Hello again, ,

I’m part of a very special event for romance writers this week, and my session kicks off the whole event! It's going live right after the conference welcome on Wednesday at 9:00am PT / 12:00pm ET / 4:00pm UTC!

When the host, Sue Brown-Moore, asked if I wanted to talk about how to wrangle your inner critic, I said yes. Enthusiastically.

Because I know this is a topic that every writer—whether working on their first or twenty-first book—struggles with. Even with over a dozen books now published, I still have to use some of the strategies I share in the talk (and the book I wrote about using brain science to finish your writing your book!)

Did you know that it took me almost ten years to write my first manuscript, through several iterations, until it was ready to become my debut novel?

Okay, it only took me eight years to write, but getting up the courage to actually publish it took two more! And the only reason I hit publish when I did was because I was facing down my fiftieth birthday and knew that my dad would have been disappointed in me (not) acting from a place of fear.

When Dad was diagnosed with stage-four, non-small cell carcinoma he finally decided to act on something he'd wanted to do for decades: write a thriller novel in the style of John Grisham.

Dad was a huge reader—in the romance world he'd have been a whale reader—buying hard cover copies of every book published by Grisham, Clive Cussler, Lee Child, Ian Flemming ... you get the idea!

Dad knew I'd been working on a novel for years at that point. So he asked me to be his accountability partner. I took my mess of a manuscript and opened a new document to start writing with him. I drew on the same themes I'd been working on in a book I'd called Drinking Scotch with Strangers. And Dad started the story he'd been playing with in his head for years.

Every weekend we'd share our pages like critique partners then get on the phone and encourage each other to keep going. My story became Mother Teresa's Advice for Jilted Lovers. The fact that Dad was my first reader is one of the sweetest memories I have of my adult relationship with him.

He made it to the end of his manuscript, having written a good scrappy rough draft. The characters and the plot were solid and well-developed. It was a political thriller in which the Parliament Building in Quebec is the target.

But Dad died before he could edit his story.

Five years later, having had my book professionally edited, I decided I owed it to him to finally indie publish my book. The rest, as they say, is history.

That experience with my dad is a core reason why I'm so committed to helping writers wrangle their inner critic—and not just at the writing stage, at the "holy crap, now you want me to share the story with actual readers?" publishing stage, too!

So, if you wanna write romance, I hope you'll come to hear my conversation with Sue on Wednesday morning. And of course, catch all of the other fabulous romance authors' workshops and talks.

There are two types of tickets at Wanna Write Romance. 

🕖 If you’re on a budget, grab your free registration and set aside some time to watch the pre-recorded sessions each day of the conference. You’ll have 48 hours from the scheduled air time to watch each one.

🔥 If you want the full experience, upgrade to the Spark Pass after you get your free ticket. The Spark Pass unlocks access to all the sessions, including the live workshops and real-time networking. (You also get a free Bonus Bundle with complimentary courses, services, and ebooks.)

If you wanna join us—and feel good about the romance books you write—don’t put off registering (it’s free)!

Get your free ticket (or learn more) here.

See you at WWR2024!

xo,

Danika