#romance novel plot

[enbeemagical]

lemme try this again

Hey Tumblr! I'm writing a book. It's 102k words (and counting) of pure queer fantasy and a year's worth of emotions.

It's about a queer kid finding community and support, and then stepping up to defend the people they love. And it's about falling in love and finding yourself, and it's about trust, and connection, and responsibility, and trying to do good in the world. It is also about gay.

Blurb thing:

Destiny has always been alone, self-isolating so that no one will find out about her magic, the same power that she watched a little girl dragged away for nine years ago. Then she meets Vida, a beautiful fae whose kiss sparks something inside her, and Destiny chooses to follow her.

She's not expecting Vida's family to be a werewolf pack. Or that they'll be so welcoming— she was told werewolves are monsters, after all. She's definitely not expecting them to become her own family.

But when Destiny begins to change, it's the wolves who accept him for who he is. And it's the wolves who are the first to see Destiny's magic and swear to protect them, no matter what. And it's up to Destiny to decide what that looks like.

Even if it means changing the world.

(yes the pronoun shifts in the almost-last paragraph were intentional)

And now a quote:

“Don’t you ever want to do something you’re not supposed to? Love the wrong way, be the wrong person, want the wrong things?”

If this sounds like your cup of tea, rb and let me know! I'm not sure when I'll start posting it, there's still a few edits I need to get done, but encouragement will definitely make that happen sooner~

[maddie-grove]

One of my more inflexible opinions is that the term “romance novel” refers to a very specific type of book (distinct from being a romance or a love story or romantic fiction or romantic or, God forbid, Romantic) and that the couple (or throuple, etc.) ending up together and that being presented as more or less a good thing is an indispensable feature of the genre. Not because romance novel readers “can’t handle” another kind of ending (many might enjoy that sort of thing in another genre). Not because a story can only be romantic if there’s a happy ending, either (I do not feel that way and am not making any value judgements here). It’s because the main focus of a romance novel is “how do they get together” and reading a book where the main focus is “will they get together” is an entirely different experience. Just as reading a mystery novel where the focus is “who committed this crime” is different from reading a book where the focus is “will the crime be solved.”

[maureen-corpse]

Reading tweets from the menswear guy on Twitter is fun when he’s pointing out everything wrong with some jerk’s wardrobe, but it’s also a bit disheartening when he does an aside about how well-made suits are constructed with layers to create a particular silhouette that is not dependent upon the wearer’s body, and then also tailoring is getting rarer these days. He continually exhorts people to think about shape and silhouette and fabric, which is good advice for anyone putting on clothes, not just men and not just suit-wearers.

Once upon a time people created a fashionable silhouette with their clothing, and their corporeal forms remained mysterious to most. No doubt everyone harbored the same insecurities we do today (except for any related to social media) but by golly, their blood wasn’t full of microplastics and their clothing wasn’t just straight-up plastic. They actually had fabric to work with, instead of going to a department store and finding out that corners are being cut again and they have to layer seven shirts to keep warm.

Anyway, fashion isn’t real. The clothing people sell these days is poor quality polyester junk. I should make more internet pirate shirts and add them to my wardrobe. My silhouette will be Poofy. My vibe will be Romance Novel Heroine (In A Man’s Shirt For Some Reason, Also Where Is The Other Heroine). I will eventually be able to reliably sew straight lines and one day move on to different lines. Perhaps one day I’ll knit my own socks. Maybe I’ll get sheep and farm-to-table the wool (I am not going to do this)

[space-manatees]

am I painfully aware that the book I’m reading is the same story different font? yes absolutely

am I still loving every second of it and eating it up in under a day? yes absolutely

[tavina-writes]

I'm not exactly sure how I want to phrase this yet, but I think a lot of the utterly weird takes I see sometimes float by me on our cursed blue hellsite (esp when it comes to mdzscql fandom) is coming from a refusal to meet the genre where it's at.

Like, why are we trying to interrogate classism in MDZS society, MDZS is a romance, the societal worldbuilding is just enough to support some general big ideas and the provide context for the romance. We can't get ANY kind of read on general classim/sexism/anything else from. this source material. if you think you can get granular when your sample size of characters from various social and gender strata are so small and we don't know how the vast majority of people in here live you are making stuff up.

Like, meet the story where it's at: it's a romance novel.

[mintjeru]

it probably wasn't the smartest decision to start an ongoing 1000+ chapter webnovel when i know it'll consume my every waking thought but here we are

open for better quality | no reposts

[see-arcane]

From what I understand, you aren't against changes even big ones in a Dracula adaptation as long as it makes sense thematically and aligns with the characters vs He Wouldn't Fucking Say That changes (ala Mina choosing the man who raped and killed her friend). In which case I'm curious to see what changes you'll be making if any, filling in gaps from canon narrations aside! (And canon divergent endings aside)

Stoker left a lot of fun little gaps between the lines and an array of untapped supernatural implications to play with.

I'm going to get Creative.

[magpie-trove]

Actually I don’t think you are actually fr an adult author if you can’t write something without a s*x scene in it

[nellasbookplanet]

This is so funny I was watching this video on the topic of reylo fanfic-turned-traditionally-published-novels (it's a good video, watch it for a frank yet non-judgemental take on the topic) and in curiosity dug out this fanlore list of fics-turned-novels and found multiple novels on it that I've read, enjoyed (one in the last couple of months!) and fully didn't catch the fanfic roots of.

Really highlights the silliness of people who proudly proclaim their unerring ability to pinpoint whether a story started out as fic or not (and then proceed to point out various books completely unrelated to fandom simply because the author has written fic before, such as the locked tomb series or red white and royal blue), or who loudly state the assumed poor quality of said books despite themselves having read non of them.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Do you have any queer historical romance recs? Are there any upcoming 2024 queer historical romances that you’re excited for?

Absolutely, I have recs! As for 2024 books, I'm currently most looking forward to You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian, which is an m/m romance set, I believe in the 50s, set around the world of baseball.

I also just read A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland (out 4/9) which I SUPER recommend if you want a f/f romance set in the 1800s, with a touch of fantasy. It's about a prickly midwife who finds this mysterious woman in the middle of the night, literally about to give birth. She helps her, and her husband turns out to be a local fisherman. But... something isn't right... both with the husband, and with his wife's origins. And when the husband realizes the women are falling in love, he only becomes more possessive. I promise it's romantic and has an HEA and doesn't feature overwhelming sadness (there is domestic and sexual violence alluded to, but it's brief and off the page).

As for historicals otherwise...

M/M

We Could be So Good by Cat Sebastian--set in the same general era and space as the 2024 release, I think, about a pair of reporters slowly and sweetly falling in love, especially after they become roommates (and they were ROOMMATES).

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles--about a guy who moves to the marshland after he becomes a baronet, and has to take care of his estranged father's family left behind. He finds out there is a crime family of smugglers controlling the area, and he rats on them after seeing something sus... But when he goes to testify, who's there to stop him but the guy who he used to anonymously hook up with! JOSS DOOMSDAY. Joss Doomsday is amazing I love him. Super sexy, funny, and definitely focused on a side of England you like, never see in historicals.

The Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ--the standalone followup to the last book. In this case, another title is inherited, and this time the lord's this gruff former soldier. His cousins or something contest his inheritance, and he hires this young, charismatic secretary (especially important because our lord has a hard time reading, which I felt was done in a really touching way). Anyway, the sexual tension boils over and they start hooking up on the low, but there's a SECRET. (Also, the lord is very like "I'M ABUSING MY BOSSLY POWER" while the secretary is like "I mean... abuse it some more.....")

Band Sinister by KJ Charles--kind of a queer sendup of gothics, this is about a young guy whose sister is like, always spying on their scandalous neighbors who hold orgies and shit for the sake of writing her novels. Then she breaks her leg and ends up laid up in the orgy house, and he rushes over like NO ORGIES FOR HER, but he realizes the group of friends is actually super cool, especially the verrrry siiiiiilky smoooooth one who's just soooooo suave. So good, and especially interesting in that, while I would definitely not call this a poly romance, it does explore the complexities of open relationships and polyamory.

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian--Kit is a retired highwayman running a cafe, and suddenly this vERRRY pretty nobleman comes in flashing his very nice ankles and asking Kit to steal this mysterious book from his dad. Kit refuses, but agrees to teach Percy how to steal. Both are great, but omg PERCY is AMAZING. He's kind introduced as somewhat like... conventionally more on the femme side, but he's like a secret swordmaster, and also takes the lead with Kit sexually a lot. One of my favorite moments in this book is when he's blowing Kit and Kit thinks he's gone too deep and is like "SORRY" and Percy rolls his eyes and makes Kit grab his hair and start facefucking him lmao. Also has nice demi rep in Kit.

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall--A frosty duke proposes to a woman he was always supposed to marry, and she subsequently goes on the run. He then has to pair up with her dramatic, fanciful twin brother. It's a really funny romcom, with a ridiculous duel that had me wheezing. Plus a semi-cultlike group of lesbians? Also, enthusiastic ass eating.

F/F

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera--A cold vamp widow wants this business deal with a fun and flirty heiress, and the heiress agrees to make the deal... If the vamp agrees to show her LESBIAN PARIS. Hot, and both of the leads are Latina.

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall--Adding this even though it definitely has a good dose of fantasy, because it's like... Jane Austen meets a Midsummer Night's Dream, with an emphasis on the fairies. This young deb ends up hexed so her dress is unraveling at a ball, and as she hurries into the pushes, she meets the mysterious Lady Duke, who's rumored to have murdered her brother and father. They begin this push and pull of seduction. It's both funny and kind of dramatic.

Trans/Nonbinary

Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall--the standalone followup to Something Fabulous. The runaway fiancee's ex, the genderfluid Peggy, is roped by said ex into attending an opera. The ex wants to seduce Orfeo, this gorgeous castrato soprano, and when they open their mouth to sing Peggy, who's very gruff and in control typically, faints. Orfeo is naturally like "WHO'S THAT" and begins pursuing Peggy rather than the ex. One of my favorite books, so funny (at one point they accidentally incite a gay orgy) with a hint of melancholy and great sex. Also, it has one of the most unique sex scenes I've ever read.

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian--a bisexual marquess makes a new friend in this young dandy in town. They kiss, and he thinks his friend is going to blackmail him... But the friend, Robin, turns out to be chamber maid in disguise! Except they're actually not a man or a woman, and don't want to live as a woman. It becomes as an FWB thing, but naturally our romantic hero falls in love and things become Fraught. Has one of my favorite "resentfully horny" moments, when Alistair is watching Robin from across the ballroom, and they pull a glove off with their teeth, and he's like "THAT IS IMPROPER" and wants to fuck them so bad.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall--Viola faked her death at Waterloo in order to live as her true self. Years later, she's pulled into helping her old best friend, the Duke of Gracewood, who's suffering from a chronic injury and severe depression following the battle. At first he doesn't recognize her... at first. Has an absolutely INCREDIBLE moment of recognition, and I really like that it's this romping old school type romance with a trans heroine.

Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa--this one is actually a YA Pride and Prejudice retelling, highly recommend if you're open to it. In this case, the Lizzie character is actually Oliver, a trans boy, and he and Darcy fall in love--molly houses are included in this, which I really like. It's not super about historical accuracy, which I personally dgaf about, and it's very sweet and funny and warm. Also, the author is a trans man.

Queer Polyamory

Scandalous Passions by Nicola Davidson--FFM. A king's former mistress is sent away because the queen hates her, and is also asked to care for the king's ward. She and the ward begin to give in to their attraction, and at the same time their escort is this much-feared knight (who's really quite subby) who's been in love with the older heroine for years. And then he begins falling for the ward as well.... Super sexy medieval, with Dom/sub overtones.

Their Marchioness by Jess Michaels--A playwright is asked to a marquess and marchioness's home... Turns out he and the marchioness were in love before she was forced to marry the marquess. Fortunately, she and her husband are now very much in love, and he's basically gifting her a tryst with her old love for her birthday. Then he joins in... and it begins being more than sex. Has some bi awakening stuff.

M/F with Bi leads

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian--a standalone followup to Kit Webb. Percy's stepmother Marian is having a correspondence with a blackmailer, who unbeknownst to her is her odious husband's secret son. He ends up falling in love with her as they go back and forth with letters, so when she ends up in trouble and on the run, he comes to "save" her, only to find that Marian ain't that girl. Both leads are bi, and the sex is really cool and interesting because Marian doesn't like penetration due to trauma surrounding her pregnancy and labor. So she penetrates him (among other things) instead.

Hugo and The Maiden by S.M. LaViolette--a successful sex worker ends up being transported and washing ashore after a shipwreck. He's very snarky, but finds himself up against the vicar's uptight and uncompromising daughter--but he still has enemies lurking. Hugo is openly (for the day) bi and services both men and women. I really liked that even as he fell in love, his bisexuality wasn't like this background thing--he sees a guy he likes at one point and is basically like "if I wasn't taken......."

Any Duke in a Storm by Amalie Howard--a spy (who's also kind of a lady pirate) ends up being attracted to her super rakish and slutty first mate. She's bisexual, and one of the women on her ship is her former hookup (still her friend), which I like.

Melissa and The Vicar by S.M. LaViolette--a madame goes to a small village to recuperate and de-stress, and ends up falling in love with a virginal vicar she's so sure she can't have. Melissa is bisexual, and I thiiink a woman she used to be involved with is on the page? Her hero, Magnus, kind of has a "oh shit am I bi?" moment when Melissa tries to fake him out by pretending she's hooking up with Hugo. To be fair, everyone wants to fuck Hugo.

In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation--a scandalous woman begins chasing her sister (who ran off with a Bad Man) along with her brother's best friend, who's secretly in love with her. Margo is bi, and her relationships with women are one reason why she's considered scandalous~.

[lloydfrontera]

male authors, writing m/m friendships: their bond will develop through hundreds of chapters, we will get to see each stage of their budding relationship, they'll constantly be in each other thoughts, their first instinct will always be to reach for the other, their first worry will always be the other's safety, they'll spend every minute of the day together, they'll be complete opposites and yet perfectly compliment each other, they will put everything they ever loved in risk just to keep the other safe, they will give their life without hesitation to save the other's, they will fight and argue and tease and joke around but they will always be at each other's side at the end of the day, they will plan to spend the rest of their lives together, sharing the happy moments and the hard times, the idea of being without the other being unthinkable, the thought of being always together coming naturally, as easy as breathing.

the same male authors, writing m/f romance: she'll like,, smile once at him and he'll start thinking of marrying her and having children with her idk

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Actually kind of tired of seeing people qualify shows as QL or queer coming-of-age instead of BL when they’re perceived to depict any aspect of the gay experience beyond two guys just falling in love.

[milkbreadtoast]

im rereading the twsb novel from the beginning and its so so good... and every single minute detail of cedric's slowburn developing crush on prince jesse(yeseo) makes me feel like im lit on fire...... also its even better on 2nd read im catching more details and that i missed/forgot and AAAAAH

ALSO I MADE THIS CONNECTION AND... HNNGFHHH... I LOVE TWSB... thank u for resetting the timeline... 🥹😭 AAAAH THE LGBTNESS OF IT ALL. IM IN FLAMES

also: 🫠🫠🫠🔥🔥🔥 (not posting excerpts but this is all from ch 15)

[albatris]

is the plot of rentalcar the plot of rentalcar or is the plot of rentalcar nat and quinn's little situationship

[rhyaxxyn]

𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐊𝐘

𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅, “𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉?” “𝑨 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚. “𝑨 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆.” “𝑵𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔,” 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒅. “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰’𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚.”

𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

GENRE: New Adult (16-25) / High Fantasy SUB-GENRE: Romance / SciFi / Action POV: Third Person (Multi) / Past Tense THEMES/TROPES: Freedom and Sacrifice, Power and Corruption, Prejudice, Colonization, Faith, Dark VS. Light, Soulmates, The Divine and The Demonic STATUS: First Draft

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒

Ruled by Her Divine Majesty Heather since its creation, the planet of Kaleis and the Phantom Empire are in the peak of their power, beacons to their allies and the creatures of the light. Alongside her Soul Guardian, Quinn, Heather is untouchable, unkillable, and she has been for billions of years. One fateful mission puts a key in her hands though; and it is the key to her mind, her soul, and her freedom. And after one fateful mission, fables of the night and the demons who guard it come alive. Divinity alone won't be enough to save Heather as the Evernight Kingdom sends its beasts after her--creatures able to take any form, any face. In the dark, Heather must be willing to test the limits of her immortality to ensure the unending night and its red sun don't eclipse her universe, but the safety of the universe may cost everything she has... And everything she's hoped for.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬

HEATHER: The Queen Divine of the Phantom Empire and Queen of Kaleis. The Creator. Chronic sufferer of prophecies and fates. Universe's first ever bleeding heart, murderous for what matters most to her. A songbird in a bloody, gold cage.

QUINN: The God of Light, the First Sun, the Commander of Kaleis and the Phantom Suns. Heather's most trusted advisor and protector, and arguably the most horrifying thing in the universe. No good with affection or apologies. Would do anything for Heather.

VAIRALYN: The Dark Queen of the Phantom Empire and Queen of Mu, has died and resurrected so much she stopped counting, all beside her wife, and once beside her brother; Kraigyn. Haunted by memories she cannot recall. Haunted by a dark she doesn't know.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒-𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬

CLAIRWYN: The Pride Saint, the eldest Evernight brother, and High King of Evernight Empire. Once fabled by the Phantom Empire, he has had billions of years to grow his strength alongside his six brothers. Hard to distinguish who he loves from what he controls.

KRAIGYN: The Muan Tyrant King and prophet of the Evernight brothers. Once betrothed to Heather, he betrayed her and his sister Vairalyn to secure his spot at his Saints' sides. Maddened by power he doesn't understand, and a goddess who can never love him.

BAHRO: The eldest brother of the infamous Vestre beast siblings. Has done and will do anything to protect his little sister and sibling. Betrayed Sidereus for the sake of its survival, and is ready to betray the divine to protect what he loves.

𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆

KALEIS: Home of the Original Six gods and her Divine Majesty Heather. Has held and led the Phantom Empire for billions of years after the surrender of Mu. A leader in military, trade, agriculture, textiles, and diplomacy. A diverse, massive planet, though it possesses a shared language and religion thanks to its divine leaders.

PYNACINIUM: Kaleis's capital to all its nations and governances. Home of the Original Six and Heather, as well as the Palace of Pynacnium.

SIDEREUS: The home planet of the demon race of shifters, or veles. Long ago colonized by the Evernight brothers, much of its distinctive culture and language was wiped out among the masses, though its old-faith priests still try to preach of the divine and their Path to the Niedostepny. Sidereus's survival is left in the hands of the Vestre family, one of the first shifter families, who have slaughtered thousands if not millions to ensure the Evernight brothers don't do worse to their home.

NOTE: Hello! I'm so excited to be posting about this novel! It is, in my opinion, my magnum opus, granted every new book I write feels that way. After a very grating start to this book, it is already at 120K words, so she's gonna be a big one, but I'm excited to share more about Altars In the Sky, particularly my baby girl anti-hero, Bahro Vestre.

[halimamis]

This-is-trash phase

Don’t worry if you think your writing is terrible. That’s what editing is for. In fact, every masterpiece has probably been through at least one 'this is trash' phase before becoming great. Consider your trash phase character-building for both you and your story.