Tag: romance author

romantic couple standing face to face in the woods

Eight Days of Christmas—Playlist

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We are only a week until the release of my debut, Eight Days of Christmas!!! I’m feeling All The Emotions already. From anxiety to excitement, to appreciation and apprehension. I know as the days draw nearer and on release day—October 19th—the emotions will be stronger. But I’m reminding myself to cling to the joy of this accomplishment, of this dream coming true, of this moment because I’ve worked so incredibly hard to get here.

In an effort to cling to the joy of this process, I’m inviting you to join with me in going deeper into the world of Eight Days of Christmas! I’ve already shared with you the inspiration behind a lot of the book in my last post, now I’m going to share with you the beloved playlist I created.

Each song I chose to add to the Eight Days of Christmas playlist was added for a reason. Some were monumental reasons, and others not so much. I wanted a playlist that would give me the vibe I needed to stay in the fictional town of Pineridge, Colorado, and New York, as well as second-chance romance, and a wedding.

The most important song on the playlist, and the one that inspired my story: Greatest Love Story by LANCO. It’s a song by a country band and the lyrics are about a second-chance romance. Similar to the story of Isabella and Leo—who dated through high school and college before breaking up, going their separate ways and then are reunited for their siblings’ Christmas wedding and realize those old feelings are still there.

  1. Greatest Love Story by LANCO
  2. That Don’t Sound Like You by Lee Brice
  3. Springsteen by Eric Church
  4. Singles You Up by Jordan Davis
  5. Colorado Christmas by MountainCity
  6. Marry Me by Train
  7. A Thousand Years by Christina Perri
  8. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Michael Buble
  9. Last Christmas by Wham!
  10. Where Are You Christmas by Faith Hill
  11. Love Myself by Hailee Steinfeld
  12. Eyes On You by Chase Rice
  13. What Ifs by Kane Brown
  14. Body Like a Back Road by Sam Hunt
  15. Rumor by Lee Brice
  16. You Broke Up With Me by Walker Hayes
  17. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Sam Smith
  18. Please Come Home for Christmas by Eagles
  19. Better Days by The Goo Goo Dolls
  20. One Man Band by Old Dominion
  21. I Don’t Know About You by Chris Lane
  22. Break Up with Him by Old Dominion
  23. If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes
  24. ME! by Taylor Swift
  25. Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
  26. Marry Me by Thomas Rhett
  27. Please Come Home for Christmas by Kelly Clarkson
  28. You’re Not Alone by Boyz II Men
  29. Mercy by Shawn Mendes
  30. This Christmas by Mary J. Blige
  31. Someone Like You by David Nail
  32. Smokin’ and Drinkin’ by Miranda Lambert
  33. All I Want For Christmas by Liam Payne
  34. That Spirit of Christmas by Blue Water Highway
  35. Bells by Audrey Assad
  36. Make It to Christmas by Alessia Cara
  37. You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton
  38. It Don’t Hurt Like it Used to by Billy Currington
  39. Written in the Sand by Old Dominion
  40. Backroad Song by Granger Smith
  41. Born to Love You by LANCO
  42. Hometown Girl by Josh Turner
  43. All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey
  44. Best Shot by Jimmie Allen
  45. Take It From Me by Jordan Davis
  46. Dance with Me by Morgan Evans
  47. Down Home Runs Deep by Chase Rice
  48. Two Ghosts by Harry Styles
  49. Photograph by Ed Sheeran
  50. Remember You Young by Thomas Rhett
  51. The Christmas Song by Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello
  52. Mistletoe by Justin Bieber

As I drafted this book, revised, edited, went through copy edits, I listened to this playlist on REPEAT haha! Yes, this is a Christmas/wintry themed book, however the playlist contains a multitude of genres. I hope you’ll check it out. Especially if you’re anticipating the release of Eight Days of Christmas! Here’s the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/211JCIXad5Z3vpqKJ7WNZa

Where Did My Inspiration Come From—Eight Days of Christmas?

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I find inspiration all over. There is beauty and a storyline everywhere, just waiting to be written. Sometimes an idea comes to me fully formed and wrapped up with a bow. And other times—not so much. My process is usually to write out character sheets and a 1-3 page synopsis before I begin writing. I’ve written one manuscript with fully plotted scene cards. It was one of the cleanest first drafts I have ever written. The problem? I ended up falling short on word count and going back in and re-drafting it and adding in a second POV. Most of the time, I’m so anxious to begin drafting a story, that I don’t even have time to come up with every character name, or what their hair color is or even something big like their biggest flaw. I often find that when I’m drafting, my characters will flesh themselves out as I go and as I learn them more.

Plot: The inspiration for Eight Days of Christmas came when I first had the idea to write a holiday romance story. Christmas is my favorite holiday and it’s always been special to my family with lots of together time and traditions. I thought it would be so fun to combine traditions with lots of family time and what happens when family is spending so much time together. I had recently watched Sweet Home Alabama and came away from it with all the feels. It’s one of my favorite romcoms. The writing of both, the enemies-to-lovers and the second-chance-romance is pure genius. I thought, what if I wrote a book that had similar vibes and gave readers all those same feelings I get when I watch that movie? But have it be at Christmastime.

Character Names: Leo and Isabella’s names came to me quickly and as soon as I labeled these two characters, I never changed them. And I always knew that Isabella would be nicknamed Izzy and that would be a part of the story as well, how a nickname can be so important when called it by a special person. I had this vivid picture in my mind of Isabella, dark hair and eyes, a turned-up nose, a strong woman. For Leo, I had pictured someone tall, and I knew he was a former hockey player, so he had a nice physique. In my mind, he also had dark hair and eyes. And a perpetually three-day beard.

I have a note in my note’s app with name ideas for future manuscripts. I keep a list of first names and last names. But I never had to open my app for these two. I actually had Leo’s brother’s name—Landon—picked out right away too. Leo and Landon seemed to go well together and for the appearance of his characters as well. I’ve only known Landon’s in real life who are nice guys, and this Landon is not the exception. Though he has a bit of a player’s personality, so I pictured him being an attractive guy. Too attractive for his own good. Isabella’s siblings’ names Norah and Finn came to me quickly as well. But Finn took the longest. It was hard to find a name for the girls’ brother that went well with Isabella and Norah. I pictured Norah as a little taller than Isabella, sienna-brown hair, slender, and a bit like the actress Zoey Deutch.

Playlist: Music is a HUGE inspiration to me. And with this book, that was no exception. Part of the second-chance-romance was inspired by one song. Yep, you read that right. Now regardless of your feelings on country music, I believe they can tell a fulfilling story in about three minutes. So country songs are almost always on my book playlists. You guessed it; the song is a country song. Greatest Love Story by LANCO. If you don’t know the song, it’s about a couple that are teenagers and opposites but they are in love. The two go their separate ways when she goes to college and he stays in their hometown. She dates someone else until she returns and they realize there is still something there between them. It’s such a sweet and catchy song. Besides that one song, there are about fifty more songs on my book playlist. Feel free to check them out under: Eight Days of Christmas, account name: Starla_writes.

Setting: Pineridge is a fictional town in Colorado. I knew I wanted Leo and Isabella’s hometown to be a small town and since this book was going to be set at Christmas, it needed to be snowy and mountainous. In my mind, I pictured somewhere like Breckenridge, Vail, or Aspen Colorado. But I also included some inspo from the shopping in my own town that’s also a resort town near a mountain. Plus inspo from growing up in Canada, the deep snow, and the ice rink at my elementary school.

Again, there is inspiration everywhere. In the shows and movies I watch, the music I listen to, the people I follow on social media, my day job, travel, even a trip to the grocery store can spark creativity. You never know where a story idea could be lurking.

To see my inspiration Pinterest board for this book, please visit: https://www.pinterest.com/starlawrites/book-eight-days-of-christmas/

So You Wrote a Book—Now What?

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*The topic of today’s blog is in regard to fiction. While I have learned quite a bit about the process of publishing nonfiction, I’m no expert.

First of all-Congratulations! You wrote a book! That’s amazing! You have accomplished something only 3% of people who’ve set out to write a book actually have. According to Google, 97% of people don’t even finish writing their book. So celebrate! It’s a big deal. And don’t let anyone tell you differently. Whether it took you four weeks to finish or four years, (or more or less or somewhere in between) YOU DID IT!

After you’ve celebrated, the real work begins. Oh, you thought writing the book was the hard part? Guess again haha! Writing the first draft is just the beginning. Because after the first draft comes, you guessed it, the second draft, and so on. However many drafts you decide to write is completely up to you. And something you’ll likely find takes less drafts to feel ready the more books you write. Ready for what you ask? Well, once your manuscript has been through as many drafts as you feel comfortable with, then you’ve got to revise it. And then edit it. How do I know when my manuscript is “ready”? I always know when mine is “ready” when I feel confident enough to send to beta readers and critique partners, (CPs). These peeps should read your manuscript before any publishing professional.

Beta Readers – Next, send to trusted beta readers. I wrote a blog post about beta readers here: https://starlawrites.com/2020/02/10/why-beta-readers-are-awesome/ I touched on what you should look for when choosing readers. They are valuable and the good ones will stick it out with you, even through the bad rough drafts, (Yes, someday, after you’ve grown in your craft, you’ll cringe and realize you sent them your manuscript before it was “ready” haha!). 

Critique Partners – They are invaluable as well. I love mine and I am so grateful. I have some who have critiqued several of my manuscripts and others who have only critiqued one. It’s fun to swap with another trusted writer friend for a book here and there. I also have a critique group. We typically meet once a month, each taking turns. It’s been an amazing experience.

Revise again based on feedback/critique – Compile all of the feedback and let it simmer for a few days. I like to process it before I dig into editing and implementing. You don’t have to agree. Or change your book. But you should keep an open mind and ask questions. And you should always be kind and respectful. I once had a critique partner tell me that I received my critique with grace. And that stuck with me. I always want to do that.

Traditional or Self-Publish – Again, I’m not an expert on self-publishing. I haven’t attempted it. I’m not writing it off. But for now, it’s not a route I’m prepared to take. Maybe someday I will. For now, I’m going the traditional route, and may self-publish in between. We shall see. I know a few very successful self-published romance authors, (shameless plug for my friends Savannah Hendricks and Rachael Bloome). Either way, I will say, you’ve got to have a polished manuscript. For self-publishing, it’s a good idea to pay an editor. There are some fantastic ones your Twitter or Instagram friends can recommend. If traditional, it’s not necessary to have it professionally edited. In fact, I’ve heard literary agents say it’s best if you don’t because then they can see how your future manuscripts will look if they should decide to offer you representation.

Speaking of literary agents, let’s move onto querying.

Query letters – Once your manuscript is all shiny and practically flawless, you need to write a query letter. There are so many amazing resources online for writing a query letter. It’s basically a 3-5 paragraph/1 page letter introducing your book, giving the details, (genre, age category, word count, comparative titles) a general summary of your characters, setting, and premise, (much like the back cover of a book, and without giving away the ending) and an author bio. Sounds simple right? It’s harder than it seems. But once you practice it enough, it gets easier. Send this out to critique partners as well.

Synopsis – People tend to think this is the hardest part of the process. But it all depends. Sometimes I find it grueling but other times, it’s fun. Sometimes I write the synopsis before I draft the book. Sometimes I write it after. There are fantastic resources online for this as well. Basically this is where you tell all of the details of the plot. This is where you give away all the twists and spoilers, including the ending. Typically, you want to keep your synopsis between 2-5 pages. I like to have two versions, one longer and one shorter. That way I have both because different agents/publishers have different requirements.

Literary Agents/Publishers open to unagented writers – Now comes research. Again, there are many resources online for this. But your most valuable resource is your writing community. Ask your writing friends, CPs, (usually in private) about agents. Who represents your genre and age category, who has a good reputation, are there any with red flags. There are sites like, manuscriptwhishlist.com and querytracker.com. Google agencies. You can also pay for a membership to publisher marketplace if you want to see the agents sales info. If you’d rather go straight to a publisher, these are sometimes smaller pub houses but not always, it just depends who is open to unagented writers. Google and research is your friend in this area as well.

Once you have a polished manuscript, (with the correct word count-Google!) a polished query letter, a synopsis, completed research, with a list of agents/publishers, you’re ready to begin querying and hopefully land an agent and/or a publishing deal.

It’s a long road for most. Having a supportive family helps. Having a writing community to commiserate with is ideal. Though the odds are low, (last I heard, there’s a 3% chance of landing an agent or 1 out of 1,000 gets an agent) if you never even try, they are impossible. If being a published author is your dream, like it’s been mine for many years, put in the work and at least try. It’s a roller-coaster ride of emotions but I’m thrilled to be on the ride!