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kikimojo

@kikimojo

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Closed door romance author Emma St. Clair. The goal: make you LOL. And maybe cry--just a little. Happy no spice books are my specialty.

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You woke up today wondering, “How did Emma become EMMA?” So I thought I’d tell you the story.

After marriage but before kids, we moved to Greensboro, NC where I got my MFA in fiction. An amazing time of learning craft in workshops! My plan was to write darkish literary YA. I wrote a novel, got an agent, and went on sub. No deal.

No one bought my book but they asked me to send another. But … I couldn’t write books and have babies. We had five in nine years so I was very much … busy.

I am a person who NEEDS a creative outlet so I started a blog, I Still Hate Pickles, about life and motherhood. I learned social media, SEO, and email lists and taught at conferences. All of which were helpful years later!

Between having babies I also played roller derby. This didn’t have much to do with writing but I do feel like doing a NON kid thing while having littles was hugely important to my mental health.

When my youngest was born, I didn’t want to keep blogging and was wanting to write again. I still wasn’t able to write books but started the Create If Writing podcast, where I interviewed authors and other creatives. You can find the blog or old episodes on YouTube.

I was itching to write again but not into my WIP (another dark literary) and I heard about people writing “clean romance.” My husband was out of work so I thought of it as a new challenge and maybe new income for our family.

I had never read a romance before. (Do not do this. Read in a genre before writing in it!) I never expected to fall in love with romance. It was an enemies to lovers thing. In 2020 it all changed when I shifted to writing romcom. I found my voice and embraced humor, which is very much ME on real life. IYKYK.

I have no plans to leave the Emma Era—and not just because I’m our primary income. I love it! But I DO think I’ll be writing in other genres. Some as Emma, some maybe as me, Kirsten (rhymes with BEER-sten). Maybe even this year… Whatever I write, it will be without explicit scenes or cursing.

I’m SO glad you are part of my story! Whether you’re just now diving into your first Emma book or you’ve read and reread them all! It brings me joy to bring YOU joy! by @kikimojo

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4 months ago

Some of these questions people have actually asked me. Some of them are questions I imagine you’re asking. Or maybe I WANT you to ask them, so I’m doing the hard work for you.

But seriously, what questions do you have that I missed?

#cozyfantasy #cozyfantasyromance #fairytaleretelling #beautyandthebeast #nospicebooks by @kikimojo

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2 months ago

Cover designing is HARD. I actually love finding premades because then I know I like it. Custom covers and coming up with concepts is hard for my brain.

So… I pull out canva or pic monkey and play around. Usually badly.

Recently I found a bunch of old covers concepts and some covers I used in a folder and thought y’all would like to see them!

I will say that I am SO thankful moving to illustrated covers has kept me out of the stock photo death spiral. IYKYK.

It’s fun to see where the ideas moved into the actual cover and I also forgot about some series I was thinking of.

You’ll see how I considered using a different name when I switched to romcom and also while I was planning to launch romcoms in 2019, I was planning to use “clean romantic comedy” as my subtitle as well as using photos vs illustrations.

What a fun (and laughable) trip down memory lane!

Readers—do you wish authors showed you more of these kinds of first attempts and failures?

I know this made me curious for what other authors have way back in their old folders…

(Designers listed where applicable. None of the images or graphics were AI. Most of these predated that anyway.)

#romcombooks #closeddoorromance #closeddoorromcom #romancestagram #nospiceromance by @kikimojo

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3 days ago

With less than an hour to go, I’m sliding in with an author tip for you.

While I’m normally less woo woo and more do do (NOT doo doo), sometimes we need to remember the basic brain things.

Honestly, half of my author life feels like tricking myself into doing things. (Hi, ADHD!!!)

But this one is big. This one is foundational.

The business side of things can drag us down. So can social media. So can the entitlement we sometimes see or the criticism we often face. Too much kissing, not enough kissing. GASP! An unlikable female character?!?

Opinions are sometimes weeds choking out the flowers we want to grow.

But when we can connect with the love of the work (whether that’s the process or outcome or both), I truly believe that infuses good things into our words. And readers FEEL it.

So, prioritize getting yourself in the right headspace. Read a book that makes you happy. See a film. See a musical. Go play pickleball. Listen to music. Play an instrument or lift weights or go to a hockey game or just go outside and feel the sun on your face.

Love your work. It will make your words more alive.

#authortips #authorsofig #writersofinstagram by @kikimojo

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5 days ago

So excited that these are out today!!!

Yes, these are only ebooks. (Too long for print. We tried.) But they have alllll the bonus scenes previously only available for subscribers.

Two new bonus scenes—one for Camden and one for the WHOLE group fifteen years later. (Both are in volume two.)

Plus the first in Jenny’s Georgia Jaguars books!

The bonus scenes that are new WILL be available for subscribers, but I’ve got to get my page together that compiles all bonus content, so if you’re on my list, watch for that!

You know what else you should watch for?

JERSEYS.

Yep. There. I said it.

Coming soon!!!!! by @kikimojo

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6 days ago

Oh, did you think I wouldn’t go back to my old ways of writing an unplanned Christmas book when I SWORE I wouldn’t keep writing unplanned Christmas books?

Well, I’m back baby. Back to my roots and back to black and back to life and back to reality. Back to Christmas in a short, punchy, fun (probably) novella that you didn’t know you needed.

But … it is a story many of you have asked for.

No blurb yet but picture this:

Dominik, Appies hockey player

Greyson, sister to Van, Dominik’s teammate

Sparks and snowballs will fly. Eventually, I’ll give you a date abs a blurb.

For now, you just needed one more Emma book to look forward to.

Yay! It’s a Christmas miracle! (Name that movie.)

#christmasromancebooks #holidayromance #nospiceromance #closeddoorromance #kindleunlimitedromance by @kikimojo

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7 days ago

A little taste of Lemon Tea and Library Dragons … that is all.

#cozyfantasyromance #cozyfantasy #nospiceromance #closeddoorromance #kindleunlimitedromance by @kikimojo

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8 days ago

❄️ and 🧁 by @kikimojo

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9 days ago

Cozy. Fall. Romance. Dragons. Your mom.

Jk. Your mom is not involved in this story. But she might like this—if she’s into the kind of fantasy that makes your heart race because of the slow burn romance, not the battle scenes. If your mom wants her dragons taking care of a library rather than fighting. If she wishes the prince were more handsome in the cartoon version of Beauty and the Beast.

Anyway … perfect for you. And maybe also your mom. Or your daughters.

Coming October 20…

#cozyfantasyromance #cozyromantasy #cozyfallbooks #closeddoorromance #nospiceromance by @kikimojo

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10 days ago

👀 by @kikimojo

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11 days ago

OH HEY! The appies are all together! We’re so excited to release a two-volume digital boxed set of our Appies Hockey books!

What you’ll find inside:

🏒All seven Appies Hockey Romances
🏒The first book in Jenny’s Georgia Jaguars series
🏒All the bonus epilogues that were previously only available to newsletter subscribers
🏒A NEW bonus epilogue for As You Ice It featuring Naomi and Camden
🏒A NEW Exclusive Bonus BONUS Epilogue for the entire series

Both volumes release on October 6th and will be available through Kindle Unlimited. Each volume is $12.99 (over $10 in savings) and is up for preorder, but we’re planning a sale for Volume One soon, so keep an eye out for details!

Appies Hockey Romance | sports romance | hockey romance | low spice | closed door romance | kindle unlimited by @kikimojo

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13 days ago

If you love dragons but want a break from battles and shifters, might I suggest some cozy dragons who do little more than sleep in a library?

Oh, and it’s a Skybrary—an enchanted library in the clouds.

Coming October 20.

THAT IS SOON.

#cozyfantasy #cozyfantasyromance #nospicebooks #closeddoorromance #romancereadersofinstagram by @kikimojo

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14 days ago