Why I began Writing Romance Stories by Roxy Wilson

Hello, Deatri. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to spend some time with you and your readers today. Thanks, once again, for volunteering to be my mentor, as well as gifting me with what has become one of my handy tools, ‘Become A Successful Author’.

This is, indeed, a wonderful time for me. I’ve got the love of a wonderfully supportive husband and blessed with three precious kids. It’s also, with pleasure, I celebrate the release of my first novel, the ‘Right Kind of Love’. This is the story of second chances, and although Blake and Sloane’s relationship is hardly an easy one, they eventually get their happily ever after ending. It’s also interesting that their story comes out during the closing of 2013, because my journey as an author of romance stories has just begun.

It was only last year, one of my Facebook friends posted Professor Ralph Richard Banks’s article, ‘An Interracial Fix for Black Marriages’ (2011), which I read. That article, for one reason or the other, resonated so much for me, I started watching past editions of talk shows on YouTube in which Professor Banks discussed his article/research. Then it led me to reading several authors of multicultural/interracial romance stories like Mahalia Levey, Yvette Hines, Shara Azod, Stephanie Morris, Aliyah Burke, Tressie Lockwood, Delaney Diamond, Pepper Pace and Eve Vaughn, just to mention a few. It’s fascinating how each of these authors has a unique way of conveying the dynamics of interracial relationships. Quite simply, they motivated me and within two months, I penned an IR/MC romance story, ‘Her Billionaire Buddy,’ and sent my completed manuscript to a few epublishers. Amazingly, it generated some interest. Eventually, it was revised and given a new title, the ‘Right Kind of Love’.

Yet, I continued to read romance stories, from contemporary to paranormal to steampunk. I couldn’t believe how much the genre had broaden over the years, since I had last read a romance story in the ‘90’s. I discovered other mainstream authors whose works I admire: Lynn Richards, Marie Carr, Marie Harte, Clarissa Yip, Evangeline Anderson and Sam Crescent, among others.

And I continued writing romance stories. My second manuscript, ‘He’s So Into You,’ a novella, was also accepted, this time by Secret Cravings Publishing (SCP). I was pleasantly surprised when it became a bestseller on Amazon and ARe, in May. At present, I’ve got a few works-in-progress, and I’m hoping to complete some of them in 2014.

I’m also moved by how much authors have extended their hands in friendship, and some of them have been instrumental in guiding me along and encouraging me when I’m overwhelmed or blundering around. Deatri, you are one of them, and Dez Burke is another. Tamara Hoffa, a fellow SCP author and my editor, was also instrumental in helping me to keep my story on the right track.

Quite frankly, I’m keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that readers will enjoy the ‘Right Kind of Love,’ or at least relate to some of the issues and challenges Blake and Sloane face in their relationship. Their story is the first of five stories, in the ‘Loving A Morrison’ series. Jaxon’s story is next.

I never thought I would have written love stories, since I’m an educator, and have penned books on how to read, think critically about and appreciate poetry (under a different name). So, this is the beginning of a new journey for me. However, I’m going to enjoy each moment of it, for as long as it lasts.

CONTEST
Prize: a copy of The Right Kind of Love
How to enter: Leave a comment, along with your email address, below.
Deadline to enter: Tonight (27 Dec. 2013) at 11:59 pm EST.

The Right Kind Of Love
New Yorker Sloane Saunders has just about given up on love. She’s thirty-something and very single. A magazine article jolts her from her malaise and motivates her to do something she’s never tried before: online dating, and firstmeet.com is the website of choice.

Attending his brother’s bachelor party was the wake-up call Blake Morrison needed. Memories of a passionate relationship from his past drive him to return to claim his woman. Sloane. Despite the sizzling chemistry between them, it’s not as easy as he thought. With a family crisis and Sloane’s preconceived notions about love and relationships getting in the way, can Blake convince Sloane they have the right kind of love and that a love like theirs can last?

At present the Right Kind of Love can be purchased at Secret Cravings Publishing:

It will be available at the other outlets like Amazon, B&N, et al on 30 December.

Excerpt
“Why am I doing this, again?”

Sloane stared at the matchmaking website. Firstmeet.com. It promised to make falling in love easy. Then why was her chest so tight? Why did she feel like Atlas, with the weight of the heavens on her shoulders? Were these signs that her foray into online dating could turn out to be one of the horror stories she’d heard on the news? With her luck she’d end up meeting a catfish who created a false identity and made a complete fool of her. Not in a million years would she have believed she would resort to this.
Do I really need to do this? Is it worth the risk? No. Maybe I shouldn’t bother. I should just be content living alone, and using my Hitachi Magic Wand when I feel the need for some adventure in the bedroom.

“You know what?” Sloane moved the cursor to the Log Out icon. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all.” Just when she was about to click on the icon, Harper’s words came swimming up to the surface of her consciousness—Open yourself up to new possibilities, and maybe, just maybe, you might get your happily-ever-after.

Sloane lifted her eyes toward the ceiling. “Harper, you’re not even here, and you’re messing with my head.” She looked at the monitor and saw she had a million questions to answer before she completed her profile.
She inhaled a deep breath. “Okay, here goes.”

The questionnaire was exasperating. She couldn’t believe it went so far as to ask her to select what she’d do if she won the state lottery. How about all of the above? Sheesh. Sloane used the Eeny meeny miny moe rhyme to choose an answer, since all of the above wasn’t one of the options.

Twenty minutes later, Sloane completed the online form and paid the subscription fee. She took her shower and was just about to wrap the bath towel around her body, when she heard the doorbell. She wasn’t in the mood for visitors. Not when she needed to get ready to head out in a few minutes. The NHL games attracted large crowds, so everyone knew how important it was to arrive there early to get the coveted seats. Whoever was outside continued to press the doorbell, making Sloane more and more irritated by the second.

“Enough already, I’m coming,” Sloane muttered. She dried her skin briskly. Who could possibly be disturbing her peace this early on a Sunday morning? Don’t people understand the concept of weekends? It’s Sunday, for crying out loud. She rushed to her drawer and grabbed some clothing, along with her under-things. It didn’t seem as if Sloane could put her clothes on fast enough for her impatient, unwelcome guest.

By the time Sloane reached the hallway, the shrill sounds of the doorbell seemed to touch the most sensitive part of her nerves. She barely restrained herself from shoving her fist into her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. Sloane opened the door, not too gently. Belatedly, she thought how foolish it was to not check the peephole before opening the door. When she saw the man standing before her, her last-minute fear vanished.

The first thing that caught her attention was the width of his shoulders. It was one of the things about a man’s physique that got her going. Sloane believed only other full-figured women would understand the rare delight she felt in the moment, to be standing next to a man with such broad shoulders. Sloane was sure she would feel protected, and oh-so-delicate, if he wrapped his arms around her. It was a sensation she didn’t often enjoy with the opposite sex. It would feel so good to be an elf, a dainty little thing, needing protection, in his presence. Sloane mentally shook herself out of the fixation on the man’s shoulders, and allowed her eyes to track upwards.

“What the—” Her voice trailed off as she peered into cyan-blue eyes. She felt like her eyes were going to pop out of her head, as she looked into the all-too-familiar crooked, dimpled smile of the man who’d haunted her naughtiest dreams for ages.
“Blake?”

At present the Right Kind of Love can be purchased at Secret Cravings Publishing

Roxy Bio
Roxy Wilson is a self-professed junkie whose excessive consumption of traditional and electronic books is legendary.
As a graduate with a degree in Education, she writes blogs which help readers to think critically about and appreciate poetry. In July, 2012, however, she decided to delve into the world of writing romance stories.

When she is not reading or writing, she spends her time cooking, listening to music and visiting the various islands of the Caribbean.

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Dee here: Thanks for dropping by Roxy and congratulations on The Right Kind Of Love! Come on back any time.