of blades and thorns

the official blog of author grace a. johnson

Grace A. Johnson

4 days ago
9 min

3 tricks to writing vivid fight scenes

Admit it, fight scenes are difficult. Even the veteran writers who have watched their favorite movie fight scenes hundreds of times, scribbled notebooks full of details, and choreographed fights with their brothers have a hard time putting the action on paper. You can have a vivid picture of the fight in your head, but no matter how hard or often you try, you can’t seem to write it out. You’ve done everything you know to, like picking an epic location, ensuring everything is

34 views13 comments

guest post: insight on strong heroines by rina blackstone bennet

Grace A. Johnson

6 days ago
11 min

guest post: insight on strong heroines by rina blackstone bennet

I don’t usually do these things, you know. Write articles, I mean. Oh, wait. I’m supposed to introduce myself? I told you blighters I’m under-qualified for this position. Well, hullo, mates. My name is Captain Rina Blackstone Bennet—you may have briefly heard of me; my author is known to brag about me around this lovely blog (that is what you call it, aye?)—but I insist you call me Rina. All my friends do. For that matter, so do a great portion of my enemies…but that’s incons

40 views12 comments

5 tricks to writing pristine prose in any genre

Grace A. Johnson

Jan 18
6 min

5 tricks to writing pristine prose in any genre

I don’t know about you, but my prose differs in some way in every single book, genre, and POV type I write. Sometimes, in a lovely third-person historical romance, my writing is flowy and poetic and immerse and detailed. And then just as soon as I switch to a first-person contemporary, it’s chaotic and unbalanced and overly emotional. Sound like something you’ve dealt with? Or do you have a hard time finding a consistent style that fits well with every genre and story you wri

43 views4 comments

Romance Q&A Pt. 5: Comedy, Romance Movies, & Unintended Romance

Grace A. Johnson

Aug 29, 2022
15 min

Romance Q&A Pt. 5: Comedy, Romance Movies, & Unintended Romance

Well...there are a few painful confessions in this bunch of questions! Who knows what hard truths you might learn about yours truly! Seriously, though, I had to put some thought into these! Y'all asked some tough questions, and I hope I did them justice! (And didn't ramble too much...as per usual.) saraina's question What are your tips for pulling off non-cheesy romantic comedies (or just including those elements in stories)? Ha. Ha ha ha. Um. Saraina. I suck at comedy (pardo

98 views32 comments

Romance Q&A Pt. 4: Love Songs, Heroines, & Christian Content

Grace A. Johnson

Aug 22, 2022
20 min

Romance Q&A Pt. 4: Love Songs, Heroines, & Christian Content

This just might be my last installment, guys! I'm out of questions now, so unless y'all have more (BRING 'EM ON!), I'll be taking a break from romancifying y'all for a while! Seriously, though, I am so excited about this mostly-final post! Kayti, Rylie, and Riley's questions were PHEMONENAL, and even though I've included my usual amount of rambling (y'all see now how I was able to write a 200k novel), I hope I've offered some helpful tips and tricks! Thank y'all again for sub

73 views21 comments

Romance Q&A Pt. 3: Kisses, Chemistry & Why I Write Romance

Grace A. Johnson

Aug 12, 2022
17 min

Romance Q&A Pt. 3: Kisses, Chemistry & Why I Write Romance

I don't know about y'all, but I am SO excited for this installment in my Romance Q&A series! Probably because I get to talk about some of my favorite things...kisses, chemistry, God-honoring romance, and more! PLUS, if y'all read all the way through, you'll find an excerpt from Prisoner at Heart! This post is jam-packed with goodness, so I won't keep y'all waiting any longer! issabelle's questions What's the book that got you into romance? (Both reading and writing.) It was n

148 views30 comments

Romance Q&A Pt. 2: Cheesiness, Subplots, & Favorite Tropes

Grace A. Johnson

Aug 1, 2022
22 min

Romance Q&A Pt. 2: Cheesiness, Subplots, & Favorite Tropes

DUDE. Y'all gave me some TOUGH questions, lemme tell ya. I had to do a LOT of thinking on these, and I still don't think my answers are good enough. In some cases, I do more rambling and make very little sense (hopefully I'm clear enough); in other cases, I wasn't sure if I even knew the answer (Faith, your questions were LEGIT), so I just did the best I could; and for the rest of them, I feel like my tips/advice are a little outside-the-box, so take what I say as a supplemen

106 views29 comments

Romance Q&A Pt. 1: Married Couples, Subtlety, & the Importance of Romance

Grace A. Johnson

Jul 25, 2022
18 min

Romance Q&A Pt. 1: Married Couples, Subtlety, & the Importance of Romance

WHOA. Y'all, it's only been about a week since I posted my romance Q&A form...and I've already got dozens of questions! I just picked out a few questions for this post, so expect three or four more in the coming weeks! And y'all keep in mind that, uh, my answers are insanely long. Let's just say I get my Rina ramble on. *winks* So I've summed up the answer to each question in the last paragraph of my answer to keep things concise, and I've bolded the most important parts to m

128 views28 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 2, 2022
7 min

New Release: Deceived by Madisyn Carlin

I dunno about y'all, but I am STOKED for Madisyn Carlin's debut novel, Deceived, which is a new adult Christian allegorical fantasy! Before I share my review of this book, I'd like to introduce it to y'all AND direct y'all to the many opportunities to receive some epic bookish goodies! (Oh, and keep an eye out for my upcoming interview with the lovely author!) BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!! Madi is also here to share all about doubting your writing with us! Her thoughts are so inspiri

83 views12 comments

Blogging for Authors: How Can I Make the Most of My Time?

Grace A. Johnson

Mar 23, 2022
7 min

Blogging for Authors: How Can I Make the Most of My Time?

Well, it seems I was right! One of y’all’s biggest problems with maintaining a blog is time. Boy, do I feel you or what?! Time management is one of those spectacular talents I have yet to fully master...but that doesn’t mean I haven’t learned a thing or two in these last couple years of blogging! Most everyone was asking specifically about making time to work on posts, posting consistently, and having the energy to blog and keep up other things, so I’m sharing just a few of m

77 views12 comments

Grace A. Johnson

Mar 18, 2022
10 min

Is an Author Blog Worth it?

That, my dears, is an insanely good question. Personally, I know of a lot of authors with active blogs who dedicate time, money, and effort into maintaining their presence in the blogosphere...and I know a lot of authors who either don’t have a blog at all or have a stagnant one for fear of wasting time on cultivating it with no benefits. Both types of authors have many good, plausible reasons for choosing the path they did and most will probably end up satisfied with the res

109 views29 comments

Popular Romance Tropes and How to Pull Them Off!

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 27, 2021
15 min

Popular Romance Tropes and How to Pull Them Off!

You’ve used tropes in every story you’ve ever dreamed up. That may seem like an exaggeration, but it’s true. Tropes are the fuel behind every good story, the foundation for every book. They’re the prompt or concept that makes itself clear before we create characters or worlds. And they are probably one of the most valuable and fragile things in writing. Even though there are tropes in every genre, some of the most iconic are romance tropes. They’re not confined to just the ro

138 views10 comments

Faith-Filled Romance: A Writer's Guide to Christian Romance

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 11, 2021
11 min

Faith-Filled Romance: A Writer's Guide to Christian Romance

Romance novels have an audience of a whopping 29 million readers, according to The Balance Careers, making it one of the most popular book genres in the world. That’s an overwhelming number, isn’t it? Even more daunting is the task of successfully writing a Christian romance novel. I’m going to assume that, since you’re here, you’ve already decided that one day you’ll write that mushy-gushy romance novel you’ve been toying with. Or you’re giving in and throwing a romantic sub

146 views12 comments

Faith by the Era (A Writer's Guide to Christian Historical Fiction)

Grace A. Johnson

Sep 29, 2021
7 min

Faith by the Era (A Writer's Guide to Christian Historical Fiction)

From February to August, I was an intern with Kingdom Pen, an AMAZING blog + forum for young Christian writers, writing articles every month! Now that my term has ended, I want to share the articles I wrote here...the first one being all about writing Christian historical fiction! Check out the original post here (complete with gifs!), or continue on to read my edited version below! You’ve finally done it! After hours of scouring the internet and perusing the library’s booksh

157 views6 comments

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