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.

Fighting Fires and Romance with LoLo Paige

As a lover of our wildlands in the American West, I fought wildfires in several western states. I love writing about the grit and determination required to be a wildland firefighter.

As a female, it was a constant challenge to prove I could do the physical aspects of the job. Sometimes I worked with old-school thinkers who thought women had no place on a fire line. I worked hard to prove myself and earned the respect of my male counterparts, even the old-school thinkers who still didn’t think women belonged on the fire line. I write about this in the novel. Many women face this in professions that have been traditionally male-dominated. Now, women make up a healthy portion of wildland fire crews.

Alaska Spark is a story about the dynamic of working in a stressful environment with men and women who live and work together on a fire crew. When I fought fire, I was fortunate to have good leadership and crew bosses who knew fire behavior and kept safety a priority. I enjoyed the give and take between everyone on our crew, regardless of gender. I worked on a crew where everyone respected each other’s boundaries.

My husband and I were both firefighters for the U.S. Forest Service in Montana and I didn’t have to reach too far to write the romance in the story. I had so much fun writing it!

Firefighting made me grow up. I learned that not only did I have the responsibility to watch out for my own safety on the fire line, I watched out for my crew members. We trusted each other; without trust it's difficult for a crew to congeal and work successfully as a team. Firefighting was one of the most exhilarating work experiences of my life.

I’ve just finished writing Alaska Inferno, the second book of the Blazing Hearts Wildfire series, and again I had an absolute blast writing it. This book continues the firefighting adventures of the Alaska Fire Service Aurora Crew and will be released in late March. I raised the ante on the crime elements in the second book with a serial arsonist. I write women who are strong, guys that are calendar-worthy hot, and the romances that are passionate. Romance, fire, and sabotage are an explosive mix.

What has made all of this so special was a reader who said, “Your words moved me after having gone through a traumatic experience fighting a bad fire in Southern California. It helped me to know I’m not the only one who has had these experiences.” This is why I write. If I can make a difference to just one reader, I’ve done my job as a writer.

As I say on my taglines when promoting Alaska Spark: Hope creates heroes and love creates miracles!

Lolo Paige is an award-winning author who writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance. Her debut novel, Alaska Spark, won a 2020 Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion and the true-life story that inspired it won a 2016 Alaska Press Club award. Alaska Spark finaled in two RWA chapter contests and was featured in Publishers Weekly Booklife Magazine. In late 2020, Amazon ranked Alaska Spark #1 for Romantic Suspense on their Bestsellers Lists for the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

LoLo worked as a wildland firefighter for the Missoula Smokejumper Base and the U.S. Forest Service in Missoula, Montana. She moved from Montana to Alaska, seeking romance and adventure and found both! After an action-packed career that included fighting fires in Montana, California, and Alaska, LoLo took up writing full time. LoLo lives in Alaska with her husband and golden retriever, enjoying summers at their oceanfront cabin, fishing for halibut and salmon…and writing. Her next book, Alaska Inferno, will be released in March.

Lolo plans to launch two more series in 2021: A romantic suspense crime thriller series set in Alaska and a “seasoned” romance series with older characters and second chance & friends to lovers themes.

Links to Website and Social Media

AMAZON BOOK PAGE               https://amzn.to/3pOUe4B

LOLO PAIGE WEBSITE              https://www.lolopaige.com/

GOODREADS BOOK PAGE        https://bit.ly/3oepCZL

GOODREADS AUTHOR PAGE   https://bit.ly/3rVSRTq

BOOKBUB AUTHOR PAGE         https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lolo-paige

BARNES & NOBLE PAGE            https://bit.ly/38Zu0pk

FACEBOOK AUTHOR PAGE      https://www.facebook.com/LoLoPaigewildlandfire

TWITTER                             https://twitter.com/LoloPaigeAuthor    @LoLoPaigeAuthor