrives at the party destination of Ibiza to play PA for her best friend and international pop sensation Isla Starr, she has trouble adapting to the carefree and easy-going vibe on the island. The situation isn’t aided by Isla’s seemingly surly yet irritatingly attractive music producer, the world-renowned dance DJ Logan Wild, known by his real name—Cameron—to his friends. Plus, Nina’s run-ins with, and repeated rebuttal of, an extremely entitled and very annoying male singer named Zac don’t help to aid her mood.

Unbeknownst to Nina, Cameron remembers her from the past, when he was a geeky student who admired her from afar. Unfortunately, it’s clear that Nina considers him ill-natured, no doubt due to his natural awkwardness, which he masks using a stage persona. However, even if that weren’t the situation, he’s involved in a dead-end relationship with his celebrity girlfriend Ash. Plus, Nina’s eye appears to have been drawn onto Ash’s no good ex-boyfriend, Zac, therefore there’s no point in believing anything could ever happen between them.

But despite all of that being the case, for some reason, he just cannot stop thinking about her.

First for Romance (Totally Bound’s bookstore): https://www.firstforromance.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=71339

Amazon UK: http://mybook.to/sunseaandsummervibes

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Sun-Sea-Summer-Vibes-Allison-ebook/dp/B094JXJSWP

Growing up, Zoe Allison loved stories about falling in love. But rather than being rescued by a knight in shining armour, she imagined herself fighting dragons alongside him, battling supervillains as heroic allies, or teaming up to dive into perilous waters in order to save a loved one from drowning. Once Zoe did grow up, she became a doctor. But as time went on, she craved a creative outlet to counter the soul sapping burnout that her career inflicted upon her, and also to achieve those happy endings that were so often lacking in the real world. She wanted heroes who truly love and value women, who find their true love inspiring, are fascinated by her, want to connect with her as a soulmate and fully open themselves to her on an emotional level. And so, Zoe began to write her romances.

A Zoe Allison novel promises a heroine who is not only her hero’s equal in ability and intellect, but whose hero equals her in emotional intelligence. Her characters overcome conflict infused with spine tingling sexual tension to forge a deep connection as soul mates as well as lovers, and ultimately, they both rescue each other emotionally. Even if they might begin their journey as enemies…

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New Publication Spotlight and Extract: Second Chance at First Love by Zoe Allison

Second Chance at First Love by Zoe Allison

Eva Mathers is a successful woman, except for when it comes to matters of the heart. When she returns home to Yorkshire as a pending divorcee, she realises her childhood friend and first love Damon Evans is also newly single. It’s a pity he’s never noticed her romantically and had no idea that she was in love with him at school. But at least they can support each other as friends again.

Damon is attempting to adjust to life sharing the kids with his ex. His reconnection with Eva is strong, but she was always too good for him and made her indifference clear after they drifted apart during their younger years. In any case, she still seems to be hung up on her charismatic ex-husband. Eva is hiding things from Damon, secrets from her past. He wants to be there for her, so why can’t she let him in?

Eva is dealing with trauma, but she won’t confide in her loved ones. Can Damon help her break down her walls before it’s too late and they miss their second chance at first love?

Intro: Damon is having dinner with his parents, Lily and Alastair. Lily (along with Eva’s mum, Meena) is secretly conspiring to throw Damon and Eva together.

Lily waved her hand in the air. “…so that’s Eva just arrived home this afternoon.”

“Mm-hmm,” replied Alastair, looking at the TV over Lily’s shoulder.

Lily turned to Damon. “It’s a shame, isn’t it?”

He paused, his fork en route to his mouth. “What’s a shame?”

Lily sighed. “About poor Eva and that nasty Callum.”

Damon frowned. “Eva Mathers? What about her and Callum?”

Damon hadn’t seen much of Eva since she’d gone to university. She’d married a Scottish guy called Callum but he’d only met him once, at Eva’s sister’s wedding. He and Sarah had been invited to Eva and Callum’s wedding along with the rest of his family, but in the end, only Lily and Alastair had gone because Sarah was heavily pregnant with Adele at the time.

Lily raised her eyebrows. “Remember I told you a few months ago they’d split up? And Eva decided to leave her job in Edinburgh and come home to stay with her parents. Well, she’s back now and she’ll be starting a new job nearby.”

Damon shook his head. “You didn’t tell me that. I would’ve remembered.”

Lily’s set her mouth in a hard line. “I doubt it. You’ve been so distracted by the kerfuffle between you and Sarah that you hardly listen to a word I say anymore…like your father. Though he never listens to me anyway,” she added under her breath.

“What’s that, dear?” Alastair replied, right on cue.

Lily rolled her eyes.

Damon took a sip of his drink. “What happened between them?”

Lily shook her head. “I don’t know. Meena does, but she’s sworn to silence. She’s the only one Eva’s told, despite Matthew, of course. But it must be really bad, because Meena called Callum the ‘C’ word.”

Damon nearly choked on his dinner. “She called him what?”

“You know,” whispered Lily. “Crap.”

“Phew,” said Damon, glancing at Alastair, who was doubled up with laughter.

“It’s not funny,” Lily said. “The poor girl’s devastated. She’s had to give up the GP partnership she worked so hard for to get away from it all.”

AmazonUK                Amazon US 

Zoe lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. A medic by day, she started writing in her spare time as a means to counter burn out and found that this was a balm for the soul.

She is a fan of the romantic genre and its ‘happy ever after’ ethos. A sharp contrast to what she can, at times, see in her day job. Zoe is keen for the female lead in romantic fiction to disabuse stereotypes and walk on an equal footing with her male counterparts. She prefers male leads who do not display signs of toxic masculinity and believes that positive masculinity is much more attractive to women and healthier for men.

Twitter: zoeallisonauth1

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