My books most resemble LaVyrle Spencer's historical western romances. When I started writing, I tried to capture her lyricism and her ability to draw a reader immediately into the world she created within the pages.
Blue Mesa Review and the now defunct Grasslands Review. I'm partial to Grasslands because at one time, I was on the editorial staff when it was housed at my alma mater. Blue Mesa published the first short story I ever wrote and I still say that publication credit got my foot in the door with a traditional publisher.
Having to remember that men talk a lot differently than women do. I write romance, so the temptation is there to make the men almost emo--not going to work. :(
Write, write, write. Read, read, read. Read anything and everything you can in the genre you want to write in. Look at how the successful authors in that genre craft their stories, their characters. Look for the rules they bend. Take time for yourself, too. The saying you can't pour from an empty cup is never so true as it is for authors. Give yourself time to recharge the creative and emotional batteries.
