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Follow Us Like Us Follow Us Forward to a Friend Visit our website for more. April 2019 ·         > bpg news ·         > writer's world ·         > boroughs about town ·         > from the editor's desk Boroughs Publishing Group News Tel Est L’amour His Final Girl At summer camp, Wes & Linnea's new-found romance barely has a chance to survive as a masked killer goes on a rampage. learn more Vivi's Leading Man A year after their divorce, Vivi & Miguel are forced to work together to save the Durango Street Theatre & learn they might really love each other after all. learn more Exclusive Sneak Peek Jace’s Book is coming the St. Leasing Series Time to Catch Up learn more Writer's World Tips & Answers to Qs Active vs. Passive Voice In active voice sentences the subject of sentence performs the action. In passive voice sentences the subject receives the action. Authors are encouraged to use active voice whenever possible. Passive voice sentences are often wordy and can be vague. Active: Researchers have found that high stress can cause heart attacks. Passive: It has been demonstrated that heart attacks can be caused by high stress. Active: The badger bit the man. Passive: The man was bitten by the badger. Don't Forget to Sign Up For The Boroughs Book Club Buy any 10 ebook novels or novellas and get the 11th ebook free. (Lunchbox Romances are not included.) To sign up for the Boroughs Book Club, go to our website. Boroughs About Town (& Country) Join Us Melbourne, Australia August 9th – 11th 2019 ROMANCE WRITERS OF AUSTRALIA From the Editor's Desk Human Nature An author made this observation recently, “I’ve noticed a lot of romance authors are teachers and lawyers.” Then asked, “Wonder why that is?” Two big reasons: 1) Both professions are high stress and frustrating, fraught with systemic failures that move glacially toward improvement, if ever. Authors get to create their own worlds where people behave as the authors wish while the authors engineer the outcomes – all of which is the perfect counterbalance to bureaucratic inertia. 2) Who better to write about the motivations that bring people together and tear them apart than teachers and lawyers? They see the most potential, often wrapped in the worst behavior, yet they believe they can fix the problem(s), and they are always looking for the best result. Personality type and experience make them great observers of the human condition. Ahhh, you see where this is going. Why are your MCs behaving the way they do? That is, and should be, the crux of each question you pose to yourself as you outline and/or write your stories. Frequently, people’s motivations are deep-seated and often are buried by trauma or avoidance. We’ve all heard someone say, or have read a character think/say something like: “I’ve put that memory in a box where it’s locked and shelved in the back of my brain.” As we know, those boxes break open, sometimes with disastrous results. When writing a character, especially one who behaves badly and/or messes up a relationship at every turn, you must supply the reason(s) for the behavior. Not all at once – info dumps are a big no-no – but, over the course of the story, the love interest learns with the reader why the MC acts the way s/he does. Sometimes it’s fun for the reader to have an inkling as to the whys long before the love interest. Readers like to watch as the light bulb goes on over her/his head. Keep in mind the balance between self-serving motivations and altruistic motivations. Heroines and heroes are not all good, and villains or foils are not all bad. Everyone has a reason for being who they are. Your job is to let us know why.

© 2011-2019 Boroughs Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Like Us Follow Us Forward to a Friend March 2019 ·         > bpg news ·         > writer's world ·         > boroughs about town ·         > from the editor's desk Boroughs Publishing Group News The Sunshine of Your Love Saint When being a surgeon was no longer possible, Dr. Frank "Saint" Jeffrey left his life in NYC & moved to DTLA where he bought a run-down building hoping to resurrect it, along with his soul. learn more The Devil's Caress Recently, Lucifer has lost the most effective female demon in history & when he scours the earth for a worthy replacement his attention is drawn to the nascently rebellious daughter of a heinous Louisiana politician. learn more Good Trouble Everything from her past screams for Annie to disregard the charming, sexy, footballer who won’t take no for an answer, but Erik is relentless... and, dammit, too understanding to ignore. learn more Untamed Belle was the last person who expected to become friends with the gorgeous, remote, new guy who became a student at their high school in their last year, but, as she learns, she’s the only one he can trust. learn more Harmony Crashing her car in front of a farm in Wisconsin was not the spa day Jordan had planned, but oh the joys that lie within that farmhouse made the accident the best day of her life. learn more Played Becki and Calon struggle to find balance as they try to find their footing in their new relationship in the midst of the rock world’s demanding life and nocturnal chaos. learn more Writer's World Tips & Answers to Qs Watch for Common Grammar Mistakes Subject-Verb Agreement Errors The subject and verb of a sentence must agree with one another in number whether they are singular or plural. If the subject of the sentence is singular, its verb must also be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural. Incorrect: An important part of my life have been the people who stood by me. Correct: An important part of my life has been the people who stood by me. Misplaced Or Dangling Modifier (copy editors note these errors often) A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it modifies or describes. Sentences with this error can sound awkward, ridiculous, or confusing. A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence. Incorrect: After finally setting off on the trail, the morning felt more exciting. Correct: After finally setting off on the trail, she felt the morning was more exciting. Thank you to our friends at Authority. Don't Forget to Sign Up For The Boroughs Book Club Buy any 10 ebook novels or novellas and get the 11th ebook free. (Lunchbox Romances are not included.) To sign up for the Boroughs Book Club, go to our website. Boroughs About Town (& Country) Join Us California Dreamin’ Writers’ Conference April 5th–7th 2019 Embassy Suites –900 East Birch Street Brea, California From the Editor's Desk Cliffies Ah, another great debate: Should you end your book with a cliffhanger? Short answer – it depends. What type of cliffhanger are you writing? If you are going for the classic ending where one or both MCs are in unresolved danger that is continued or solved at the beginning of the next book, join a big club. Weekly serials shown in early movie theaters were notorious for employing this format. Obviously, it brought people into theaters to find out what happened next, and the same can be true IF your book is successful enough to have people’s interest in the outcome of the cliffhanger. How do you determine whether and/or where to put the cliffhanger? Be honest with yourself. Are you an established author with a large readership? Do you feel confident your readers will wait for another book to find out what happens to the MCs? Or, is having a cliffhanger going to annoy your readers because they didn’t get a HEA or HFN? Are you writing a duo, or are you writing a multi-book series? If you’re writing a series, does it make sense to put the cliffhanger in the first book, the middle of the series or in the second to last book? Perhaps, if you’re writing a multi-book series, the better option is to have continuing story lines where a couple of characters are secondary and are dancing around each other in one book and become the primary characters in the next. Or, you can have an overarching storyline that involves danger to a place or a specific group of people. This way each couple can have their HEA or HFN, but as the danger becomes worse before it is eradicated, it remains real and ever-present in each book in the series. If you are using the cliffhanger as a plot device, what benefit does it serve other than getting people to buy the next book? There has to be a bigger question answered than saving the MCs – the “what next” should play into a larger outcome. Stay tuned… until next month.

© 2011-2019 Boroughs Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Like Us Follow Us Forward to a Friend February 2019 ·         > bpg news ·         > from the editor's desk ·         > writer's world ·         > boroughs about town Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your browser. Boroughs Publishing Group News Cupid's Arrow Stumbled Into Love Holland Baxter is dragging Brice Huntington into the 21st century, but he doesn't seem to mind much. learn more Beyond Today The new man in Hannah's life has a past with enough baggage for a voyage & she can’t see how they'll make it work between them beyond today. learn more Lily's Trust When Jensgar refuses Lily's choice to be her mate, all hope is lost, and she flees into the forest to live her life as a wolf. learn more Bound by Love Dylan isn’t expecting to fall in love, especially when he and Scarlett Mercier share dark secrets that threaten to keep them apart. learn more Writer's World Tips & Answers to Qs No More Eggcorns M-W defines eggcorn as: "a word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase." Say "a scapegoat" and "escape goat" out loud. Now you understand how people can get mixed up. A great list of eggcorns you SHOULD NOT USE can be found at: https://n.pr/2SMCn1a Here are a few of our favorites: civilware instead of silverware daring-do instead of derring-do free examples instead of free samples in other worlds instead of in other words lapkin instead of napkin mute point instead of moot point pass mustard instead of pass muster pre-Madonna instead of prima donna takes two to tangle instead of takes two to tango world wind romance instead of whirlwind romance Don't Forget to Sign Up For The Boroughs Book Club Buy any 10 ebook novels or novellas and get the 11th ebook free. (Lunchbox Romances are not included.) To sign up for the Boroughs Book Club, go to our website. Boroughs About Town (& Country) Join Us California Dreamin’ Writers’ Conference April 5th–7th 2019 Embassy Suites – 900 East Birch Street Brea, California From the Editor's Desk The Best Over the years many of our favorite love stories first captured in books have been made into movies. In some cases, many movies from the same book, most famously Pride and Prejudice. Arguments over which version is the best have swirled for years, with many newer devotees having their say after the 2005 version was released. We thought to provide a list (not exhaustive by any stretch of the imagination) of some of the book to movie love stories. They are listed in no particular order. Send us an email and tell us your top ten. Happy Valentine’s Day. Pride and Prejudice Lost in Austen Gone With The Wind Wuthering Heights Doctor Zhivago Brokeback Mountain The Vow Sense and Sensibility The English Patient Beauty and the Beast The Princess Bride Twilight Saga How Stella Got Her Groove Back The Notebook Brooklyn The Thorn Birds Breakfast at Tiffany’s A Walk to Remember Out of Africa Bridget Jones’s Diary The Gift of the Magi Legends of the Fall The French Lieutenant’s Woman Water for Elephants The Time Traveler’s Wife

© 2011-2019 Boroughs Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Like Us Follow Us Forward to a Friend January 2019 ·         > bpg news ·         > from the editor's desk ·         > writer's world ·         > boroughs about town Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your browser. Boroughs Publishing Group News Your Love, My Turning Page For Fox Sake Tate & Clay's newest case has all the earmarks of typical investigative work: lies, deception, collusion & a dead body - except the body was found in Fetish Alley & nothing that happens there is typical. learn more Hooking Up Eiley & Trey sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G... no, I’m not ten years old, but I have an active imagination, & when it comes to Trey Layton, believe me, you don't want to know what I'm thinking. learn more Her Caprice Beatrice's parents expect her to embrace being an old maid with pugs & newspapers to keep her company, not without good reason, but Captain Gracechurch would surely disagree. learn more Deadly Purpose Thrown together, and neither is happy about it, Meg and Declan navigate their unwanted growing attraction as they fight to keep Meg alive. learn more Out of Ashes Phoe & Cage are on the hunt for answers to long buried secrets no one wants them to uncover. learn more The Longer They Last Piper and Jack's New Year’s Eve is fraught with harrowing danger, narrow escapes, daring rescues, and heart-pounding passion. learn more Writer's World Tips & Answers to Qs What's in a Name When choosing your characters’ names, be mindful, and ask yourself: Is the name current to the year/decade in which the person was born; Are you naming different characters with names that sound or look too much alike, i.e. Rick & Richie; Do the names fit together –when you say them aloud do your MC’s sound like a couple? Research names. A great place to peruse: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/names2010s.html Don't Forget to Sign Up For The Boroughs Book Club Buy any 10 ebook novels or novellas and get the 11th ebook free. (Lunchbox Romances are not included.) To sign up for the Boroughs Book Club, go to our website. Boroughs About Town (& Country) Join Us California Dreamin’ Writers’ Conference April 5th–7th 2019 Embassy Suites –900 East Birch Street Brea, California From the Editor's Desk All righty Liberals, Moderates, Conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, Tea Partiers, Green Partiers, Independents, and I-Don’t-Give-A-Hoots, let’s talk about the universal language of love. Is there anyone out there who doesn’t believe in love? Actually, there are some, and we know them well – the damaged heroes with hardened hearts, the steely heroines who will never love again, and the outsiders that never felt part of anything who were shamed and ostracized. The traumatized. The abused. The long-suffering. These are our people. The characters we place in various situations where they have to choose between opening their hearts or living a lonely life. Each and every one of our books brings these people to an emotional cliff where they have to decide whether they have the strength to fall. And that’s what love is really about – strength. Do your characters have the strength to believe that with love and acceptance they can withstand anything? True, some say that our books are fantasy fulfillment and nothing more. But we believe that the stories our authors write are roadmaps that help people navigate life’s trials and tribulations. There’s nothing wrong with giving a person hope. For some it becomes the lifeline that leads them to making better choices for themselves and their families. For others, our books are the escape that gives them the island of calm they need to negotiate another day. Whatever the case, our stories have value because, at their core, they assert that love can conquer all. How many of you would take this wager– your favorite book is equally beloved by someone who sits so far on the other side of the aisle that you can’t even see them.

© 2011-2019 Boroughs Publishing Group. All rights reserved.