Romance Weekly - #lovewritechat

If you like to read romance novels and would you like to meet new authors, 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. Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions or make comments.

Those of you who have linked here from J.J. Devine, welcome! Here are my answers:

What ages are your characters?

The main characters in my first three manuscripts are in their twenties, although in my current work-in-progress my heroine is 33 and my hero 29 (gasp! I know!). While I don't think twenty-something heroes and heroines are a requirement of a good romance, the one advantage they do have is that discovering their first “real” love, without the benefit of experience and maturity, presents myriad possible plot disasters. Characters who are older, and perhaps falling in love for the second time, can be very interesting, but their stories are perforce going to be different in attitude and energy. I am, however, intrigued with the idea of writing a “falling in love with your spouse for the second/third/fourth time” novel. Successfully married couples know how important it is to keep romance alive with each other, and that could be a very interesting theme to explore.

What special things or places inspire you to write?

Long road trips always set me dreaming about plots and characters. It's really too bad I get car sick, or I think those would be some of my most fruitful writing times! I heard of a writer's retreat that Amtrack offers – you ride back and forth on the train as you work. I wonder if VIA Rail here in Canada offers the same!

I suppose the question could also be asking which places inspire me to write about them. I love reading books that are set in locations where I've traveled – New York, London, Vancouver. That's partly why I set my third manuscript in the Azores. My husband's parents emigrated to Canada from these tiny Portuguese islands in the middle of the Atlantic, and last summer we were lucky enough to visit there. I'd never read a book set on those islands, so figured I'd have to do it myself!

What is the one message you hope women will receive when they read your stories?

I truly believe there is someone for everyone. We've all seen them – those couples that seem, to an outsider, the most unlikely, mismatched pairing, and yet they have long and lasting relationships. We cannot see what makes some relationships work – but they do. If a woman reading one of my novels can see that and take heart from it, I would be more than pleased.




Now it's time to visit Victoria Barbour, author of the Heart's Ease series, set in beautiful Newfoundland and Labrador.  Enjoy!



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