Shelli Rosewarne

Hi all,

Well, it’s Monday again – they do seem to come round quick, don’t they? Hope you all had a fun weekend? It’s back to the blog challenge today, and being a romance writer you may not be surprised to see that my L is for Love.

I’m always a little surprised when some people seem to think romance writing isn’t as exciting/interesting/in-depth as some other genres because it’s only writing about ‘love’. Even if you completely ignore the fact that different styles of romance can also contain crime, action, suspense, paranormal etc. then even if it just about the love story then what could be more interesting and in-depth than that?

Love is fascinating, it underpins most of life as we know it – it affects every aspect of what we do. There are more kinds of love than anyone could ever describe – and although there might be a tendency to focus on the fairy-tale ‘at-first-sight’ type of love then there so many different versions. The sweet and sensitive love, like many ‘teen’ novels, the gradually building love, like ‘friends to lovers’, the passionate, all-consuming type, the re-discovered type – let’s face it I could go on for ever here!

Even within one story there can be different types of love. By building up your characters and their relationships with each other then you will inevitably end up finding some of these. Does your main character love their parents, their siblings, their friends, their child, their job, their mission. Even self-love can be an important character trait. It can often seem like we’re calling a character vain or arrogant to say they love themselves, but often it can be a vital part of their own development. Really it’s just another way of saying they can accept themselves, faults and all. If a character is unable to love themselves then can they really and truly fall in love with someone else, or will their insecurities just drive a wedge into any relationship? So, while some people might think that a characters problems and their past issues can be solved by having someone love them, then I think perhaps all the other person can do is try and help them to see themselves.

Would love to hear what you think – feel free to share! 🙂