Judith is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series,
romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and
celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.
I’m
not sure why, but in 2016 when Sarah Raplee and I were putting together our
2017 themes and topics, the song with the words “It’s the time of the season
for loving” was running through my mind which is where this month’s Genre-ista
theme came from.
As
an author who writes romance with a variety of heat levels (sweet to steamy
depending on the characters and their story) I used to struggle with that
reality. Still when I think about the original series, I see no other way to
write the ‘loving’ part than what I originally did.
For example: Ashley:Dragonflies and Dreams is the fourth book in the series. She learns she had
breast cancer—and not for the first time. This is recurrent breast cancer and
is detected when she is so very close to that five year mark when the probability
of the cancer coming back is significantly small.
Daniel, the hero, has loved Ashley for some time. His loving
comes in the form of taking care of her and her children. He becomes very
inventive and while I’m tempted to share details (my first draft included many
of the things he did), in my edits I deleted them. However, I’ve left these
next two sentences:
He is a kind, gentle, loving man who loves Ashley and only wants
what’s best for her. Spoiler alert: He definitely hopes (well, a bit more than
just hope) she loves him, too.
I will acknowledge that Elizabeth:The Lady and The Sacred Grove which is the second book in the series is the
opposite. It is, I think, the steamiest of the seven books. If a higher ‘heat
level’ is usually not your thing, I believe Elizabeth
has many positives. You can “visit” Ireland (or revisit if you’ve been
there before) and learn more about the unconditional support that is an
integral part of sacred women’s circles.
My promise to you is this: I do not write gratuitous sex scenes.
There is a purpose behind each of the love scenes in each story and that is why
in the case of Ashley and Hunter: The Dancer and The Drum there
are no physical love scenes although they both have ‘loving’ scenes.
Please share your thoughts on the importance of love
scenes to a story, to the development of relationships and the core romance. I truly do want to know.
Your free copy of Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl
is waiting for you.
Go to JudithAshleyRomance.com and sign up for my occasionalnewsletter “Connections.” Follow the prompts to download your own digital copy
of the first book in The Sacred Women’s Circle series.
Learn more about The Sacred Women’s
Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com
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@JudithAshley19
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author page.
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