Besties Are the Bestest! Says Chloe Adler
Chloe's Newsletter Signum 🖤🖤🖤🌶️🌶️🌶️
Dear Readers 😍
I’ve spent the past two weeks showing my bestie (D) around Portugal, hi D!!! 👋🏽
I wonder if you all know my author story… if not, and if you’re interested (it’s kind of cool) here goes.
I began writing my first novel in the year 2000 and it took me fifteen years to finish it. I still love the story and the characters but I never ended up publishing it. What happened was that I made every first-time author mistake possible. I wrote and re-wrote the first fifty pages for years without truly learning what I was supposed to be doing. I assumed (incorrectly) that since I had been writing for most of my life, I knew what I was doing. Nope. I had my degree in screenwriting and film production. I thought novel writing was the same as screenwriting. Wrong.
One of my biggest mistakes was leaning heavily into purple prose. Purple prose is when a writer uses overly descriptive language that comes across as showy. This type of writing detracts from the story, calling attention to the writing itself, instead of leading a reader deep into the narrative and smoothly along the character’s path of growth and pain.
Here’s an example of purple prose that I did not write: The crimson orb of the setting sun languished on the horizon, bleeding its final sanguine rays across the undulating tapestry of verdant hills, while the gentle zephyrs caressed the emerald blades, whispering secrets to an indifferent sky ablaze with the gold and vermilion of heaven’s own palette.
Anyway… my first novel (working title: Lizzy) was filled with purple prose but I didn’t know any better. This was also before indie publishing existed and back when you had to submit a physical copy of your printed manuscript to an agent, rather than email it. I submitted the first five chapters and it was rejected.
I put the book down for at least ten years and tried not to think about it. One day I heard about RWA: Romance Writer’s of America (way before the controversies) and thought, “Wow, that sounds like a cool club.” I joined, and met so many amazing people. But the significant moment came when one woman said to me, “What have you written?”
I responded, “I’ve been working on my first novel for fifteen years.”
She said, “What’s taking you so long?”
I explained I had been rewriting it and she said, “Just finish the damn book.” Or something similar.
And that’s what it took. A stranger to call me out on my shit… It was October and she told me about NaNoWriMo (National November Writer’s Month) where you write 50,000 words in the month of November. It’s free to join, and I did. It was the accountability I needed to kick my ass in gear.
I finally finished writing Lizzy, took a month’s break and then wrote another book in a different genre. The following year I wrote a prequel to Lizzy. Luckily I knew, without ever sharing these three books with anyone else, that they weren’t good enough, and I was okay with that.
I looked at it as my unpaid MFA. During that time, I continued attending monthly RWA meetings and soaking up everything I could. There were speakers and classes. I sat in the front, paid attention, took copious notes, learned what to do and what not to do. I read every how-to book I could get my hands on. I ate, drank and slept the hero’s journey. I watched movies and read hundreds of novels to dissect the character’s ARC, the inciting incident, plot points, context shifting midpoint, and the dark moment. I already knew a lot. Six years of film school (aka: a B.A. in unemployment) proffered a strong foundation. But I had to shift my thinking from a ninety page script with zero description to a two hundred and fifty (plus) page manuscript filled with inner dialogue and description, just not the purple prose kind.
Finally in 2016 I was ready. My first four novels basically downloaded into my head, while I was in the shower. I have so many breakthroughs in the shower, you’d think I’d spend more time there.
The imaginary world, the plot, the characters, the conflict, each character’s ARC, and more fully downloaded into my brain like I was a hard drive installing a complete computer program in minutes.
I published the first book, Mortal Desire in 2017. I was beyond proud, and so I did what most new authors do, I told every single person in my life about it. I suspect that most feigned interest out of kindness, or because they knew they were supposed to.
I had learned enough to know it was best not to have anyone who wasn’t a PNR reader buy my book because it would skew the algorithms, and not in a good way. So when my friends asked to read my book, I spent hours and hours learning how to format it for them and then spent even more hours sending each one their very own copy. It took me almost twenty hours to do. I made time for them while working full-time as an acupuncturist and writing the second book in the series.
And you know what? ONLY ONE PERSON READ IT. And guess who that person was!? It was D!!!! He even went on to read all the books in the series!!!! Eventually I gave him signed paperback copies which he still has!!!! 🥰
D also still gets my newsletter, which he subscribed to without being asked. And I only know he’s still getting it because he was showing me something from his email the other day here in Portugal, and I saw my last newsletter in his feed. WOW! How cool is that?
So there you have it, full circle… thank you all so much for reading that story!!
OK, on to the freebies 🤩 but first a poll….
If you haven’t grabbed Surrender yet, please do, it’s only free to you for one more week.
Simone Young has one mission: destroy the infamous BDSM training house that shattered her sister's life. Armed with determination and a carefully crafted alias, she infiltrates this exclusive world to bring down its enigmatic owner, Tristan McCloud.
Tristan built his empire from the ashes of betrayal, his heart sealed behind impenetrable walls. After suffering a devastating loss that nearly destroyed him, he channels his inability to feel into creating perfect power exchanges for others. Control has replaced connection; protocol has replaced passion. He's become a master at orchestrating desire while remaining untouched by it—until Simone.
From their first volatile encounter, Tristan recognizes something dangerously familiar in her defiance—a mirror to his own carefully buried pain. Though he senses her secrets, her unexpected responses to his dominance awakens something he thought long dead: the terrifying possibility of vulnerability.
As Simone's resolve weakens beneath Tristan's unflinching perception, boundaries blur between vengeance and surrender. What begins as infiltration becomes a journey neither anticipated, forcing them both to question whether two broken souls might somehow make each other whole.
When her true identity is inevitably exposed, Simone must choose between the revenge that once defined her or risking everything on a man who's forgotten how to love but might remember—for her.
This scorching, emotionally complex romance explores healing, surrender, and the courage to risk a heart that's forgotten how to feel.
FREEBIE PNR RH from—This month’s Guest Author: Ann Edwards
Austin, Perpetual Fantasy Rock Band
Getting designated to represent the band on a reality tv show, Celebrity Spouse, is not something I ever hoped to do.
Austin
I am the lead guitar player in the rock band Perpetual Fantasy. The producers of the reality television show, Celebrity Spouse, reached out to Wilmington Records for a participant, and I am the patsy.
I, in no uncertain terms, do not want to be a participant. Despite my protests, there is no getting out of it. I do get a glimmer of hope at the suggestion that one of these women could be my fated mate.
Mackenzey
I lead a relatively boring and quiet life. I work an easy job out of the basement of my parent's house, working on buying my own house.
My quiet life gets turned upside down when my sister Macy gets picked for a match-making reality television show.
—If you want to support me and my work I’d be over the moon if you’d consider buying me a coffee. I truly am a starving artist…
Reading, sharing and liking are great ways to show your support as well! I'm super appreciative no matter what!
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Thank you! XOXOXO Chloe
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I can't do the poll since I don't have a bestie.