Love Writing by Sue Moorcroft

Informative, witty and useful book

5 Stars

As the title would suggest, this is a book that aims to detail the romance writing industry and show you the path to hopefully becoming a published author. Chapters within the book include: Heroes and Heroines; Characters That Convince; Viewpoint and Voice: Emotion and Mood: From Sensuality To Sizzle To Erotica; Act, React and Interact; What’s The Plot?; Genre; So Where Do You Send Your Work?; Networking; Getting Down to Business and YESSSS! (which is about when you get your story published).

Because it’s written by a romance writer for prospective romance writers, I was glad that there’s no disdain or snobbery for any part of the romance industry. Whether you’re looking to write Mills and Boon, historic fiction, erotica or anything in between, Sue Moorcroft treats them all equally and values them all.

Sue Moorcroft’s writing is informative and full of personality. I’ve never read any of her fiction works but she seems to both know and enjoy romance as a whole. As well as that, she’s very witty and has such a humour that I found myself laughing out loud at times, which I think is odd (but refreshing) for a non-fiction book.

There are many snippets of advice from many of romantic fiction’s best loved authors, editors, agents, teachers and industry buffs. Names that stood out for me included Jill Mansell, Katie Fforde, Penny Jordan and Tessa Shapcott.

The main thing that I got from this book was a sense of empowerment. It doesn’t tell you how to write a romance or even how to get published but it does give you inspiration and ideas enough that you feel motivated to go out and start writing. If you’re looking for a ‘how to’ guide to writing romance or lists of agents or writing guidelines then you’re not going to find it here.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. It’s fresh, useful and gives you just enough information without bogging you down or putting you to sleep. If you fancy being a romance writer (of any sort) or want to know about the industry then I would definitely recommend this book to you. 5 stars.