Writing Romance Quotes

You can't write any form of fiction unless you enjoy reading it. You must be sincere in your approach. It's no good despising the form. So many people think they could earn some money from writing something for which they have no affection. It won't work. The first thing you have to have is belief. ~ Charlotte Bingham

By about the sixth romance I knew I wasn't in exactly the right place. I liked writing action. And I wanted to write a book with a little more edge than I was allowed in romance. ~ Janet Evanovich

Some people are very unfulfilled. In consequence they write passionately good romance because they believe that they could still find happiness. Emily Bronte was not a fulfilled woman but the passion she felt went into Wuthering Heights. ~ Charlotte Bingham

I write edgy, sexy teen romances, and that's what I'll continue to do. ~ Simone Elkeles

If everybody lived as I do, surely the writing of romance novels would never have come into being. ~ Albert Einstein

We're not mad. We're inhabited ~ Sue Moorcroft

My advice is to write about what you are interested in. If you read science fiction and fantasy, then write in that genre. If you read romance novels, then try writing one. ~ Michael Scott

Knock the bullshit off. Love her like crazy, endlessly, stripped of reserve and preservation. Be out of our fucking minds with love, lust and longing. Belonging. Knock on the door of uncertainty and bounce in anticipation of not knowing what resides behind it. Love whatever comes our way because it's part of us. Love every ugly word and beautiful sigh. ~ Pella Grace

There's a horrible stereotype of both the romance writer and the romance reader as somehow undereducated and unprofessional, when in fact there are a number of incredibly well-educated professional women who have chosen to leave their other careers and go into writing romance. ~ Lauren Willig

To the composition of novels and romances, nothing is necessary but paper, pens, and ink, with the manual capacity of using them. ~ Henry Fielding

My novels are in the literature section as opposed to the romance section of bookstores because they're not romance novels. If I tried to have them published as romances, they'd be rejected. I write dramatic fiction; a further sub-genre would classify them as love stories. ~ Nicholas Sparks

I like to believe my suspense novels marry the strong characters from my romance writing past, with the twisty, clever plots of my mystery writing present. ~ Lisa Gardner

A good part of the physical attraction [between the hero and heroine of a romance novel] comes to life during these exchanges as well, since language creates a meeting of the minds. I have long thought that these lines of dialogue carve out the lines of the central love relationship. The dialogue between the hero and heroine creates the central shape of the story. It is the verbal sculpture. ~ Julie Tetel Andresen

For those who resist the notion that the mainstream is a genre, we recommend that they browse the shelves of their local bookstore. For if the mainstream is not a genre, then it must necessarily embrace all kinds of writing: romance, adventure, horror, thriller, crime, and, yes, science fiction. ~ James Patrick Kelly

A laconic and highly entertaining" novel. "The characters are strong, each showing major evidence of being a product of their respective cultures. Overall, the story is a strong one, with a couple of well-executed twists that succeed in surprising the reader."

- Publishers Weekly judge for the 2014 ABNA Contest, Two Brides for Ewan de Buchan


"I love historical romance novels and this one right off the bat based on the plot/hook made me want to read more. I devoured this...and re-read it twice. It seems like the author has a very good handle on the time period in which this novel is set."

- 2014 ABNA Contest judge, Two Brides for Ewan de Buchan


"I think this is really well crafted and interesting. The plot/hook caught me from the first paragraph. The characters are well done and I really loved the novelist's attention to historical detail...It's a really great romance novel, and is of publication quality. This novelist has a real future in writing romance (or even general fiction) books."

- 2014 ABNA Contest judge, Two Brides for Ewan de Buchan ~ E. Elizabeth Watson

You expect me to come and work for you dressed up as a man?" I gasped. ~ Robert Thier

A writer learns that easy to read is hard to write ... ~ C.J. Heck

I feel sorry for novelists when they have to mention women's eyes: there's so little choice, and whatever colouring is decided upon inevitably carries banal implications. Her eyes are blue: innocence and honesty. Her eyes are black: passion and depth. Her eyes are green: wildness and jealousy. Her eyes are violet: the novel is by Raymond Chandler. ~ Julian Barnes

As for literary criticism in general: I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel or a play or a poem is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae or a banana split. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

You are my heart as it beats within my chest, my soul as it moves through my mind. The breath in my body that so fascinates you is your essence pouring in and out of me in a wave that drowns me over and over again until I cannot breathe for wanting you. Needing you. ~ Jacquelyn Frank

I hope I am not too old to take it up seriously, nor too stupid about machines to qualify as a commercial pilot. I do not feel like spending the rest of my life writing books that no one will read. It is not as though I wanted to write them. *1937 ~ Samuel Beckett

I am a man and alive. For this reason I am a novelist. And, being a novelist, I consider myself superior to the saint, te scientist, the philosopher, and the poet, who are all great masters of different bits of man alive, but never get the whole hog ... Only in the novel are all things given full play. ~ D.H. Lawrence

I'm in good form, taking no interest in things, neglecting clothes, meals, company, and feeling calm and stable as I write. ~ Bertolt Brecht

There was a tempest brewing in his eyes that I wasn't sure I would survive if I stayed in his gaze too long. But he told me with his sure hold that I could trust him and not to run before I'd given him a chance to show him what it was like to ride out the storm. ~ Shelly Crane

If you end your story, it's a static work of art, a finite circle. But if you don't, it belongs to anyone's imagination. It stays alive forever. ~ Jodi Picoult

Suddenly, she burst out, "I want to punch her evil, lying face."
Liam caught a flash of hot gold as Dad looked at them, narrow-eyed, in the rearview mirror. Dad said, completely seriously, "I can make that happen. ~ Thea Harrison

The long nub end of afternoon spent at her keyboard, her hands moving so much slower than her racing mind, The frustrating lag between her thoughts and the hunt and peck; a hot flood of ideas where there had been months of trickling, uncertain sentences, and Sadie trying to keep up with herself, wishing she'd taken typing in high school, scared that this inspiration would grow restless, impatient with her, and slink back to whatever hole it crawled out of. ~ Caitlin R. Kiernan

We all start out with the same alphabet. We are all unique. Talent is not the most important thing
discipline and dedication are. Craft can be learned but desire and longing are innate. Despite the demands of school and just being young, try to write SOMETHING every day
a description, a captured emotion, a simile, a metaphor. Read, for crying out loud! A writer must read the way a ball player must go to the ballfield every day to practice. Everything is possible in this world of ours
and so's publication. ~ Robert Cormier

So...what do you want to do?"
He didn't even have to think about it.
"Kiss you again. ~ Denise Hunter

Pride and love can't live in the same heart; one will surely die. ~ Mykisha Mac

I trust you above all others", he told her. "Above myself". She shook her head, but then leaned into him, as though taking shelter. He drew her close, the crown of her head beneath his cheek. Beyond the hansom's window, New York was an endless rhythm of walls and windows and doors, darkened alleys, flashes of sunlight. he thought, if he could pick a moment to be taken into the flask, a moment to live in endlessly, perhaps he would choose this one: the passing city, and the woman at his side. ~ Helene Wecker

Don't write for money. Write because you love to do something. If you write for money, you won't write anything worth reading. ~ Ray Bradbury

Reading a good book in silence is like eating chocolate for the rest of your life and never getting fat. ~ Becca Fitzpatrick

You are the reason my heart beats. Your love is my lifeline, and I'm not about to give it up - not now - not ever! ~ Emily Rose Philips

Have you ever been friends with a girl before?"
she finally asked. "Friends?"
"Yes. Friends."
"Have a beer and shoot some pool friends? Or the kind with benefits?"
She laughed out loud, shook her head and grinned. "Have you ever been friends with a girl without having sex mixed into the equation?"
"Not since I was sixteen," he admitted and then felt his neck heat. ~ Peggy Jaeger

I was spinning - from the kiss, the alcohol or the lack of air, I wasn't sure, but I knew I needed to pull away if only just to breath. ~ Melissa Aragon

You know you're nuts, right?"
His brother should know him better than to be surprised that when he did something, he went all in.
"No, I'm just that good."
Although when riding a bucking animal that out-weighed a man by ten times, being a little crazy didn't hurt. ~ Cat Johnson

I could always hold a melody, but I was never like, I'm going to be a singer. So I'm able to use that when I write. I'm actually playing the beat with my voice. Instead of thinking about coming up with melodies, it's like filling in the instruments. So sometimes it's better to have beats with less melodies in them, because then I can play more with my vocals. ~ Kid Ink

The sky spoke to him.
It was a language he had never heard before. He was not even certain there were words. Perhaps it only spoke to him in the black writing the birds made. He was small and unprotected and there was no escape. He was caught between earth and sky as if cupped between two hands. They could crush him if they chose. ~ Susanna Clarke

I leave so I don't have to look into your eyes and see that you do not yet love me. ~ Rachel Alexander

Blake smiled while greeting him and turned to introduce me to his friend from Camp Lejeune. Blake made the formal introductions while I studied the two distinguished men. I liked the way they both carried themselves in a dignified manner with confidence, but not too much that they seemed arrogant. I was fascinated by them. Sleek. Forget eye candy. These two are like eye caffeine. I feel energized just looking at them. ~ Debra Kay

Every writer writes in different ways, and so some write the music first, while others write the lyrics first, and some write while they are doing other things, and it is just nice to see how other writers are writing. ~ Valerie June

But if I am not a criminal, I beg to be permitted to go abroad with my wife temporarily, for at least one year, with the right to return as soon as it becomes possible in our country to serve great ideas in literature without cringing before little men, as soon as there is at least a partial change in the prevailing view concerning the role of the literary artist. ("Letter To Stalin") ~ Yevgeny Zamyatin

He was back at the point of departure, at the place that filled writers with dread and excitement, for this was where they must decide which new story to tackle of the many floating in the air, which plot to bind themselves to for a lengthy period; and they had to choose carefully, study each option calmly ... because there were dangerous stories, stories that resisted being inhabited, and stories that pulled you apart while you were writing them ... At that moment, before reverently committing the first word to paper, he could write anything he wanted, and this fired his blood with a powerful sense of freedom, as wonderful as it was fleeting, for he knew it would vanish the moment he chose one story and sacrificed all the others. ~ Felix J. Palma

As for woman, she touches herself in and of herself without any need for mediation, and before there is any way to distinguish activity from passivity. Woman touches herself all the time, and moreover no one can forbid her to do so...
~from Red Queen Black Queen ~ Savannah Rose

I am persuaded that foolish writers and foolish readers are created for each other; and that fortune provides readers as she does mates for ugly women. ~ Horace Walpole

Can't you feel it?"
She could. No question about it. But saying yes felt like a giant leap for them. For her.
"Be brave for me. ~ Jennifer Kacey

I'm only able to write poetry, for the most part, when I have a Muse, a woman who focuses the world for me. ~ May Sarton

If you want to know what you look like, look into a mirror. If you want to know how you think, you should write ~ Dennis Prager

Any great character is the combination of a brilliant actor and the right writing. ~ Brad Falchuk

I would have asked you to let down your hair" turning to regard her with a grin, his teeth a slash of white in his blackened face.
"But it is not quite long enough anymore. ~ Shelly Thacker

In any relationship in which two people become one, the end result is two half people. ~ Wayne W. Dyer

I'm remarrying you, Lil. Fuck, I'd remarry you a hundred times until it stuck. ~ Krista Ritchie

For a writer, it seems a help rather than a hindrance to be at least a little crazy. Who but a crazy person would carve out a very private, quiet place in the world, only to pour his/her innermost thoughts and emotions onto a page for the entire world to examine? Even in fiction, we give a map to our most secret feelings. Why do writers do it? Perhaps because we'd be crazier still if we didn't. ~ Leland Dirks

I despair of ever writing excellent poetry. ~ Isaac Rosenberg

Best series ever so far. - Desi ~ Scarlett Avery

A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it. ~ Samuel Johnson

Nothing prevents our denying life by suicide. well then, kill yourself, and you won't discuss. If life displeases you, kill yourself! You live, and cannot understand the meaning of life - then finish it, and do not fool about in life, saying and writing that you do not understand it. You have come into good company where people are contented and know what they are doing; if you find it dull and repulsive - go away! ~ Leo Tolstoy

Here is a golden Rule ... Write legibly. The average temper of the human race would be perceptibly sweetened, if everybody obeyedthis Rule! ~ Lewis Carroll

O for the gentleness of old Romance, the simple planning of a minstrel's song! ~ John Keats

Once I got to know you, I would come to find it was that I wouldn't want to watch another sun rise or set without knowing you're mine. I don't have a lot to offer you yet, but without you, I'll never be anything. Together, we can do anything, and I promise to keep you safe for all of eternity. ~ Jody Morse

Ah, the trainer with the hands," one of them said. She was very pretty, thick dark hair and even darker eyes. She had a nice body, but it was easy to see she had been having babies. "Lucas talks about you fondly."

Kacey smiled. "Yeah, his shoulder's been giving him shit lately," she said, figuring this must be Fallon, Lucas's wife.

"Yeah, and if you didn't keep him from birching about it, I might have to try and kick your ass. But seeing that he is happy, and you are also a good six inches taller than me and have abs and arms that could squash small children, I'm gonna just say, hey! It's nice to meet you!" she said and everyone laughed as they shook hands. ~ Toni Aleo