Guest blogger: Nicole Murphy

About writing romance—going contemporary

I love writing urban fantasy and paranormal romance. There’s no getting around that—I fell in love in 2003 when I wrote the first drafts of the Dream of Asarlai trilogy and I’m now so deeply committed that it’s hard to imagine my life without some strong women, hunky men and magic (both in and out of the bedroom).

But not all my story ideas come from the realms of fantasy, and this year I decided that I wasn’t going to put all my efforts into one genre—I was going to diversify, try different things and see if I couldn’t build my career on a variety of platforms.

So I wrote a contemporary romance.

I’ve had various contemporary ideas pitching around my head for years and I’ve even had a go at writing some down, but this time I committed myself. I’d decided I particularly wanted to go for a category style story—I figured I could easily get into the pattern of knocking out one or two a year amidst the longer, more complex urban fantasies.

So I started with researching by getting my hands on as many Harlequins as I could. I decided to look particularly at the Sexy and Desire lines—I quite enjoy working on the sex scenes. I read and read and read some more and I was utterly delighted with what I found—fabulous writing, great character development and heartfelt stories.

I also sat down and once again devoured Valerie Parv’s two books on writing—Hearts and Craft and The Art of Romance Writing. And in the meantime, I started world building and character development for an idea that had grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.

I used the RWA 50k in 30 days challenge to write the draft. I plotted it out first—something that I’ve never done before, I’ve always been more a write by the seat of my pants girl. That month was fun, and challenging.

There’s a very different tone in a straight romance—it’s much more introspective, quieter than my other books. And yet, it still needs to hold the reader’s attention and make them want to turn the pages. Being unable to grab readers and pull them along with monsters and explosions and murder like I do in the urban fantasies, I found myself thinking a lot more about what I was doing and why than I’ve ever done when writing before.

At the end, I was riddled with the kind of self-doubt that I haven’t experienced with the urban fantasies for a while—was this any good? Could I actually write romance or was I kidding myself? So I sent it to a couple of friends, asking for their view. Was this worth working on, or had I just conclusively proved I could NOT write a straight romance?

Their answer—loved it. Keep going. So I have. I’ve revised, edited and now (shock, horror!) I’ve submitted it to a publisher.

Will I be adding ‘contemporary romance author’ to my resume? It’s still too early to tell, but I can say—I had a fabulous time, I have an even greater respect for the men and women who write contemporaries, and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on some more to read and enjoy.

I’ve got a copy of Rogue Gadda, the third book in my Dream of Asarlai trilogy, to give away. To go in the draw, tell me which contemporary romance authors I should be reading.

Rogue Gadda

Asarlai has set loose one of the most dangerous gadda who has ever lived. As she regains control of her plans, she finds a powerful ally and the pressure builds to stop her and retrieve the Forbidden Texts before she can change the world forever.

Hampton Rourke is convinced he’s not the right man to be leading the search for Asarlai. He’s come so close and failed so many times – what guarantee is there he can ultimately succeed? When the clues lead to Boston and he stumbles upon one of the fabled lost families, Hampton faces challenges that will test his faith not just in himself, but in his power.

To make the situation even more complicated, Hampton finds himself unwillingly drawn to Charlotte Haraldson, a woman who hates gadda and power. But she might hold the secret to finally stopping Asarlai for good. Does he dare risk his heart for the sake of all gadda?

If you would like to find out more about Nicole’s books, you can visit her website: http://nicolermurphy.com/

The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Michelle.