It’s always interesting when someone who knows me outside of writing first reads one of my books.  If they are already romance readers, it’s usually not a big deal. Romance readers understand the genre and the conventions. They can easily get lost in the fictional world, even if it’s been created by a friend. But for those who don’t read romance, the experience of reading one of my books is a little more disconcerting for them, I think.

“I kept thinking about you as I read it,” said one friend, her eyes wide, her look one of total discomfort. “I could really hear your voice in it.”

Well yes.  And that’s a good thing. I want my voice to be highly recognizable and distinctive. It’s the subtext of this comment that causes problem for her as a reader and- to a certain extent- for me as a writer. She identified me with the heroine and- when those love scenes came around- couldn’t get past the sense that she’d glimpsed a little too much into my private life.

I totally empathize. I remember this sensation from the days when I’d first ventured into romance writing. I would make a writing friend – published or un-published, it didn’t matter- and then read her work. Afterward, I’d feel like I knew far too much about her! That sensation has long since disappeared. I write with plenty of separation between me and my characters, and I recognize that other authors do
as well. We are not writing biographies. We write the stories of characters from our head.

Perhaps that’s why there’s always a little overlap though. We tend to create characters that are accessible for us, characters who could be a best friend or – even- ourselves, had we taken another path in life. If we
chose to write about people too different from us, we might hit too many false notes. So we fearlessly mingle reality and fiction, giving one character our fear of snakes and another character our love of soap operas. We make one heroine a writer – that’s always so tempting!- and we write another with the same profession we held before we were writers. Bit by bit over the years, we piecemeal out our sense of self into lots of characters so that every one we create has something in common with us, if only in the most superficial of
ways.

This was proven to me recently as I reviewed my older titles in an effort to promote them on my website. I wanted to freshen up the blurbs and make sure I mentioned connected stories.  In doing so, I had cause to re-read some of those older books, and what do you know, my heroines have matured along with me. Not that I wrote an immature heroine to start with. But I did write a heroine who was typically a bit more carefree. Her conflicts were often work-related and she was less focused on her emotions- that emotional focus only came after meeting the hero. Those earlier heroines probably had better wardrobes. They went out more.

Nowadays, my heroines have more emotional conflicts straight out of the gate. They have a bit of baggage, but they strike me as a bit tougher because of it.  I like the heroines I’m writing today, but I have to admit I really enjoyed the look back and reading the heroines of a decade ago. It was like meeting up with old friends.

*** Pretend you’re writing a romance novel.  What quality would you give your fictional heroine?  Career? Tell me anything about a character that comes to mind and we’ll see if your characters share anything
in common with you! I’ve got a hot-off-the-press advance copy of ONE MAN RUSH for one random poster.

A benefit of living in tornado alley is the pretty brick mailboxes. I’ve posted a picture of mine on the right. This baby has come through 2 BIG tornadoes with winds exceeding 300 plus miles per hour.

You’d think the tornado is what scares me. Nope, what makes me nervous are the birds who like to make their home between the bricks and the bottom part of the actual box. If you look closely, you’ll see twigs, and what looks like a straw wrapper poking out as these industrious birds build their nest.

I’m not ashamed to admit it, my big fear is that when I open the mailbox, I’ll startle what birds are living there and they’ll fly into me.

So, for years now, I’ve been making A LOT of noise as I approach the mailbox. Clapping, clearing my throat. Your basic idiot stuff – but it all worked. No bird attack!

Then it happened.

The bird got me. I felt the flutter of its feathery wings on my bare arm. But I had the kids with me, and I have a strong commitment to not giving them my phobias. So I sucked it up. But I shuddered and screamed inside. And as I am while writing this.

Of course in the big scheme of things, this isn’t a big thing to get over. That’s not always the case with our favorite Blaze heroines. Our brave ladies seem to fall into two categories – those who get over “something” in the book or those who’ve just gotten over “something” and are ready to hit life all over again. That’s what makes them special. (Okay, and there could be another type – feel free to add.)

What’s your favorite kind of Blaze Heroine?