BooksBarbecue
Back Long Story Short
Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. EPILOGUE
  55. THANK YOU!
  56. MORE FROM VICTORIA WALTERS
  57. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  58. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  59. ALSO BY VICTORIA WALTERS
  60. Boldwood Ever After
  61. About Boldwood Books

Jake’s second panel thankfully went smoothly. The conversation was good and when it came to questions at the end, most focused on actually asking for writing tips. But there were a couple directed at Jake that made me shift uncomfortably in my seat.

‘What do you think about people who say romances are too predictable, that once you have the meet-cute, it’s too obvious there will be a happy ending?’ one woman asked. ‘I mean, we know you haven’t exactly been complimentary about writing love stories so you must have a view on that?’

Davis chuckled beside me. ‘They are completely predictable.’

‘Why are you here to listen to how to write one then?’ I whispered back, annoyed at him.

‘As if I would need any advice,’ he hissed back.

I just rolled my eyes then leaned forward to listen to Jake’s response to the question.

‘You go into reading a romance knowing there will be a happy ever after, yes, but the journey to get there isn’t predictable. You can relax reading it knowing you’ll get the pay-off at the end but the drama, the conflict, the chemistry, the slow burn in the middle, that’s the story. It’s life itself, isn’t it? It’s about the journey, not the destination. That’s why I haven’t become tired of writing love stories,’ Jake said with passion. Everyone was listening hard. He was so good at speaking. ‘My latest one, that I hope I will be able to bring out soon if you would like to read it, is about two people who meet years previously with no clue that they will become special to one another. It’s called When I Met You and it’s a story of how you don’t know when you meet someone how they will affect your life.’

Glancing around, I was relieved to see some of the readers in the room smiling. One in front of me whispered to her friend that she hoped they could read that book. I smiled. He had made people curious about his novel and that could only help in encouraging his publishers to offer him a new deal for it. I grabbed my phone and quickly typed out a post about what Jake had said and I shared it on the agency’s social media, tagging him. I’d get him to share it afterwards so everyone following him online could read what he said.

The other question that made me nervous was: ‘How do you think you can still give writing advice for romance writers if you don’t respect the genre?’