Heart & Craft, by Valerie Parv

One of the biggest traps in new writing is dabbling around the edges of emotional issues. Your story must pack an emotional punch. (Valerie Parv)

Bestselling author Valerie Parv knows a lot about writing romance books which sell and, in her earlier book, The Art of Romance Writing shared her knowledge in a step by step fashion for writers wishing to learn to write in the genre. This new offering, Heart and Craft offers something a little different. With contributions from some of Australia’s best known romance authors, this volume brings together a range of advice for beginning and established writers. Each of the first eleven chapters is contributed by a different author, offering her own insights into how to craft romance fiction, with advice focussing on aspects including character development, research, editing and more. The final six chapters offer snippets of advice from each of the authors on matters including dialogue, point of view and marketing.

For anyone writing, or considering writing, any form of romantic fiction, this is an invaluable aid. Writers in other genres will also find much here to inspire and inform, with much of the advice transcending genre.

Contributors include Parv, Helen Bianchin, Lillian Darcy and Daphne Clair, among others.

Heart and Craft: Bestselling Romance Writers Share Their Secrets with You

Heart and Craft: Bestselling Romance Writers Share Their Secrets with You, edited by Valerie Parv
Allen & Unwin, 2009

This book can be purchased online at Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.