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Welcome to another fun post in a series of summer guest posts on Brooke Blogs featuring authors and bloggers! Thank you to author D.E. Haggerty for stopping by today. Be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think of the post!
Signs You May Be a Romance Writer in Disguise
by D.E. Haggerty
I don’t consider myself a romance author. I like to think I write funny murder mysteries. But the truth is, I always include romance in every novel I write. Love is a HUGE part of life and can’t simply be left out of a story. Over the years, I’ve found myself writing more and more romance into my stories, which had made me start to question whether I’m really a romance writer.
Are you questioning whether you too are a romance writer in disguise? Here are eight signs to determine whether your novels should be classified in the romance genre:
1. You ask every couple you meet – happy or not – how they met. You surreptitiously take notes as they tell you their story. You then adapt the best stories for a ‘meet cute’ in one of your current manuscripts.
2. If you can’t ask a couple (because you don’t actually know them and you’re not yet at the stage of craziness with your writing to approach complete strangers), you make up a story. For example, several years ago I was in Kanchanaburi (famous due to the Bridge on The River Kwai) visiting various historical sites. I saw an elderly English man and a Thai woman. By the time we finished our visit to the various cemeteries, I’d made up an entire story of how they’d met and fallen in love while he was a prisoner working on the railroad.
3. You stare at good-looking men and wonder how you can add them to your story. I even had one guy at the gym start walking towards me, because I was staring at him that hard. Bonus: You don’t have to worry about getting caught staring. You are an eccentric writer after all.
4. You actually listen when friends begin long and boring explanations of their latest fight with their loved one. While everyone else at the table is staring off into space, you start taking notes on your phone (while pretending to check your email, no one needs to know that you are totally stealing their story).
5. You read tons of romance. Trashy, erotic, clean, paranormal: if it has romance in it, you read it – and call it research. In fact, you’ve been known to hide away with a book for a weekend and claim you’re ‘working’.
6. You study dating websites as if they are the answer to all your problems. You have been known to create an excel sheet detailing the pros and cons of various dating apps. You may even sign up for an app or two – just to see how they work, not to have a look at what the dating pool looks like or anything like that. You’re not a creeper!
7. You ask everyone you know if they are on a dating website. What do they look for in a potential date? What have their experiences been like? Have they had any horrendous dates? Any funny dates? You are totally stealing those stories and making them your own!
8. Your Netflix recommendations are exclusively romance or romantic comedies. You may even admit – only to yourself – that you’ve watched some Hallmark specials. Just for idea gathering, mind you!
If one or two of the above apply to you, then you may be a romance author. If three or more apply, then there’s no doubt – you are definitely a romance author (or obsessed with romance but really is there any difference?).
Searching for Gertrude by D.E. Haggerty
Genres: Historical Romance/Historical Fiction
Published: January 22, 2018
While growing up in Germany in the 1930s, Rudolf falls in love with the girl next door, Gertrude. He doesn’t care what religion Gertrude practices but the Nazis do. When the first antisemitic laws are enacted by the Nazi government, Gertrude’s father loses his job at the local university. Unable to find employment in Germany, he accepts a position at Istanbul University and moves the family to Turkey. Rudolf, desperate to follow Gertrude, takes a position working at the consulate in Istanbul with the very government which caused her exile. With Rudolf finally living in the same city as Gertrude, their reunion should be inevitable, but he can’t find her. During his search for Gertrude, he stumbles upon Rosalyn, an American Jew working as a nanny in the city. Upon hearing his heartbreaking story, she immediately agrees to help him search for his lost love. Willing to do anything in their search for Gertrude, they agree to work for a British intelligence officer who promises his assistance, but his demands endanger Rudolf and Rosalyn. As the danger increases and the search for Gertrude stretches on, Rudolf and Rosalyn grow close, but Rudolf gave his heart away long ago.
How far would you go to find the woman you love?
Buy links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2N1ohmr
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/763765
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/searching-for-gertrude-de-haggerty/1127582485?
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/searching-for-gertrude
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36640624-searching-for-gertrude
About D.E. Haggery
I grew-up reading everything I could get my grubby hands on, from my mom’s Harlequin romances, to Nancy Drew, to Little Women. When I wasn’t flipping pages in a library book, I was penning horrendous poems, writing songs no one should ever sing, or drafting stories which have thankfully been destroyed. College and a stint in the U.S. Army came along, robbing me of free time to write and read, although on the odd occasion I did manage to sneak a book into my rucksack between rolled up socks, MRIs, t-shirts, and cold weather gear. After surviving the army experience, I went back to school and got my law degree. I jumped ship and joined the hubby in the Netherlands before the graduation ceremony could even begin. A few years into my legal career, I was exhausted, fed up, and just plain done. I quit my job and sat down to write a manuscript, which I promptly hid in the attic after returning to the law. But being a lawyer really wasn’t my thing, so I quit (again!) and went off to Germany to start a B&B. Turns out being a B&B owner wasn’t my thing either. I polished off that manuscript languishing in the attic before following the husband to Istanbul where I decided to give the whole writer-thing a go. But ten years was too many to stay away from my adopted home. I packed up again and moved to The Hague where I’m currently working on my next book. I hope I’ll always be working on my next book.
Searching for Gertrude is my twelfth book.Author links:
Website: http://dehaggerty.wordpress.com
Blog: https://dehaggerty.wordpress.com/category/mymusings/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dehaggerty
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dehaggerty
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dehaggerty/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7210211.D_E_Haggerty
Amazon author page: https://amzn.to/2u4QXDY
Newsletter signup: http://eepurl.com/bbmdj9
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DEHaggerty/posts
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/denahaggerty/
Bookbub author page: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/d-e-haggerty
Email: dena@dehaggerty.com
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D.E. Haggerty
Thanks for having me on your blog today. I had lots of fun writing this post!