Book Review: Writing My Love

I just finished reading a cute, charming lesbian romance novel called Writing My Love by Claire McNab (Tallahassee, FL: Bella Books, 2006). The premise is an author wooing her editor by writing a romance novel with thinly disguised versions of themselves as the lead characters. It's as much a comedy about the writing process as a romance novel, and as such it's hilarious with its digressions on the use of italics for emphasis, rhetorical questions, alliteration, telling vs. showing, and so on.

Some of the literary jokes are subtle. Wandering point of view is a common problem in novels, and the novel that the character is writing is full of awkward point of view shifts. However, the main story is perfectly solid in its point of view, proving that McNab knows what she's doing. Also, the character's vehement protests against the accusation that she writes purple prose are written in the deepest shade purple I have seen in a long time. That's just a tiny sample of the delights that permeate this book.

Recommended highly not only to lesbians looking for a sweet romance story, but also to all writers, gay and straight, with a sense of humor about the creative process.