Sasha Laurens on Writing a Slow Burn Romance

In Youngblood, Kat Finn—a teenage vampire—is suddenly admitted to the Harcote School, a vampires-only elite boarding school. When she arrives on campus, she’s dismayed to see that her ex-childhood best friend, Taylor Sanger, is her roommate. Taylor is the school’s only out queer kid, and she’s had a serious crush on Kat for years, even though Kat is obviously straight (right?). When things at vampire boarding school start getting ~creepy~, the girls grow closer than ever as they team up to unravel the conspiracy at the heart of Vampirdom.

Youngblood is an enemies to roommates to co-detectives to lovers story. Early reviewers have also called it out as a slowburn romance, which I’ve taken as a compliment. I love (and hate) all those excruciating misunderstandings and rationalizations and missed opportunities to just kiss already! On the other hand, I didn’t set out to write a slowburn romance. It arose naturally out of how I combined romance beats with the external plot structure. Since this was my first romance, I relied heavily on Gwen Hayes’s classic Romancing the Beat, which outlines the key beats in a traditional genre romance, and my go-to story structure favorite, John Truby’s Anatomy of Story.

 Here’s a few things I did, using Kat’s arc as an example.

1. The romance plot and the external plot both poke at the same character flaw or wound:

Kat’s main issue is that she believes she has to suppress her true self to fit in, because she believes the alternative is a life of poverty and isolation. The romance plot requires her to realize she’s actually queer and that embracing that can bring her happiness and love, while the external plot forces her to reconcile her burning desire to fit in with Vampirdom’s elites with the growing realization that they’re all actual monsters. Together, these plots force Kat to confront conflicting visions of herself and the world. 

2. The tension with the external plot prevents the romance from moving too fast, too soon:

Because the external and romantic plots attack the same character flaws, they need to advance together. In the lead-up to the midpoint, Kat’s desire to fit in leads her to into “friendships” with Harcote’s mean girls, a relationship with the hottest guy in school, and a prestigious mentorship with one of the most important figures in Vampirdom. Kat’s getting what she always wanted, even if it means pretending to be someone she isn’t. At the same time, her growing relationship with Taylor has her doubting if she’s really been wanting the right things—and Taylor keeps getting her into trouble. Taylor is also pretty clear that she hates Kat’s enthusiasm for Vampirdom. In other words, the romantic plot creates roadblocks and helps raise the stakes for the external plot, while the external plot creates obstacles for the romance.

3. The Dark Night:

The third act of a romance plot is characterized by the characters turning away from each other and from love in a “black moment”. This matches up perfectly with the more generic plot structure that positions a major negative reversal right before the climax. These periods where everything seems terrible and is only getting worse fit together perfectly. Kat’s continued investment in Vampirdom, despite all their detective work has uncovered, finally pushes Taylor to the breaking point and the girls are barely talking. This happens, of course, right when the girls most need to be working together. 

Importantly, this falling out isn’t just a petty miscommunication to reduce the burn speed—it’s about showing them a world without each other, where they return to the character flaws they started with. That world feels a lot less satisfying now that they’ve had a taste of love. Of course, it’s also a world where the darkest outcome of the external plot prevails.

4. The romance climaxes immediately before the external plot:

Kat and Taylor can only take down Vampirdom and their messed up school by working together, and by now, they can only work together if they choose love. They’re stronger together—but only after completing most of their character arc. That’s why Kat only metaphorically embraces her queerness and physically embraces Taylor right before the external plot comes to a head. This plot beat is a classic feature of the romance genre, and I always find it so satisfying.

Just as there are a lot of other elements that go into a slowburn romance—the pining, the close calls where you could have kissed, the accidental touches and glances across the room—there there are a million ways to mix romance into your plot structure. Experimenting with those combinations can make both plots stronger.

Sasha Laurens is the author of young adult contemporary fantasy novels Youngblood and A Wicked Magic. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and has lived in New York City, Michigan and St. Petersburg, Russia. She currently lives in Brooklyn and puts her PhD in political science to use researching protest in authoritarian states.

Elizabeth Maria Naranjo on Traditional vs Self-Publishing: My Experience With Both

In 2014, a few months shy of my 39th birthday, one of my greatest wishes came true. The book I had secretly written in stolen moments and submitted privately to agents and publishers was released as a beautiful trade paperback by a small press out of Utah. 

I had the standard bookstore launch party with cupcakes and coffee, book swag and prizes, and a signing table where I dedicated to friends and family over fifty copies of my debut novel. It was an experience I will always cherish but am unlikely to repeat. 

My latest book, The House on Linden Way, is self-published. There are many reasons why I didn’t continue the traditional route—I spent years focused on short stories; I pursued agents and a Big 5 publisher rather than submit again to my small press; I stubbornly wrote hard-to-sell books like novellas, story collections, and cozy mysteries with teenage sleuths.

Yet once I experimented with self-publishing, quietly uploading a manuscript to Amazon’s Kindle Vella in the summer of 2021, I made a surprising discovery: going indie was fun, and every bit as rewarding. 

While traditional publishing gifted me with status, accolades, and bookstore placement—however brief—self-publishing has given me freedom, control, and a sense of adventure. Here are some more comparisons between the two:

Editing

When it comes to editing, my experience on the different publishing paths has been very much the same: the editor I was assigned as a traditionally published author is freelance now, and I hired her for edits on Linden Way. Before reaching her, both books were extensively edited through several rounds with critique partners. 

Marketing

Marketing has been similar too. For The Fourth Wall, I organized and paid for my launch party, my blog tour, a festival signing, and two Goodreads giveaways. For Linden Way, I’ve also organized and paid for a blog tour and a Goodreads giveaway, although I happily skipped the in-person events; I enjoy online marketing (like this tour!) much more.  

Cover/Title

I had a better experience with my small press than most traditionally published authors in that I was given a voice on both my cover design and my title—things that authors typically have no say in. Still, there was always the understanding that final decisions were not up to me. I do love the way The Fourth Wall turned out, but I prefer being directly involved in the process of choosing a book designer and working together toward the finished product. 

Profits

Between the two publishing paths, self-publishing has by far been the more lucrative, pulling in enough profits for me to pay for professionally designed covers and proofreading for three separate projects. In the fourteen months since uploading my first indie effort, I’ve made four times as much than with my traditionally published book, which was released eight years ago. 

The choice to pursue traditional or self-publishing is a very personal one, and there is no right or wrong answer. Having experienced both, however, my own choice is clear. Despite having a good relationship with my publisher and being forever grateful to them for launching my debut, I’ve learned I’m an indie author at heart. 

Elizabeth Maria Naranjo is the award-winning author of The Fourth Wall (WiDo Publishing, 2014). Her short fiction and creative nonfiction have been published in Brevity Magazine, Superstition Review, Fractured Lit, The Portland Review, Hunger Mountain, Hospital Drive, Reservoir Road, Literary Mama, Motherwell, and a few other places. Her stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best American Essay, and Best of the Net. All links to Elizabeth's work can be found on her website at elizabethmarianaranjo.com.

Khristin Wierman on the Inspiration Behind Buck's Pantry

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. 

Today’s guest for the WHAT is Khristin Wierman, author of Buck’s Pantry

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

For me, the ideas come at random moments—usually when I’m focused on something else entirely. For this book, the first flash came when I was taking a nap. For one of my other books, the first inkling came when I was in the shower.

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

I just started writing scenes. From there, I began to get a sense of what fit in the story and what did not.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

I haven’t had a real reversal, but I’ve certainly felt surprised about where and how the story ultimately went. 

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Not often, but they do come—often when I’m thoroughly enjoying something else entirely. 

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

It’s so interesting you ask that because I’ve got two sort of bubbling in my mind. I’ve started writing scenes from both, and I think I’ll just have to see which one takes flight first.

I have 6 cats and a Dalmatian (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

Rocco, my cat, is the best writing buddy. But he’s my only one. I do have wonderful relationships with my editors and a small group of beta readers, and those help as well. 

Khristin Wierman spent twenty years rising through the marketing ranks of Fortune 500 companies, building a career that was lucrative, ego-boosting, and a little bit soul-crushing. So she quit. And had no idea what to do with her life. Writing novels ensued. She was born and raised in a small East Texas town—which means she came into this world a Dallas Cowboys fan and ardently believes “y’all” is a legitimate pronoun. Some things she enjoys are playing golf with her husband and stepson, poker, yoga, chocolate, the Golden State Warriors, and the daily adventure of life with an adorably imperfect cat named Rocco. She lives in San Francisco, California.