quill pen and ink well on old book in library

It’s About Passion

Karin Kallmaker Cheers & Chocolate, Craft of Writing, Readers and Libraries

Anyone who knows me won’t be surprised that I find much in common between cooking and writing. Both are about the passion to take pieces and make a whole. The parallels are true of all creative pursuits, I suppose. But I like food and that metaphor speaks strongly to me.

200px-Julie_and_julia

Julia Child was One of My Early Crushes

I just finished watching Julie & Julia, which is a perfectly wonderful movie about passion. It’s about Julia Child, whom I adored from the moment I saw her bash a too cold lump of dough with a baseball bat. Read More

woman-writing-on-phone

You Have an Opinion and It Matters

Karin Kallmaker Readers and Libraries

I love your books. More people should read them!

It’s a corollary to “I love lesbian books! How come so many lesbians don’t know they exist?” These are statements and questions often uttered at Golden Crown conventions and I don’t attend an event where someone doesn’t say something along those lines. The follow-up is often something like, “What Can I do to help?” Read More

cover The Kiss that Counted, Goldie winner medal, Lambda winner medal, by Karin Kallmaker "Full of suspense and mystery, deeply moving characters and storytelling." Lambda Literary Review

Thinking for a Living – and Thankful

Karin Kallmaker Awards and Reviews, Craft of Writing, Kiss That Counted

One Simple Comment

“Your characters are always people I feel like I know.”
It was a simple comment from a reader last week at the Golden Crown convention, and one I really appreciated. We went on to discuss how I draw on real life and I’ve been mulling over the reader’s parting comment – that I must have interesting friends and family to have so much material to work with. Read More

cover, Stepping Stone by Karin Kallmaker. Lambda Literary Finalist Medal. “Drama and joy, glitz and glamor! Grab some popcorn and press play.” - Lez Review Books

That Pivotal Moment in Every Love Story

Karin Kallmaker Craft of Writing, Stepping Stone

One of the challenges of writing romance novels is using a tried-and-true formula. Some theorists might suggest that makes writing them easier, but I disagree. If I wanted to write the same romance novel over and over, it might be simpler, but I want every novel to have fresh characters, a new setting, a unique (to me at least) underlying premise of conflict, and characters who have choices that previous characters haven’t faced. Read More