Wow, Claudine, what an introduction! I’m shaking in my pumps wondering how my post can live up to it. Posting on Coffee Thoughts is a bit intimidating as it is. I mean, it is Coffee Time Romance’s blog. Yikes.
How did I find myself writing romance?
I’ve always been a romance reader. I average reading about one novel a day (I speed read). Reading romance is fun but it also has a business purpose. Every businessperson needs a way to burn off excess emotions. We can’t be crying or having a hissy fit in the boardroom. That’s frowned upon. If you can’t control your own emotions, how are you going to control a company?
Most men use exercise, specifically whacking the heck out of a little white ball (golf also gives them a chance to gossip). Me? I use romance novels. I recently read By The Sword by Alison Stuart. Wowsers. By The Sword had me bawling my blue eyes out in the first couple pages. When I closed that eBook, the tear ducts were drained dry. Perfect for a knock ’em down go-round in the C-Suite.
But why write romance novels?
Part of the life cycle of a businessperson is the mentor stage. We start out as protégés, taken under the wing of some alpha dog a few rungs up on the ladder. We work our way up, supporting this mentor and helping her ascent to the top of the organization. Then when we’re high enough up and need the extra support ourselves (the air is thin up there, you know), we take on our own protégés.
Yeah, business is a team support. That lone CEO in his corner office with no friends and no supporting players? That is pure Hollywood fiction. You can’t be a leader without people to lead.
The problem I have with this model is that I’ve jumped off the corporate ladder to chase my own ventures, yet have all this great knowledge bubbling up inside of me. I have a couple blogs but it wasn’t enough. Buddies suggested I write a non-fiction book.
Heck no. If I’m going to write a book for fun and to give back, it is going to be a romance novel. So I thought ‘Why not combine the two?’ Have a romance novel about businesspeople, real businesspeople, businesspeople who love the game and play it? Because any successful person in any field, whether it is business or writing or teaching, loves what they do. It is near impossible to be great without passion.
It took me a few manuscripts to get the right combination of romance and business. I wanted the romance to stand on its own, the business to be icing on that yummy romance novel cake. Breach Of Trust was the first novel all my test readers (including non-business people) loved. I hope other readers will love it too.
Now, I know I have an original reason for reading romance but I can’t be the only one. What is your reason?
Leave a Comment