Kobo Writing Life Podcast

#339 – Plotting a Dark Romance Novel with J. L. Drake

Mar 19, 2024

Bestselling author J. L. Drake discusses writing dark romance, plotting novels with a 'murder board', and insights into being a series author. She shares experiences transitioning between publishing platforms, navigating social media, and building street teams. Also, explore her intriguing project 'Darkwater', a dark romance novel set in Vegas with themes of organized crime and billionaires.

40:21

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Episode guests

J. L. Drake

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

J. L. Drake uses a 'murder board' to track characters and plotlines in dark romance novels.

Drake discusses the benefits of balancing lighter and darker romance genres for creative expression and storytelling.

Deep dives

Exploring Writing Lighter and Darker Romances with Jail Drake

Jail Drake, a bestselling author with multiple series, discusses writing lighter and darker romances within interconnected universes. She shares insights on maintaining character consistency and overcoming challenges as an author with dyslexia. Drake combines her love for romance and suspense, offering readers cliffhangers with eventual happily ever afters.

Introduction

2min

Balancing Dark and Light Elements in Writing

17min

Navigating Publishing Transitions and Emphasizing Patience for Growth

2min

Navigating Social Media and Building Street Teams

13min

Acting Anecdotes and Dark Romance Recommendations

2min

Exploring a Dark Romance Novel Set in Vegas

3min

In this week’s episode, we spoke to Jodi Drake, a bestselling author who writes multiple series under the name J.L. Drake! Jodi’s series span over thirty books, and these include the Broken Trilogy, the Quiet Mafia series, and her latest, Havoc of Sins, which begins with Grim – available to read now! For more info on her series, check out her reading order guide here.

Jodi spoke to us about her writing career, writing dark romance, what drew her to dark romance, how she plots her novels, how she uses her “murder board” to keep track of all her characters and plotlines, and much, much more! Jodi gave us many great insights into what it’s like being a series author and an author (and reader) of dark romance. We had a great time chatting with Jodi, and if you’re a burgeoning dark romance author (or a romance author in general), you don’t want to miss this episode of the KWL podcast!

For more, check out J.L.’s website, and follow her on X, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

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Kobo Writing Life Podcast

#339 – Plotting a Dark Romance Novel with J. L. Drake

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Exploring Writing Lighter and Darker Romances with Jail Drake

Balancing Dark and Light Romances in Writing

Maintaining Consistency in a Multiverse of Story Universes

Challenges and Strategies as a Dyslexic Author

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts