Young or Old, that is the Question by Cheryl Wright

I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the less I want to read about women in their late teens and early twenties falling in love.

Oh, it was fine when I was in that age bracket, but I’m, ahem, a tad older than that now. Alright – I’m a lot older by about four decades. I really don’t want to read about such young couples.

I’ve been published since 2003, and writing older characters never entered my mind. Until it did.

I began writing mature age romances on and off the past few years or so. But after reading a number of reviews and chatting with my readers (many of whom are in my age bracket), it became clear, they too preferred to read more mature characters.

In this same time frame, I had been reintroducing romantic suspense to my books. It was how I began my writing career, but for reasons unknown to even me, I stopped writing it. Again, by listening to my readers, it became clear, they were enjoying my romantic suspense books.

As a result, I have moved away from writing historical western romance, to only writing mature age romantic suspense. At this point, I am only writing historical, but you never know when I might slip in a contemporary romantic suspense, as I enjoy writing those too.

One thing I have learned, after writing around 175 books (according to Amazon – I’ve lost count!) is if I don’t enjoy writing something, readers won’t enjoy reading it.

Much of the joy for me, is having the story unfold in front of me. I am not a plotter – I tried it once, and the story felt already written, to the point I couldn’t write the book.

I write organically. Most authors call it being a pantser. I loathe the terminology. It sounds unprofessional to me, like it’s not a real method of writing. But for authors like me, and there are literally thousands of us, it totally works. Many authors who don’t plot, have written themselves into a corner at some point, and haven’t been able to continue the book.

I admit, I did it once, and that was my very first book. I wrote around 30,000 words, and it took weeks to fix it.

I’ve never done it again.

When I begin a book, I know little more than my character’s names, which I inevitably change, and the fact the story will be a woman in jeopardy scenario. Sometimes it has been turned on its head and the female character ends up saving the guy.

My aim, when writing, is to bring joy to my readers. To write a story that is uplifting, and has a HEA, which all romances must have, is always my aim. There is no reason mature age characters cannot achieve their HEA, even if they believe they are too old to do so.

Cheryl Wright

What is your preference? Characters in their twenties or more mature aged characters? Let me know in the comments. I will do a random drawing for an ebook (sent via BookFunnel) for two readers who comment.

You can find all my books on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Cheryl-Wright/author/B0088GDSKM

Check out my most recent series, the Unwelcome Brides. (Mature Age Romantic Suspense).

Book One is only 99c. *Each book in the series is completely standalone.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D81H55NH

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