Why do I love romance? It’s simple – the women! Ever since I
became a published Harlequin M&B historical romance author a little over a
year ago I’ve been surrounded by women – my editors, my fellow authors, and almost
all my readers (well, aside from my ever supportive husband). Just this weekend
I was at the annual Romance Novelists Association’s annual conference. From the
moment I arrived to the moment I left I was laughing, talking, listening,
learning – totally engaged. Sounds like love to me. The women are amazing –
intelligent, funny, deep, and endlessly fascinating. After a full day of
lectures and workshops we gathered in the shared kitchens and descended from
the sublime to the ridiculous over tea, wine, and chocolate. We talked about
everything – family, work (many of us do have other jobs), writing, publishing,
our past and our future. The kind of discussions you usually have with your best
friends after a glass of wine (yes, wine is heavily featured at romance
conferences).
5 of the 9 Unlaced Book Club ladies at the RNA 2017 conference
last week
Wearing my author hat I spend most of my time alone, happily
transferring tales from my head into my laptop, agonizing over my character’s
conflicts and needs and delighting in their transition from pain to love (and
sometimes back again a few times). My main points of interaction with the world
in this new profession come from contact with readers and other authors on
social media, my amazingly prescient editor, and perhaps twice a year at events
like the RNA conference.
I’ve been to umpteen business conferences but this is
different – this is pure, unadulterated fun. It feeds back in to my writing – I
can feel it filling out, gaining color and warmth, thanks to the women who are
constantly amazing me with their intelligence and generosity. This isn’t just
theoretical – we are putting it into practice all the time – imagine the kind
of collaboration required for nine women to write a short story together simply
by passing it from one to the next, each on adding her twist – this is
precisely what I have recently done with eight of my wonderful fellow Harlequin
Historical authors (members of the Unlaced Book Club on Facebook – check out
our ‘Captive at Cragdale Hall’ on the Blossom Twins blog at http://bit.ly/2u14Txf).
The Unlaced Book Club ladies - my alternative family of
mad, bad, glad and stunning gals
This sense of wellbeing at being surrounded by women isn’t
just my gut feeling, apparently – it’s also science. A Stanford University
professor was discussing longevity and he noted the usual point about married
men statistically living longer than unmarried men. When a woman from the
audience asked for the comparable statistics about women he said with perfect
seriousness – women who spend time with other women tend to live longer. In
other words – being around women, interacting with women, tends to release
those feel-good and intimacy hormones serotonin and oxytocin. This is precisely
what I feel after this marvelous weekend – even squashed on the train to London
with not a spare seat in sight and finally tucking myself onto a corner of the
corridor between trains, I was still full of the pleasure of having spent a
weekend with that not just women but that most wonderful breed of women –
lovers of Romance.
I hope my romance affair with romance never ends.
Check out the Unlaced Book Club on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUnlacedBookClub/
Sneak peek at my Wild Lords book #1: Lord Hunter’s Cinderella
Bride (November 2017)
‘I think I might actually enjoy
this,’ Nell whispered, and Hunter was surprised to see her eyes brimming with
laughter
‘Enjoy what?’ He asked,
fascinated by the way her lips warmed to peach.
‘Flirting. I think I’m starting
to understand how it works.’
A slap might have been more
painful, but no more sobering. For a moment he had actually forgotten why he
was doing this.
‘That is good. Feel free to
experiment. Despite my name, I don’t mind being hunted.’
‘I’m not sure how. I don’t think
I could ever do what Lady Melkinson does.’
He caught the hopelessness in her
voice.
‘You won’t know until you try,’
Her silver irises glimmering
through her lashes as they sank to half-mast.
‘Like this?’ Her voice husky, she
leaned towards him, the tips of her fingers just brushing his sleeve. Then her
lips parted and the tip of her tongue touched her lower lip, drawing it in
gently and letting it go. As far as seductions went it was very mild, as
hesitant as a girl dressing in her mother’s finery. There was no reason it
should feel like the blood was reversing course in his veins.
Book
Links:
Amazon: getbook.at/TheDukesUnexpectedBride
Author
Contact Links
Twitter: @laratemple1
2 comments:
love the stories written by women for women
Hi Denise! Me too - women are truly extraordinary, as well as being most rewarding audience (except, occasionally, for my kids... but that's another story.) I loved your blog about popularity vs. being liked, by the way!
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