Raine Balkera - Romance Author

Your comments, thoughts, suggestions, issues, and insight are always welcome. Please feel free to reply to any of my posts. Another sad trend in grammar/punctuation/spelling that has inundated social media sites is the abuse, misuse, and absence entirely of our cute ? In the image above, we know that both sentences need a ? after them. Just because you ask in a loud voice doesn't make it an exclamation. We used to do the ?! until somebody said enough is enough and that helpful bit of clarity went bye-bye. And, no, I don't care one fig what APS has to say about it, either. It is just too much effort to select both the SHIFT and ? keys. The bottom line is this: lazy. Lazy people do lazy things, and it usually shows up in their writing as well as their bedroom, or their house in general. To my way of thinking (and seeing), this is the equivalent of walking into someone's home and seeing dirty dishes piled high in the sink, dust bunnies tumbling along the...

Your comments, thoughts, suggestions, issues, and insight are always welcome. Please feel free to reply to any of my posts. From ThoughtCatalog.com comes an article entitled: 10 Things that Happen when You're Obsessed with Writing . And, here are my responses to those 10 things. 1. You’re overly conscious of other people’s traits No, not entirely. In fact, I can be rather oblivious to even the obvious about others. I tend to listen more than I observe and observe setting more than the people inside it. I can tell you what trees are growing and the flowers planted in window boxes, smells, sounds, and traffic volume, the accent giveaways, and even what a majority of the folk seem to like wearing, but as for them personally ... even if I did have a hunch, it could be wrong. 2. And your surroundings Well, yeah. I just said that, so ... 3. You’re always jotting ideas down Not always. In fact, I rarely do this. And, believe it or not, it's been a safe bet thus fa...

Your comments, thoughts, suggestions, remarks, and insight are always welcome. Please feel free to reply to any and all of my posts. Well, sales of my latest release, Love Over Time , are nice, so thank you to everyone who purchased! Reviews of my first publication, Sing to Me , are still on the nice/friendly/supportive side as well. Much obliged for the kindness shown! I won't say I'm in a slump or suffering with writer's block right now, but I also haven't written a single word of my 3rd novel yet, either. To be fair (to myself), this series has been in the works now for a few years. I have 3 stories that tie together, and two of them are through the rough-draft stage, so I'm not being a slacker or too worried about progress. Right now it is a mind game thing, with me recollecting, revising, and supplementing what I've already started, and there are quite a few changes going on inside my head, too. Namely, names. I don't know about ot...

Welcome back to another Tuesday blog hop courtesy of Romance Writers Weekly . Every Tuesday, members of RWW get together for a blog hop. We are a terrific support group for fellow Romance Authors and love to share our experiences, give and receive help with our writing dilemmas, and promote one another's work. I hope you made your way here after visiting with Susan Scott Shelley  , and as always, I thank you for hopping in to read my response. This week, Susan asks: You've been gifted with a super power. Which would you choose? Why? This is going to be fun. And, selfishly, I'd like to possess quite a few super-natural abilities! Fountain of Youth Owner Time Traveler Extraordinaire Fastest Woman on Earth But, after more thoughtful consideration, I've decided that to be gifted with just one super power would mean that I choose to be a bona fide and honest-to-goodness WITCH , Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched . . . c...

Thank you for hopping over after visiting with Dani Jace .  While you were there, I hope you checked out her Books tab. Besides an upcoming release this summer, Hot as Blazes   is still available on Amazon . When the Heat Gets Started . . . JoAnn Mercer was on the verge of surfer stardom when her career took a nosedive thanks to a backstabbing ex. Now she’s back home in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, staying clear of men, desperately in need of a job. Joining the local firefighting squad seems like the perfect solution, until she realizes one of her coworkers is an old crush. It Will Never Stop . . .  Ray Andrews never runs away from a fight. He served his country in Iraq, and he’s battled more fires than he can count. But what he can’t fight is the desire burning between him and JoAnn Mercer. He’s wanted Jo for as long as he can remember, but a promise made years ago has kept them apart. Finally free of obligations, Ray is ready to prove he’s the only man for...

Scrivner Cork Board Last night I  found an article about outlining  via Writers Write  titled  Five Really Good Reasons To Outline Your Novel - before you write a word  . When it comes to actual work and the lack of enjoyment it entails, I tend to shy away from things that appear to be -- and usually end up being -- far more complex than they need to be. The Scriver image above is a case in point. An outline effort prior to writing a story means a quick jot-down of everything currently roaming around inside my head so that I don't forget what might be key later on. When I was young enough not to care, I taped magazine pics of pretty people and things to my bedroom wall. Today, there is Pinterest  ;-)  This year, I'd like to try something new, and  here are the five reasons why . . . There is very little chance (for) writer's block. The culprit appears to be plot and not knowing what it is or where to go with it. Like me, righ...

David's got a point. After spending the last hour clicking on blog links via McLinky that cater to novelists, I came across one post that managed to capture my interest. Well, three actually, out of about twenty-one total clicks. Not to say that the other nineteen were uninspiring, because not only have I increased my awareness of the vast number of people in the world who aspire to write, I've also come across some like me who are romance writers and enjoy blogging about the process. This particular post encourages us authors to offer up a copy of a published work, to be read by others and then reviewed. The response was immediate but dismal, and there were more comments than takers, but a majority of them  said it was a terrific idea and one they would really enjoy participating in, except that none of them had the time to read. When it comes to writers and readers, unless you are a seasoned author with a solid fan-base, the chances of getting noticed (much less...

If you arrived here via Tracey Gee's blog, thank you kindly for hopping over to read my response to this week's blog hop question. Collette Cameron , who is currently offering an anthology that is just in time for Valentine's Day , titled Gifts From the Heart ,   wants to know - What quirky habits (superstitions, must haves, etc.) do we have while writing ?  If not being able to write anything at all without background music playing is considered to be quirky, then I'm guilty as charged. Actually, that one probably falls under the must-have category. Just as I am unable to fall asleep in a noisy environment or go potty in a public place, I  am   also unable to write without background music. The vocal-less, melodic, and sometimes even hypnotic genres that include artists like Darshan Ambient, Lanterna, Ishq, and Lemongrass, to name a few. Rarely have I ever caught myself delving into a WIP surrounded by dead air  – which isn't, ac...