WHY I WRITE ROMANCE By Shelley Sommers
Early on a weekend morning when I was seven, I would slip downstairs and curl up in a window seat with two books, Black Beauty and Arabian Nights. The books, gorgeously illustrated, caught my imagination with tales of fantasy and fiction. Black Beauty easily brought me to tears as I learned the hard lot of a working horse. Arabian Nights celebrated the art of storytelling with the brave young woman who spun tales for 1,001 nights to save the other young women of her land from the wicked king.
By the time I was in seventh grade, I loved the idea of writing. My English teacher encouraged us to write and suggested we take a pen name. I cannot remember my first story, but I remember trading stories with a classmate who dared to critique my paper and misspelled words! I was furious. I do recall that my pen name was “Will Wright,” an attempt to be witty.
During the intervening years, I often wrote non-fiction for my school newspaper. Eventually, I wrote hundreds of newsletters for businesses, as well as ghostwriting for some corporate business people. And finally, I was a journalist for over 10 years, writing for newspapers. I took those assignments seriously, because my writing could influence readers, inform the community, and rally people for worthy causes.
During those many years, I was reading books. Usually they were big, thick books with magical stories of generations of families, wizards and muggles, The Odyssey, Ulysses (I really read the whole thing for a college class), and books by Jude Devereaux, Dr. Seuss, mysteries, detective stories, suspense, and historical novels.
I never read romance novels. My mother proclaimed romance to be “trash,” and secretly threw away a romance novel which I bought while on vacation as a pre-teen. She never censored my reading before that.
Years went by, and I read a book by Susan Mallery. Thematically, it was a book about three women and how they bonded over challenges in their lives. One passage in the book led me to tears. I felt for those women. While my tears flowed down my cheeks, I decided that any book that could move me that much deserved to be read. It was the romance novel, Three Sisters. I immersed myself in reading romance, every version, by many authors.
The idea of people finding fulfillment, happiness, and joy in their lives in romance books captivated me. I started writing romance.
I never published my first romance book. As many people say, put your first book away. It probably won’t be your best. However, that first book is the favorite of my best friend’s sister, who only reads romance. Go figure. Maybe someday I’ll fix the book and publish the other books in that series.
For the last 2-3 years, I’ve been researching, writing, publishing, collaborating on cover design, and living the stories of my characters in my Louisa’s Vineyard series. I woke up a day into my trip in the California wine country with a full set of characters with vivid personalities, complex plots, and great settings in my brain.
I was fired up about writing the books during “Nanowrimo,” which is the abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month. The event’s goal is for everyone to write 50,000 words in November. On November 1, 2021, I started writing my stories and reached the 50,000-word mark on November 29. And I kept going, finishing the first story and starting the second. Within less than three months, I’d finished my first drafts on three books.
Next, the editing and publishing process took months. Since I’m a former English teacher, mistakes jump out at me, but it’s harder to fix your own work. I’ve probably reviewed my books over a dozen times each.
And why do I love writing romance? It’s the “Happily Ever After” and how you get there that is exhilarating! All characters have struggles, but as I put my characters through trials and tribulations, I make it wonderful for them in the end. They learn, they grow, they love, and they find out what’s important for their life.
They also have lots of sexual experiences with their true love. I think that all the characters (over 18) can benefit from having a robust and loving sex life. I had never written those scenes before I began my romance writing. Funny thing, the scenes and my characters almost write themselves. They almost tell me what to write. Being that every character is fictional, it’s amazing how much my brain has concocted!
So, do I love writing? Oh, yes. And do I love writing steamy, contemporary romance? Yes!! It’s an affirmation that there are wonderful, loving people in the world who want to create a joyful life with people they love.
Love is the theme.
A Google search turns up that nearly 20% of TV shows have crime and murder as their themes. I prefer romance, where things may not be life or death, but the world is a happier place with a good “HEA,” Happily Ever After
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My books are available at most major book sellers. There are currently three books published in the Louisa’s Vineyard Series: Louisa’s Passion (Book 1), Will’s Secret (Book 2), A Vision of Home (Book 3). They are each available in e-book and print paperback formats.
If you’d like to reach me, especially if you’d like to ask questions or become an Advanced Review Copy reader, please contact me at shelley@shelleysommers.com
