Alice Archer Blog — Alice Archer

Lauren Sapala's Treasured Possession: Paperback Novel

One of the main characters in my novel Everyday History writes articles about his treasured possessions. Each article focuses on a meaningful object and the important history it encapsulates. Reader interest in that novel and those articles led to this series of guest articles in the same style.

Lauren Sapala blew into my life when I started writing my second novel. She’s an author and writing coach for INFP and INFJ (that’s me) personality types. Through her books, our conversations, and: […]

Everyday History, MemoirAlice ArcherApril 27, 2022First 30 Posts

GRIEF Explored in a Cluster Map

Let’s talk about the street corner of the heart where romance novels, daily life, world events, and grief set up shop. This is not the safe part of town. And yet here we can find what we need to renew life... if we dare.

My favorite romance novels break me in tandem with the main characters, show me what’s required to mend, and […]

Cluster Maps, The Romance GenreAlice ArcherApril 13, 2022First 30 Posts

5 Books I Gave My Dad and How They Brought Us Closer

Recommending a book includes elements of exposure and risk: “Here. I offer you something I love. Therefore, as you read, you will find out more about me.”

A few years ago I sent my dad one of my favorite non-fiction books, curious to see if he would read it and, if he did, what he would think of it. To my surprise, he read it, we talked about it, and he asked for another book.

At the time of that first book recommendation, Dad was […]

Memoir, ReadingAlice ArcherMarch 30, 2022First 30 Posts

How a Romance Novel Delivered the Home I'll Never Have

Where do you feel most at home? Is your instinctive answer a town or a country, a family house, a room in your apartment, your bed? Why?

My lifelong love affair with the concept of home arose from weathering many moves as a child of parents who valued career opportunities (in their modest, service-oriented way) over location stability. As an adult, I extended the trend and continued to […]

The Infinite Onion, The Romance Genre, Homing, MemoirAlice ArcherMarch 16, 2022First 30 Posts

The Intimate Story of Your Grocery List

At the intersection of memoir, story, and intimacy we find... the grocery list. A fascination with this treasure chest of an overlooked art form bloomed from a chance encounter with a stranger’s grocery list thirty years ago.

While at a retreat center nestled in the vast Oregon forest, I went for a hike in the rain and a yellow slip of paper caught my attention. I picked it up (of course I did; I’d been trained from an early age to respect nature and never to litter). The paper was […]

Found Lists, MemoirAlice ArcherMarch 2, 2022First 30 Posts

Why I Had to Embrace My Inner Gay Man to Feel Whole as Myself

The more I write stories about men who are not straight, the more I discover they are about me as well.

In pursuit of creative spark, I throw questions into the air and open to receive. The story that comes will not be one I should write or hope to write. If I try to boss Story to stay inside the lines or hurry up or be marketable, inspiration suffers.

My job is to […]

The Romance Genre, Memoir, Living TrueAlice ArcherFebruary 15, 2022First 30 Posts

Change a Life: Give a Young Person a Diary

In these days of computers and phones, writing by hand evokes nostalgia. I hear people say, “I’m trying to do everything digitally these days,” as they strive for efficiency and data-protection. But even in the midst of information overwhelm, the physical act of writing by hand on actual paper, in private, remains a powerful tool for personal alignment.

I’m here to raise a fist (clutching a pen) in support of journaling by hand. In particular, I’m here to […]

Found Lists, MemoirAlice ArcherFebruary 2, 2022First 30 Posts

What Is Literary Gay Romance? A Definition in 5 Points

If you’re like me, your fiction preferences tend toward stories that take you deep and release you with reluctance. When I remember the books I loved most, I feel the joy again. I’ll bet you do too.

Literary gay romance—a niche within a niche within a niche—offers a unique opportunity for the discerning reader. The qualities listed below, when found together in a novel, add up to a reading experience worth […]

The Romance Genre, ReadingAlice ArcherJanuary 26, 2022First 30 Posts

A Town Taught Me How to Write a Novel

Although most of my novel Everyday History takes place in Boston, the story has its roots in the beautiful city of Freiburg, Germany, where I lived when I wrote it. Tucked into the southwestern corner of Germany, near both the French and Swiss borders, Freiburg nestles against the baby foothills of the Black Forest mountains. It’s the perfect size of city for getting around easily on foot while still preserving some anonymity.

I moved back to the United States a decade ago, but still consider Freiburg […]

Everyday HistoryAlice ArcherJanuary 19, 2022First 30 Posts

How Writing Quality Makes or Breaks the Reader Experience

You’re reading a novel. You’re into it. Great story. As you fully inhabit another world, the worries of the day recede. Your body’s reactions synchronize with events and character experiences in the story. Emotions, chemical signals in your brain, and sympathetic physical reactions occur—a gasp, a jolt, a gulp or smile.

But what happens when an error rears up in the text? […]

ReadingAlice ArcherJanuary 12, 2022First 30 Posts