Resources for Romance Writers

I've tried to make this site as helpful as I could. Everything here is put
together to help other romance authors learn the ropes, improve their
writing, promote their writing, stay in touch with other writers, or just keep
on writing. I hope it's easy to find your way around the site and that you
come back often to visit.

I try to check the links on these pages from time to time, but there are so
many pages and so many links, and websites often go down quickly and
without warning, so please forgive any broken links you find.

Happy writing, best wishes and hugs from one struggling writer to another,

Charlotte Dillon

Information about my writing and me. There are links to my blog, recipes, puzzles,
and even a free e-cookbook I put together with other authors. Hope you drop by.

Helpful sites for writers are listed here, including grammar sites, free program
downloads, writing how-to sites, and more.

Books on writing, grammar, and more, as well as magazines and programs for writers.

Links to books, websites, naming sites, and articles. You'll find about everything you
need to build characters on these pages, including a free and very detailed character
chart I put together that you can print up and fill out.

Part of getting a manuscript ready for an editor, agent, or even a contest is
formatting, knowing the "speak", and how to submit it. I have info on all of that
and more here. There are also instructions on setting up Word, a free download
of the dark courier, and links to other helpful sites and books.

Sample synopses that help sale the book or landed the agent, and links to sites,
books, and articles filled with info on writing a synopsis.

Sample query letters that sold the book or landed the agent, as well as how-to
info, links, articles, and books on writing a query.

Warning -- this page hasn't been worked on in forever and a day. Smile. Many
guidelines close with, "The best way to learn about what we buy is to read the books
we've bought." Here you'll find a list of romance books that were first sales -- though
probably a long time ago since I just haven't had the time to find stuff to update this
page with in so very, very long.

The articles on these pages cover things like pace, conflict, point of view, agents,
rejections, how much publishers pay, maximizing productivity, and much, much more.

Links here on topics such as the police, medicine, witches, werewolves, buggies, and
boats. There are sections on the Civil War, Middle Ages, the Old West, and more.

Books on the same subjects you'll find on the research links page. Many are research
books put together for writers, which can make research go quicker.

Links to publishers' guidelines and sites to check them out before you query. Links
to agents and info on picking and working with one, and lots more. A great place to
start doing that homework before you even contact an agent or publisher.

Writing questions answered by some of your favorite authors, including Jennifer Blake,
Sherrilyn Kenyon, Julie Garwood, Kay Hooper, Connie Mason, and Carly Phillips.

Articles, deadline dates, links, and plenty of info on RWA writing
contests, and sometimes contests being held by big publishers.

You'll find a few prompts to get you started, maybe even on a new novel. There's
also a link to join my free writing prompt list where weekly prompts are sent out.

Those "The Call" stories, many that detail the struggles and rejections along the
way. I hope these stories will help others know that it can and does happen --
sometimes quickly and sometimes only after a long, hard battle.

I started this free e-mail group in January of 2001. It's over 2000 members strong on the
main list alone, and still growing. To find out more about RWC, and its sister groups for
writing prompts, critiques, and more, click on the link above. We welcome the newest
writer as well as those published many times.

Find an RWA chapter near you, or enjoy a lot of info on writing that many chapters share
on their websites. Chapters are listed by the city and state where they hold their meetings.

On this page you'll find some of the normal writing questions I get the most often, and my
answers to them. I get asked some really odd stuff too, but I thought I would keep those to
myself. Smile

A free newsletter about my writing. Messages are sent out very few and very far
between. Often just an announcement about a new contest for members, or who
won the prize.

RRC is an e-mail list for romance readers and writers. A great place to rub elbows. Here
we talk about books we like, what we're reading, where to enter contests for readers,
and what's waiting in our to-be-read piles.

If you've already reached that star and have your book published, then you have
another star to reach -- finding readers. If you are with a small press or an e-pub, then
even more of this work is left up to you. This page will help you get started by pointing
you to review sites, places to buy promo supplies, and even places to do promo.

Lots of romance writers seem to do other writing too, like non-fiction novels,
magazine articles, children's books, ect... This page is for them, and even for
those of you who write other things and no romance. You'll find links to articles,
samples, and books that I hope will help you branch out.

This page just has some quotes on it for writers, for
those days with the writing isn't going any where.

Make Cures Happen! Please help fight cancer by giving to The
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! My husband is running a
marathon -- that's 26.2 miles -- in support of the Leukemia &
Lymphoma Society.

Help him help them by donating money to the cause. You can give
as little as five dollars, and it goes right to LLS. Visit the page they
set up for my husband here, and click on the link there to
get to the donation page. If a lot of people give even just a
little, together we can make big things happen. Please share the
link with friends and family. Thanks for your help!