Clean Romances discussion

Hi lovelies!

Olddddd school romance writer here from back in the day when a first-person blurb was considered a sin against nature (ok, maybe just something that wasn't done).

It's been suggested that my quirky, sweet rom coms get a description makeover to make the first person story have a first-person blurb on the book page.

READERS - WHAT DO YOU THINK? Does that turn you off? Interest you? You might not even notice?

I'd love to hear!

It sounds like an interesting challenge (potentially confusing at first for an unwary reader) that has good potential! I think there might be greater immediacy to a first-person blurb that could draw the reader into the idea of the story. But it would have to be written in such a way that the reader wouldn't mistake it for an author bio or blog piece.

I've found that Abigail knows what she is talking about, so I'd trust her judgment = I agree with her!

Wow--pressure! {giggle} thanks for the kind words, Anna.

Well, we're giving it a shot with the first book! We'll see how that goes - thanks ladies :)

Please post the result here so we can see how it came out! I'm curious.

I got help from an Amazon top 100 friend and it's SO different from the third person ones I typically write, but it's already getting attention, so ... I guess she knows what she's talking about ;)

Here's the first book:


Get a date for the big gala in four weeks when I thought I could go solo? Challenge, accepted.

Now to find a hot, interesting guy who will dress up for a gala. Last minute. Who doesn't already have plans on the busiest date night of the year.

But, so far the best part of the search for a great date has been the cute café I found and the geeky-hot owner who keeps rescuing me from these crazy eLove.com dates.

This should be easy-peasy. The internet is the home of all your hopes and needs, right?

Spoiler Alert: it isn't.

Between the bromance date and the crazed single dad who needs to hire a nanny and housekeeper, not get a date, I'm running out of options.

If only a certain cutey didn't have a phone call with "sweetheart" every day.

The weirder things get, the more I think just going solo is very I Am Woman, blah blah blah. Forget about the fact that my heart keeps bringing me back to a certain café even when I don't need to be there...I mean, my heart doesn't always get what it wants, does it?

Interesting! Kind of a teaser approach. Thanks for sharing! I think it does effectively lay out the scenario, though it left me wondering what was the name of the café owner.

Two tiny copyediting notes if I may (because I was a copy editor for forty years or so): no comma after “But” at the beginning of the sentence and “Internet” should have an initial capital letter, per Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, the standard for most publishers.

One HR I read had 3 characters who spoke out loud in the 1st person singular!
It got confusing. Could other characters hear them? What was the rationale of the author for using this approach?

HR-ML wrote: "One HR I read had 3 characters who spoke out loud in the 1st person singular!
It got confusing. Could other characters hear them? What was the rationale of the author for using this approach?"

Ooo, that would be very confusing, as well as a big no-no. If you're going to write in first-person, always, always keep to one character, or the reader will just finally toss your book across the room (I know, I have). That writer may not have known about this hard and fast rule. They probably should have gone with third-person limited. Even then, it's best to keep it to the two main protagonists, or it will start to feel like you're in the middle of a corn maze.

Hi Addison----

".....the middle of a corn maze." LOL! I'm all for innovation and creativity, but an author should keep the reader interested. It was an irritating diversion.

HR-ML wrote: "Hi Addison----

".....the middle of a corn maze." LOL! I'm all for innovation and creativity, but an author should keep the reader interested. It was an irritating diversion."

More than just interested, but CONNECTED. It's hard to do when you're ping-ponging back and forth, the writer going from 1st to 3rd to Omni. Like I said, it really just going back to the writing basics, and I think a lot of new writers forget this.

Hi Addison----

Connected is a better word. I usually give a new to me author 2-3
chances (books) to spark my interest. This one may be an exception for me.