If Only I'd Known: Writing Lesson by Elaine Raco Chase

My guest today is Elaine Raco Chase, the first published author I’d ever met!

I was totally in awe. She was one of the top romance authors back in the day of print bookstores that were found in all the malls. We’re talking huge sales! Fast forward to today, and she’s still at the top of her game. Like many bestselling authors, she’s made the transition to ebooks and audio books.

Just meeting her–a woman who had a husband, kids, a dog, and a house to take care of–made me realize that authors weren’t demigod geniuses up on pedestals, but normal people. Like me! She inspired me to pursue writing for publication. Even more importantly, we became lifelong friends.

Meet Elaine Raco Chase

If you like sassy, laugh out loud, contemporary romances – some more explicit than others – you have found the right author!

Reviewers have called them: “cat & mouse” – “slow burn” – “hot and steamy” – “highly addicting” – “solid characters & lots of humor” – “amazing reads!”

I call them fun! Her heroines are NOT: thin, petite, clueless or submissive. They are strong women who aren’t looking for a man – until the right one comes along! And those men! Tough-guy, alpha males who don’t know what hit them! But do know they want MORE!

Elaine has written a dozen romantic comedies, some more explicit than others, and she also writes explicit mystery/thrillers featuring Roman Cantrell and Nikki Holden.

Dangerous Places is their first adventure, followed by Dark Corners, with Rough Edges currently a work in progress. All of the thrillers are stand-alone novels with continuing characters but no cliff-hangers. So far, both have been Romantic Times Top Hot Picks for romantic suspense.

Elaine also wrote the Agatha Christie nominated non-fiction “How to write the Amateur Detective Novel” which is in the FBI Forensic Library at Quantico.

Despite having not been to college, Elaine has taught creative writing at colleges and universities in the U. S. and Canada. She taught most recently at Miami-Dade College in Florida.

Find Elaine Online

Website * Twitter * FB Profile * FB Fan Page. What’s really fun – visit Elaine’s Pinterest Page and see Roman, Nikki, Alex, Darnie, Rudy, Duncan, Edgar and all the other characters! Plus places, food, clothes – everything!

If Only I’d Known: Write What You DON’T Know
by Elaine Raco Chase

If only I’d known…anything!

Honest…when I think back, it’s a miracle I was ever published. It was 1977 (we were still writing on papyrus), and I was home with two kids under five and not much time to read. When I did read it was assorted hardboiled detective novels and Mills/Boone romances.

The romances made me cringe…these were frail, frightened damsels who needed help crossing the road and were always in distress when the romantic hero showed up. And he of course, scowled, growled, and treated fair maiden rudely for 198 pages…then on page 199 stated: “Of course I’ve always loved you.”

Where…where was that love…not in the first 198 pages.

I Did It My Way

That’s when I started writing romances and mysteries and kicking to one side all of the publishing rules. Seriously, that’s exactly what I did…I wrote the opposite of all the rules and that sage advice: write what you know.

I knew nothing. I never went to college – well, let me correct that – I studied wiring computer boards and Fortran programming – all perfect requirements for being a writer. Not!

What I did have was a talent for writing dialogue, for creating fun characters, smart women who had careers and didn’t need a man to help them. Actually the men needed the women more!

In 1978, Dell saw something in my romantic comedies that started an entire new romance genre!

Back to Today

I celebrate 40 years as a writer this August…and a lot has changed both for major publishers and indie authors that can be summed up in one word: eBooks.

If only I’d known – but I would not have done anything different. I still NEVER write what I know… I love the hunt of learning.

I still never censor myself, and I’ve taken some nasty reviews for it. And I still never follow the rules…where’s the fun in that? There’s always a new genre to be created…and maybe you’ll be the one to do just that.

Dark Corners (Roman Cantrell-Nikki Holden Mystery II) by Elaine Raco Chase

Exciting Explicit Extraterrestrial?

All over south Florida people are seeing things – things that can’t be real –or can they?

Nikki’s boss gives her the most bizarre assignment of her career. 

More than 200 solid citizens have reported sightings and contacts with UFO’s! Soon she’s on the trail with help from the University of Tennessee Space Institute & the Air Force!

Roman comes to the aide of an old Army buddy and finds himself with the most baffling case of his career. Did the US Army actually hijack an armored car? Or is his buddy feeding Roman a pack of lies?

When their cases converge – Roman and Nikki become trapped in a plot that’s stranger than science fiction but as real as death in Dark Corners.

Takeaway Truth

If you like smart dialogue, high concepts, captivating characters, and sizzling relationships, read Dark Corners or any of the novels by Elaine Raco Chase!