The following authors have collectively published more than 350 books. We asked them, “What’s your favorite novel you’ve written, and why is it your favorite?” Their answers might just help you take your writing to the next level.
Robyn Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Virgin River and 60+ novels
“My favorite book, The House on Olive Street, is a story of a story. After writing and publishing for twenty years, I suddenly couldn’t sell a word. I had successfully written historical romance and suspense, and without a satisfactory explanation, gathered nothing but rejections. After a couple years of that, my broken heart turned to anger and I thought, hell with ’em, I’m going to write the book I most want to read. For me that had been known as a contemporary girlfriend book. I had always enjoyed creating an ensemble cast. I wrote The House on Olive Street and loved every second of it, but that’s not the whole story. It took forever to sell! For-Ever! It’s about four women, all at a turning point in their lives while I was at a turning point in my career. While I was trying to sell Olive Street I continued writing contemporary women’s fiction until eventually, after years, I finally sold it, and it launched a new phase and new career that ultimately brought me eleven #1 NYT‘s bestsellers.
But that book is not my favorite because of its success but because of what it taught me. I so loved the book because I loved the characters and it emphasized that writing for the joy of it is the ultimate reward. Writing to sell is less important than writing for fulfillment. And writing from the heart pays off in ways I never could’ve predicted.”
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Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestseller author, over 3 million copies sold
“Which book is my favorite among the novels I’ve written? That question is surprisingly difficult to answer. Discovering a story, then writing it and sending it into the world is such a multifaceted experience. If I had to choose one story that was the embodiment of the wild, unpredictable, full-on dream publishing experience, I’d have to name Before We Were Yours my gold-medal winner.
Before We Were Yours was my first New York Times bestseller, my first to hit #1 on the Times list, my first to be translated into dozens of languages worldwide. It was also book number thirty for me. Yes, book number… three… zero. By the time Before We Were Yours took me on the wild ride from missing the Times list on release week, to becoming a summer sleeper six weeks after publication then remaining on the list for over two years, I’d had a long career of ups and downs, and books that lived robust lives but never quite achieved the big dream. I didn’t realize it at the time, but each new manuscript, each new contract, each writers conference, each high point and low point were growth experiences. Prior to writing novel thirty, I had taken a hard look at my business plan, considered my goals, and spent oodles of time tracking the current publishing climate through Publishers Weekly, Publishers Marketplace, and other sources. I signed with a new literary agency and then did the one rather terrifying thing my agent asked of me—I wrote the whole book off-contract. Not preselling the book felt like a huge risk at the time (I had kids in college!) but it allowed the agent to put the completed manuscript out there and sell it at auction. That made all the difference and is usually my foremost piece of advice to authors considering a career jump, a genre jump, or a sizeable realignment. Plunge in. Have faith in yourself and your story. Consider writing the whole manuscript, editing and polishing it to the max, then offering it up as a finished product.”
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Colleen Coble, USA Today bestselling, award-winning author
“I Think I Was Murdered, a romantic suspense with an AI twist, is my favorite novel, both for the fun of creating such an unusual story, and for the joy in the writing process. Attorney friend Rick Acker and I co-wrote this, and along the way, we found a fresh method of planning out a novel. We call it plantsing, and it’s been so fun I’m using it with all my writing efforts.
Rick is a plotter and I’m a pantser which sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it’s working so well for us, and we’re having fun. I’ve tried plotting and felt trapped in a straitjacket by the constraints. (Rick breaks out into a cold sweat when I tell him I usually have no idea who the villain is.) But plotting out a few scenes at a time provides the flexibility to go off-roading in ways that surprise us (which is what I love about being a pantser.) We have a bit of structure like the middle moment and the backstory (and the villain’s identity for Rick’s sake!), but we can still let the characters flex their individuality with side jaunts as we write it. I’ve been published for twenty-five years, but I love learning and growing as a writer, and this new way of planning a novel has reinvigorated me!”
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Kristan Higgins, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
“The favorite novel I’ve written is Pack Up the Moon, and the reason it’s my favorite is that it was a damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead book. The premise is tough—a young husband loses the love of his life and is utterly lost without her. But she knew he’d be lost, so she leaves him a map for that first year, showing him not only can he live without her, he can build a full and happy life again.
I knew I was taking a chance in writing a tragic love story (which does have a very uplifting ending), but I felt this book in my bone marrow. It shook me, and that’s always a good sign. It’s a story of how to live life well, how we deserve to be loved, what love really looks like and how we can create light in the darkest times. And every time I get a note from a widowed spouse or see a young woman sobbing as she reviews the book on TikTok, I know the message has been received. The whole experience, from coming up with the idea for Pack Up the Moon to seeing readers’ reaction reinforces the idea we writers have to be brave. Don’t try to be like the latest sensation. Be you, take chances, and put your whole heart into your work, and only good things will follow.”
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Denise Hunter, Internationally-published, bestselling author of 40+ novels, three Hallmark movie adaptations
“My favorite book I’ve written is Sweetbriar Cottage. I write contemporary romance, and because this is a story about a formerly-married couple, the relationship stakes are automatically high. Josephine’s childhood issues complicated their marriage, but the couple was unaware of this at the time. During the story the couple becomes trapped in a remote cabin in the North Georgia Mountains, escalating tension between the pair and allowing them to explore the complexities of their breakup. As the story progresses, they become stranded outdoors in a mountain snowstorm. A life and death situation ensues, during which the hero sacrifices his own well-being for his ex-wife’s.
Raising the stakes in a story is critical because it makes the reader care and keeps her on the edge of her seat. The stakes needn’t be life and death to have this effect. They just need to matter in the biggest way possible to your protagonist.”
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Pamela Kelley, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
“My favorite novel is my most recent one, The Christmas Inn. It is special to me for a few reasons–it is set on Cape Cod, which is where I grew up and it shows how special that time of year can be, when the tourists are mostly gone, and the quiet of winter has settled in. It is also a magical time of year as Main Street in Chatham resembles a Hallmark movie year-round, but at Christmas it goes all out. There is a Christmas Stroll that is so fun and festive and I hope that readers will feel like they are there, sipping hot chocolate, and meeting new friends. There are second chances, new romance and found family.
Thirty-something Riley finds herself laid off just before the holidays–her job taken by AI. She learns from her sister that their mother just broke her leg and could use help at the family inn, so Riley and her little cat Lily, head to the Cape. This story has all the things I love–there are multiple generations from Riley to her mother, Beth and an older guest, Franny. There are also old friends, such as Riley’s first love, now single dad, Aidan and his son, Luke, who live in town and are staying at the inn temporarily. Riley has to decide what is important to her–in love–she has a workaholic boyfriend in the city–and for her career. As a former human resources recruiter for many years, this is a theme I often explore in my books–figuring out what one’s path should be–in life and love.
For newer writers, my best tip would be to write about something that really interests you, that you care about deeply and wish to explore and share with readers. Write to please yourself and odds are good you might make readers happy, too.”
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Vanessa Miller, Bestselling author, entrepreneur, playwright, and motivational speaker
“The absolute favorite book that I have ever written is my love letter to history, The American Queen. The reason this novel is my favorite is because it is based on true history. There really once was a queen in America. Her name was Louella Bobo Montgomery, and I am so thankful that I had the privilege to write the first novel about the Kingdom of the Happy Land. Writing about historical figures took months of research. I even visited the Happy Land which was built in North Carolina, just two hours from where I currently live.
When you’re writing about people in history you have to honor the lives of these true heroes. Be prepared to spend months researching every aspect of their lives, chasing rabbit trails, and even visiting the locations where they once lived. When I visited the Happy Land in North Carolina it made the story come alive to me.”
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Melissa Ferguson, Bestselling author
“My favorite book has always been whatever book I’m currently writing which, in today’s case, means my favorite book is the recently titled and not-yet-published (or fully written!), Without a Clue. I tend to write whatever I’m thinking about and/or working through in that season of my life and in this case it was pretty simple: I’m in a murder mystery reading kick. As such, and with months of working to convince my publishers, I’m writing a sweet, fun, murder mystery rom-com. Writing is for the readers, yes, but it’s also very much for me. I spent months in my little isolated world working on the books I write, it better be fun and therapeutic for me! Thankfully, my editor is tremendously supportive about this.
I don’t follow the trends of publishing or “what’s hot” because by the time you realize “what’s hot” it’s probably too late anyway: sports romances might be terribly popular at the moment but it takes me a year, more or less, to write the draft and another year to get it published, and at that point the public will likely be onto something else. Not to mention, that’s a stressful mindset to me. I’d rather write what I love and am excited to think through for the next year and take the view that readers will notice a difference too. I’m not saying it’s wise to jump genres all the time—writing a YA this time and historical romance the next—but my editor and I agree that if you aren’t passionate about what you’re writing, that comes through in the writing (and the opposite as well). So write what you love, be consistent in that overall genre, and you will have a fruitful career with happy readers.”
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