Preparing our Co-written Romance, or "Co-mance"

I've been co-writing a contemporary romance with my writing partner Amber Roshay. We decided to choose a pen name for books we write together. After much consideration, we chose
Anna Starr which is a mash-up of our real middle names. Anna has a Facebook group where we'll talk about romance novels and share updates.

We don't live in the same city, so we relied on Google docs and weekly phone calls to get things done. We also split shifts to make it easier. I wrote in the mornings and she wrote in the evenings. As moms with different schedules, this worked well for us.

We've just finished our revisions and have sent the manuscript off to beta readers for feedback. It was exciting to finish our first book as a team!

Now we are preparing for #PitMad, the Twitter pitch contest for writers. It will be fun to throw our hat (or manuscript) in the ring. That means we will need to integrate beta reader feedback and polish up our query letter and synopsis this weekend.

Writing a book is a labor of love and in this case, a story about love. In case you're curious, here's the premise:

BUNDLE BY THE BAY is a sexy contemporary romance set in San Francisco. Rowan is a hot billionaire philanthropist and Hannah is a feisty non-profit director. After her grant proposal is turned down by his foundation, she tries to change his mind to avoid program closures and lay-offs. When they meet, he offers to give her non-profit money from his own pocket under three conditions. Still stinging from divorce and infertility struggles, Hannah’s closed herself off to love. Rowan has suffered his own heartbreak at the hands of his cheating fiance. His sexy proposition may lead them toward a future they never imagined possible.

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Nonfiction vs. Fiction...What to Write Next

My computer at my new writing desk. Over the past few weeks I have been typing out every book idea that pops into my head. There have been some fiction ideas, a premise for a sequel to Sarah Starting Over , some nonfiction pitches and a few log-lines for memoirs. They are currently living on a word document called "book ideas." It's been a struggle choosing just one idea to develop right now. I've recently finished a romance that I co-wrote with my writing partner Amber Roshay . That will make three romances written in just over a year. It's been a whirlwind of learning to craft love stories. And I have a lot more to learn about writing good fiction. Joanna Penn is an author of both fiction and nonfiction. Her assertion is that writing nonfiction is a palette cleanser after writing fiction, and that notion really clicked with me. I've also been inspired because I am reading a memoir, Meghan Daum's "Life Would Be Perfect if I Lived in That...

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My Friend Amber Roshay's Book: Reaching Prague

Amber and I met in college. Our common interests have included college theatre department rebellion, living abroad, creative urban dwelling and writing. She's one of the most talented writers I've encountered. Her writing is compelling, emotionally raw, it's simply spell-binding. She's just published her novel, Reaching Prague and will soon have her second title, How the fat girl got thin published. If you're in the market for a sweet spring read, check out the synopsis and the link to her website below: Reaching Prague is a darkly psychological tale of adultery set in contemporary Prague. Betrayed by her husband, Sarah Billings flees to Prague in an effort to cope his duplicity and to figure out the rest of her life. In Prague she meets Mikul, a handsome bar owner with mafia ties, who at first seems to be exactly what she needs. Soon they are conducting an illicit affair filled with erotic tension, painful awakenings and looming violence. Slo...

MJ Greenway

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