Robin Roseau
Author of Lesbian Fiction

I don't know how unique I am. Probably not very, at least on this topic -- trigger points in fiction. My trigger points don't cause PTSD flashbacks or anything like that, but they can leave me circling around and around, trying to resolve the trigger. I don't always succeed.

Sometimes those points are so dominant that they don't go away. I've written one of those -- the way Nori treats Maya in the first few chapters of Amazon: Companion. I rewrote and rewrote the scene in Malora's tent, trying to resolve the issue, trying to find a way the book didn't end after 50 pages. It's been 13 years, I believe, and that still bugs me. I haven't forgiven Nori, even if Maya has.

My biggest trigger in fiction, however, is based on betrayal. Friends who betray friends, or authority figures who betray their offices. If I start to read someone else's book, and either of those are a major theme, then either it better become darned clear very early on the person isn't going to get away with it, or I'll probably put it back. I read for escapism, not to grow angry.

Most of my reading is via Kindle Unlimited, and I'm more than happy to stop reading for any number of reasons. Poor writing is my main reason, but too much reality is another. I don't know how often I put a book back, but it's probably once a month, on average.

Years ago, I read a book where the betrayal happens fairly deep in the novel. I finished the novel, but today while I was supposed to be working, my mind thought of that book, and it got me annoyed all over again. I'm not going to out the book or author, although people may figure out what I'm talking about from a few clues. Possibly. In the story, the main character is betrayed in about the worst possible way, in a fashion the MC will lose her wife, her status, and if she ever returns home, probably be arrested and possibly executed. And the betrayer looked her in the eye while doing it, pretending to be absolutely the best of friends.

I should add the MC had earned that friendship, earned it in the most dramatic of ways.

But it's not the betrayal that gets me. It's what happend after that. The MC told the betrayer exactly what she thought of her, and the word "coward" was used. Now, at this point, I think the author had written herself into a corner, much like I did with Nori and Maya, and she wanted a resolution. So how did she handle it?

The betayer demanded single combat to resolve the dispute and then won.

Fine. So be it. But the part that gets me is the MC then forgave her. It was the sort of thing you don't forgive.

Winning single combat doesn't earn forgiveness.

I read all this at least a decade about, probably about the same time that Nori was abusing Maya. And just like I've never forgiven Nori for it, I don't forgive the betrayer, and I haven't really forgiven the author for it, either.

Which is absolutely ridiculous. It's fiction. It's just a book.

Talk about hanging onto things I should have let go of a long, long time ago.

When I read fiction, I usually become emotionally invested. I've always felt that was pretty standard, although when I asked a friend recently, either I asked my question incorrectly, or this isn't universal.

I've been reading a series for the last few days. It begins dramatically, and over the course of the series, grows increasingly dark. Depressing. And this has a direct effect on my emotional state even when not reading. I hadn't put two and two together until this morning.

If I didn't have faith the series will have a happy ending, I'd stop reading. There's one volume remaining. I'm fairly sure good will triumph over evil, because that's how things go in fiction.

But this all has me thinking about other things.

Good Fiction

As an author, I have a responsibility to write good stories. That's probably simple or trite. But it makes me think about what makes a good story. I think every author, or at least the authors who have thought about this, have their own answers. I imagine there's overlap. I'm going to share the things I think are important.

I'm going to assume the author makes an attempt at the basics of writing. Sentences are gramatically correct, there are reasonable paragraph breaks, and the author has made a reasonable attempt to resolve as many of the inevitable typing mistakes as possible. I'm also going to skip some of my pet peeves, the most common of which is writing in present tense. I'll put books back for that. Is it petty? Maybe. I know there are people who hate books written in first person, which I've never understood. I feel first person writing pulls you into the story.

So to start off, I believe good fiction has a main character that the reader either wants to be or wants to spend time with. This is obvious, but unless someone says it, maybe it's not something everyone thinks about it. I can't take credit for it. I'm repeating something others have said.

Secondly, and what seems obvious, but it's also not really talked about (that I've seen), is that a story has a beginning, middle, and end. Okay, we learned that back in middle school. But in this case, that means the character doesn't just exist. She goes through change. She learns. Maybe she suffers. By the end of the book, she's not the same person in the same place as she was at the beginning.

I don't know if I do both of the above consistently. I feel I do, but someone else may disagree with me.

And then we get to one of my pet peeves, one that has led to several of my own series even existing: the main character absolutely must be the primary driver of her life. She shouldn't just be a passive observer as the world happens to her. Even in adversity, she takes control of her life.

Being True

Above are the basics, but I think there's something else. I don't know if I've talked about this in the past. In a story, the story should be true to itself, and characters should be true to themselves.

Lara is a protector, and Michaela needs to be free. It would be quite out of character if she stops protecting, and it would be equally out of character if Michaela is passive about it. I think I've talked about this once or twice in the past.

A few times, I've compromised on this, which usually involves rewritting and rewritting. Do you remember Amazon Companion? The day Maya meets Queen Malora, there is a conversation in Malora's tent. Maya is still bound and angry Angry and scared. I don't know how many times I rewrote that scene, and even when I was done, I wasn't that happy with it. For there to even be a story, that scene needed to resolve (at least for now) the legitimate dispute Maya had with Nori and Malora.

After all, by the time she's brought into the tent, there were very few ways the story could go. Either Maya passively accepted what had happened to her so far, or they had to let her go (which ended the story a lot faster than the author wanted), or they had to further abuse her until they broke her spirit. Or kill her.

I rewrote and I rewrote, trying to find a resolution. I wrote that more than ten years ago, and I'm still not satisfied. Nor have I ever really forgiven Nori for what she did. How is that for something to tell my therapist? "I've held a grudge with one of my imaginary characters for over a decade."

I found an excuse, a way out of the corner I had written myself into. I don't think I did a very good job of it. I don't think I did that great a job when Michaela was struggling to understand bride kidnap night. Yes, I rewrote that repeatedly as well. I don't think I did that good a job in the first of the Selected series, but that's worthy of a pretty long post itself. I've written previously how that series came about, however, and I was working within a framework from the story I was rewritten, Robin Roseau style.

Conclusions

I'm sure there are other things I could talk about under the basic heading of good fiction. I could probably talk about mood swings, too. I don't know if I really have any conclusions. As I stated at the top, I'm in a mood, and I just wanted to think about something else for a while, touching base with all of you in this very strange way that we stay connected.

I hope you're all well. Robin.

I'm still here and still writing. I'm sorry I haven't published lately. Things are coming. I promise.

But that's not why I'm writing this update. I'm in a mood. I read a lot, and I finished volume 1 of a series -- for which volume 2 is not yet out, and it ends in a cliffhanger. Sigh.

While the cliffhanger is annoying, it's not why I'm in a mood. Look. We're all flawed individuals. Some of us are more flawed than others. I don't know where I fall in that list. Somewhere in the middle, like most people, I suppose.

One of my flaws, one that is far from unique to me, as that sometimes I can't let go of something that gets in my head, especially when it annoys me. This seems to happen to me with books far more than it should. It's just a freaking book! Get over it.

But I've been reminded why I avoid reading fated mate books.

I have a few disjoint thoughts I should share. I read a lot -- my work, other people's work. I tend to prefer science fiction and fantasy, which y'all can guess from the types of stories I usually write. And like just about every reader, I can struggle to find "the right book". So I'll lower my standards.

I'll even read -- shudder -- hetero romance urban fantasy. Yes, I consider that lowering my standards. I like KN Banet, though. (No, I'm not ranting about one of her books.)

And I'll point out that a fair amount of my work came about because I read something that pissed me off to no end, and I had to rewrite it, Robin Roseau fashion. The entire Selected series is one good example. That series hasn't been popular with everyone, but I do get fanmail about it, so at least some people like it.

And I've read a small number of Reverse Harem novels. That's probably where some of the poly in my more recent work is coming from. RH comes up a lot in my Amazon suggestions, which annoys me because what I really wish would come up is the same concept with all women. Now that would be far more fun.

I've read even fewer Fated Mate stories, and today I'm reminded why. The few I've read have all been hetero. And in the few I've read, most if not all of them, the guy is always a jerk.

The book I just finished, in addition to ending on a cliffhanger, is a Reverse Harem, Fated Mate story. With a cliffhanger. And yes, at least some of the guys are utter dicks besides. But they all have huge boy-parts, so that makes it better somehow, right? Gag.

And the cliffhanger? More jerks. Great.

I really want to stop thinking about this, because if I don't, I'm going to have to do what I've done in the past -- take the basic tropes and write it in my own style. And I have enough on my plate.

On My Plate

Speaking of plates...

I have 5 or 6 books I could probably publish today, but I haven't been babysitting the beta process. Which means if I publish, they're in various stages of working their way through that process. I don't have the full list, although none of them are in the list of things you've all been waiting for.

In the works... I started writing Seer 4 (which doesn't have a better title yet) years ago. And in it, Sidney has a vision dream about Michaela.

Which means I have to publish that book before I can publish Michaela's next book. Yes, the next Sidney book will have some foreshadowing for the next Michaela book.

I have one and three quarters of the next 2 Tri-Vega stories. They are very different from the first.

More books are coming. I really should spend a couple of hours this long weekend seeing if I can hit Publish on something.

These are just some teasers. Do enjoy. All these books have a first draft. Some are in beta.

Yikes. My last entry was in September. I've been writing up a storm, and I really, really need to push some of these books out the door. I'm writing. I really am. Just not on my blog.

I'm working on a new novel, and I found myself using AI to help me with research, enough I thought I should talk about it. I began writing a bit of a foreword for it, but it was getting out of hand, so instead, I wrote an article.

So, I reworked the website slightly. I removed some very dated, 10-year-old content. And I added a new section called Articles. So far, it only has the AI article, but I'm also periodically going to write about the writing process. Just not today.

If you want to know how I use AI when I write, You can click here. It's a bit long.

Okay, I have a question for y'all. I have a couple of series I've written in the last few years: The Greenwood Academy (the Mage books) and Tri Vega. I get inquiries as to whether there will be more in either series, and I'd enjoy spending more time on both. I'm pretty pleased how both turned out.

The thing is, I sort of worked out the basic idea. In both, a young woman goes to school. For one, it's high school. College for the other. They each have adventures. I pretty much worked through the basic premise of each book. I don't write police procedural books, so expanding Greenwood Academy in that direction isn't something I want to do.

So, I'm getting to something. If I wrote another book in either series, it may not be a continuation of either story so much or a similar story told from someone else's perspective. For instance, I could send another teenage girl to Greenwood Academy, but she would have her own adventures -- and they wouldn't remotely be as violent as Mia's were. There would be a lot that would mirror Mia, though -- the exposure to the school, the fitting in, the new friends.

Another Tri-Vega story would be the same thing -- a new girl having her own vampire sorority exposure.

That seems formulaic. On the other hand, maybe there's nothing wrong with that, as long as I do what I can to make the characters different. I'm actually not sure how good I am at that.

So, what do you think? Would you enjoy if these series continued, even if the books were all pretty similar -- parallel stories that didn't really advance any sort of ongoing story arc?

Drop me a note if you have an opinion. You can click the Contact Robin link up at the top.

I've been pretty quiet lately. I've been writing. I just haven't been publishing.

I love to write. I love spending time with my characters, getting to know them, sharing their experiences. I absolutely love it.

And I love my beta readers. I love my fans.

What I don't like is the work portion of writing. Edits. The parts that take discipline. And so, when I have the choice of writing or doing edits and paperwork, I write.

But the image at the top is a hint. Click it.

I just want you to know, I have a lot of things I am about ready to get out the door. Believe it or not, I actually wrote a short and several novellas. Coming soon...

This isn't big news, but I thought I'd let you know -- we're now hosted on an updated server. You shouldn't notice any differences, although I'm working hard on building a better system overall. Several better systems, really.

I haven't published recently, but I have been writing. I didn't realize it had been this long. Ressaline Crown went out in December. I have a couple of books with the betas, and an untold number in progress.

To all my loyal readers, I remain so thankful.

I hit publish... Click the link to be taken straight to the new book.

(Please don't hate me. It's Annabelle's fault. Truly. Or maybe Carissa's.)

---

And in case you missed it, this went out a while ago. As of this entry, the book has an average rating on Amazon of 4.6 stars.

Just Hit Publish

I just hit Publish on another book, but I haven't updated recently, so it's time. Let's do this is chronological order.

October 16

These all went live October 16.

October 24

Selected Halloween went live October 24

December 7

Selected Competition will be live December 7 or 8.

What Is Coming Up

I have a bunch of completed first drafts. The beta readers haven't seen any of these yet. I'm just going to mention them briefly and then get back to editing.

• Jaguar Choice takes up where Jaguar left off.
• Starry-Eyed Adventurer is about a young girl who experiences something no young girl should experience.
• Ressaline Crown is the last intended book in the Flarvorian Royals story arc from the Ressaline universe.
• In hiding -- a working title. This is in response to a style of books that have been showing up in my Amazon feed lately, a style that has left me unsettled. This is my response, which pretty much turns the tropes in question on their ear while otherwise being a fairly typical Robin Roseau novella. Yes, Novella. I haven't written many of those lately.

If you're wondering why books haven't been making it out to Amazon very regularly, it's because editing is a pain, and when the muse is sending books at me, I don't ignore her. That's four completed books waiting for edits and then beta readers.

In Progress

I have a lot in progress. Bree's next book. Michaela's next book. Nori's book. A sequel to the Club Underhill book, although this one is really just a bunch of erotic encounters loosely tied together with a black bow. Hey, we all need something fun to read before bed, yes? I have a fun little Selected book I started in November. And I have a sort of sequel to Tri-Vega. Oh, speaking of Tri-Vega, I still need to rewrite the ending, as the beta readers hated it.

I have something with a working title of The Teacher that's about 30% complete. I have the next Seer novel started, as well as A Darker Brew. There's progress on the next Privateer. And I have something new called Through the Portal that has some good work in it.

Yallamenara's final book will get some attention eventually.

And Cupid is going to finish her first novel someday, too.

Web Site Supports https

Well, finally, after all these years, the web site now supports https:. It was a little rocky, with robinroseau.com working but robin-roseau.com not working. Both should now work. Hurray!

I apologize to those who discovered an inoperable web site.

At the Betas

Two more Selected books are now at the beta readers and should be out soon. The readers are getting back to me faster than I'm applying their suggestions and sending them on to the next reader. That's because I've been busy writing.

Almost Ready

I wrote a vampire sorority book, called Rush. The betas universally hated the ending. I need to rewrite about 2 chapters. Once I do, it will be out the door. Expect it this fall.

In Edits

I have two similar books in edits, not quite ready for the beta readers yet. Both involve elves being naughty. Expect them late this fall.

Teaser

A little teaser. First draft complete (finally).

I have questions for anyone who listens to audio books or who would be interested in my books in audio format. If you would like me to make arrangements for this to happen, drop me an email via robin.roseau@gmail.com

• Do you currently listen to audio books
• How many in a month?
• Which providers do you use?
• Do you have a subscription for audio books, or do you buy them one at a time?
• If you pay for individual books, what price range do you feel is fair?
• My books are long. Is there such a thing as too long when it comes to audio books?

Note that there's some indication that Audible isn't that good for writers. They don't pay well. If I pay someone to produce my books for me, it will cost perhaps $250 per finished hour, and my books would be at least 10 hours, perhaps as many as 25 for some of the longer books. I'd have to sell a lot of books to justify those kinds of costs, and if Audible is squeezing authors, I'm not sure I care to use them. But their are other solutions, including building my own delivery channel or using something like Shopify.

If you would like to hear my books in audio format, drop me a note and help me make some decisions. Thanks. Robin.

Happy May first. I've been busy, writing, writing, writing. Spring seems to have finally arrived, with summer not too much further away. It's nice to see more daylight.

I thought I'd share the current queue. Here goes.

In Beta

These are books that the beta readers are reviewing. They should be out soon.

Luna Rising

This is the sequel to Mage Unmasked. It's all fun and games until Mia is turned into a frog.

Tri-Vega: Rush

The first in the possibly very short Tri-Vega Series is Rush>. Rachel is college first year. Her roommate convinces her to Rush for the Tri-Vega Sorority, in spite of having zero interest in anything that is pro-vampire. This is another academy-style book, except with vampires.

Completed or Nearly Completed

Selected: Luxan

Okay, so. I wrote a book from the perspective of one of the aliens. This novel is 140,000 words and is at the beginning of the edit phase. Unless I get distracted by another first draft, it should enter the beta process sometime in the next few weeks.

I posted a snippet here: Luxan Snippet

A Way Home

This was supposed to be a sexy little short story. Then a novella. Sigh. And the title is going to change. This is a sort-of-kind-of sequel to Tri-Vega: Rush, in that some of the characters from that book appear in this one. Yes, that means it's another vampire novel.

The first draft is about 2/3rds complete, maybe a bit more. I have one intermediate chapter, several "oh this is fun" chapters to write, and then the conclusion. I'll be working on that while I'm in a writing mood, and editing Luxan at other times.

Ressaline: Crown

I'm not sure on this one. 148,000 words are completed. I could probably about wrap it up if I just go back and do it. So it'll be out sometime this summer. I just have, at most, another 2000 words. I think, and then edits.

This is the last Ressaline book I have planned. I won't say there won't be more. They're fun to write. But it completes the overall story arc I've been following for a while. If you like this series and would like to see more down the road, let me know. But I suspect just about everyone and her sister would rather I spent time with Michaela.

Selected: Competition

Remember Serena La Merchant? Yvette mentions here once or twice. Enough said...

The first draft is nearly complete. I got distracted. It'll be out this summer.

In Various Stages

The Fox

Of everything I've written, I think my heart would break if I ever came to the conclusion where will be no more Fox books. I enjoy many of my characters, but Michaela and her friends are hands down, my favorites.

Yes, yes, resoundingly Yes! there will be more Fox books.

So what's the holdup? Elisabeth. And Anna. They just refuse to cooperate. I really need to figure out if Elisabeth returns from New Orleans alone. The problem is, Anna is perfectly happy with her life down there. She's got her tourists and, it turns out, a voodoo queen, a vampire, and even the mayor of New Orleans.

If I can just punch through, I could finish the first draft inside a week or two. After that, I already have about a third of Michaela's next novel, in which she has some interesting adventures, this time with permission of her alpha and the support of the head enforcer. And after that, I need one more Omega book. Bree deserves a little more of our time, don't you think?

Other things

I have perhaps 10 or 20-thousand words written in Privateer 3. I have an interesting, contemporary lesbian romance with a working title of The Teacher that I'm happy with. And then my two favorites.

Amazon Trainer. Nori's story, beginning as a young girl. There are at least three scenes so far where I cried my eyes out while writing, and she's not even an Amazon warrior yet. I don't know how long it will be when I'm done.

Cupid I've mentioned this before. I absolutely love what I've written so far. Imagine if the Greeks got it wrong. Eros (Cupid) isn't a young boy. She's a woman, and she's now living in Key West, running a Bed and Breakfast.

This book is inspired by the Cupid television series from far too long ago, starring Jeremy Piven. I loved that series. The other inspiration is the Aphrodite character from Hercules and Xena, who I always found funny -- and sweet and sexy. Plus add inspiration from any other fantasy novel involving the Greek gods. Oh, and make it a little bit of Love Boat as well, as I intend a series of shorter novels, each featuring one or two guests of the inn. The overall arc will be Cupid's story, each book a standalone romance.

I also had an idea for a book I'm calling The Reluctant Sidekick.

In all, I have something like 100 Word documents in various stages. These are the top ones.

I don't know when any of these might receive the attention they deserve.

Well, I haven't been updating my web page for a while. Or responding to email. Those who know me well knows that means I've been writing. A lot. So I have a few updates. First, some books I haven't mentioned before. The first one is brand new. The others have been available for a while. Down below will be an update on what I'm currently working on.

Mage Unmasked is the first in a two-volume story of Mia Pixie Cooke. When the story begins, Mia is 15 and having a very, very bad night.

There is two styles of books I want to mention. One are referred to as Academy books, in which a young woman attends some sort of boarding school or college, occassinally against her will, frequently because she just discovered the world of magical creatures.

The other style is referred to as Reverse Harem, Why Choose novels in which the female protagonist has a supply of boyfriends. Academy stories are frequently also RH books.

Mage Unmasked is what happens when I decide to write an Academy series. Don't worry; there are no boyfriends allowed at Greenwood Academy for Girls.

Cover art is by Santiago Hertzan. You can find more of his work at https://www.artstation.com/santiagohertzan.

I published this last summer. Valsine tells her story. This novel spans years.

I'm particularly proud of Indentured. I think it's a fabulous story. This is a fantasy novel in which our heroine discovers she has magic, and the local townspeople don't know what to do with her.