My Romance Author Journey by LoLo Paige

It has been two years since I decided to write and publish romance novels. Once I figured out this is what I wanted to write, the entire journey turned into one big adventure. Along the way I met so many authors and made tons of new friends, which has been the best part of the whole thing.

At first, I set out to learn everything I could about romance. The thing that attracted me the most was the happy-ever-after requirement. When my first book released, readers let me know that no matter what happened, no matter how much I pushed them to the edge, I would not push them over. Readers also told me they loved reading romance as a way to escape stresses of real life, which is understandable. I do the same thing when I escape into writing my stories.

To be honest, I never read romance unless it was part of other stories as a subplot to my thrillers, mysteries, or action-adventure books. When I began focusing on love and all the different ways it’s expressed, not only between two lovers, but between friends and family as well, I developed a sharper awareness of my real-life relationships. My marriage improved, and my friendships strengthened.

I listened, rather than talked.

Everywhere I went I asked one question, then sat back and listened: Tell me how you found love. I couldn’t believe it. People poured their hearts out to me, like I was a therapist. My favorite times were sitting in the dentist chair with the different people working on me. Their stories were unique and amazing, and I’d ask for their permission to write about those scenarios. No one said no, they were delighted I was interested enough to write about the loves of their lives. It was therapeutic all the way around, not only for them but for me as well.

The thing about romance is, whether we read it or write it…it forces us to look inward at how we perceive love in our own lives. The different tropes are universal themes that many of us have experienced for real, allowing us to relate to the characters we’re reading about.

I attend yearly writer conferences, and the thing I love the most is the sheer volume of romance authors that I meet. I learn so much from them, and when we get together as a group we have so much fun. I continue to be humbled by the knowledge and talent of these fantastic authors.

For me, I started out writing action-adventure and suspense, because that’s what I always gravitated to in books and movies. I have an extensive onstage theatre acting background and a few movies under my belt, where I paid close attention to the writing and story development. I’ve delivered lines of fabulous playwrights, such as Neil Simon, Robert Harling, and Edward Albee, and loved every minute of it.

But when remembering lines became a problem for me, I gladly stepped off the stage and began writing lines for other actors. And I always wound up with a romance story.

Now I continue to write romantic suspense, and have expanded into writing cop thrillers, femme fatales, and my true love from my theatre days, romantic comedies.

Out of curiosity one time I looked up the universal themes of iconic movies and books. One thing jumped out at me, was the theme of love. Movies like Titanic, As Good as it Gets, Casablanca, Ghost, You’ve Got Mail, Pretty Woman, The Notebook, Steel Magnolias, Sleepless in Seattle…all have love as the central theme…not to mention the countless romance books that I won’t attempt to name.

All have love as the central theme.

What keeps me motivated to write romance are the iconic lines that repeat in my head. There are so many. But the ones that stick with me are those where, when people come to the end of life’s journey, nearly everyone says they take their love with them to hold forever. My mom and sisters both said it before they passed.

And when it comes right down to it, love is the one powerful force that will get us through everything. In life and in death.

And that is why I love writing romance.

Author bio:

LoLo Paige is an award-winning author and former wildland firefighter, whose debut novel, Alaska Spark, received three awards: An Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion, an Eric Hoffer award, and a Next Generation Indie Book award for romance. Alaska Spark and Alaska Inferno have ranked No.1 on the Amazon Bestseller Lists for action adventure and romantic suspense in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. The true story about LoLo’s fire crew escaping a runaway wildfire won an Alaska Press Club award and inspired her debut novel, Alaska Spark. LoLo collaborated with five other award-winning and best-selling authors to write Jealousy, in the shared universe of the Sisters of Sin series, and it has been a wild adventure ever since!

LoLo has other books under the romance umbrella. Hello Spain, Goodbye Heart, and Irish Thunder, are two romantic comedies being published by The Wild Rose Press. She also has short stories in several romance anthologies. Sign up for LoLo's email list to learn more about her books at www.lolopaige.com.