Romance Weekly #lovewritechat

Do you like to read romance novels? Would you like to meet new authors, and learn more about your favorites? Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all...about our writing of course! Every week we'll answer the same questions. Once you've read my blog, the link below will direct you to another. Enjoy your trip around our blogs.

If you've arrived here from Kim Handysides blog, welcome! Now let's get straight to the questions.

Who is your favorite character you've written and why?

As I've only written four heroes and heroines, you'd think this wouldn't be too hard a question, but it is! I like all of my characters for different reasons, so it is tough to pick only one. But I do have to say Jemma Hedge, from my upcoming release, CHEF D'AMOUR, was a lot of fun to write. She is very prickly and persnickety and doesn't take crap from anyone. She is not prepared to fall in love, and only gets angrier when she does. All this angst is offset by her deep and tender loyalty to her Gramma. She was the most complex character I'd written, and it was very enjoyable getting to know her.

Do you prefer to write your Hero or Heroine?

I love writing my heroes. I went to a writing workshop led by romance author Jane Porter. The discussion was about the differences in how men and women communicate. Like women, men can have very strong feelings of love and commitment (of course they can!), but unlike women, they tend to show those feelings through actions and deeds, not with words. It's so fun to write scenes that show heroes expressing their love in concrete ways. I also like watching my heroines baffle and bemuse my heroes – those poor souls have no idea what hit them!

What are the three things you can't write without?

When it comes to physical things around me, I'm not that picky. It's not like I have a favourite coffee mug or a special pen. While I tend to write in the same spot (corner of the couch in my living room, as I don't have an office) I like to mix that up once in a while, especially in the summer when I love to write outside.

I do write better with a few specific tools on hand, however. The Internet is a wonderful resource. Have a question—about ANYTHING? Mr. Google can answer it in an instant! I also have a thesaurus available at all time (usually an online one). But one of the most helpful writing tools I've discovered is the Emotion Thesaurus. It is a comprehensive list of emotions, with descriptions of the physical sensations and actions a person experiences and expresses while in the grip of that emotion. I tell you—my characters grew greatly once I realized there were many more ways to describe fear than a pounding heart!

Now head on over to EJ Towler and see what she has to say about this week's questions!