Love is in the air: New Zealand romance writers share what makes their hearts sing

Bodice rippers, roman-tasy, streamy, hating-to-dating, fake-romance, western, Regency, dark… there are a lot of sub-genres and tropes to unlace when it comes to romance books. Loved-up fiction — in its many shapes and forms — is one of the most popular genres of e-books and audiobooks internationally and in Aotearoa. New Zealand is home to many very successful romance writers, many of whom are incredibly prolific self-publishers. The Romance Writers of New Zealand organisation was founded in 1990 to provide support and professional development to New Zealand's growing romance writing community. Members such as Nalini Singh, Bronwen Evans, Cheryl Phipps and Soraya M Lane (to name a few) joined the group as fledgling unpublished writers and have each become international bestselling authors.

 Kete caught up with authors Bronwen Evans and Cheryl Phipps to discover how they made the leap into the romantic world and what makes their hearts sing when writing. To learn more about Aotearoa's romance authors and more about NZ's bustling romance book scene, follow the Romance Writers of New Zealand Facebook page.

A close friend battling a life-threatening illness encouraged Bronwen Evans to pack in her marketing career in 2009 and plunge into the sumptuous world of romance writing. Since then, the Hawke's Bay-based writer has published more than 30 novels in both the historical romance and contemporary romance genres. She has also won the coveted romance writing prize, the RomCon Readers' Crowd Award, three times. The first book in her 'Disgraced Lords' series A Kiss of Lies made the USA Today bestsellers list. The story follows undercover governess Sarah Copper and her love interest, Christian Trent, aka the Earl of Markham, a man haunted by his past. Evans has gone on to write another seven books in the series and has an extensive fan base.

Kete: What does literary success mean to you?

Bronwen: For me, writing was always about the freedom to do something I love from anywhere and at any time. I didn't want to be stuck in one place and in a 9-5 job. Money was never a huge driver, but the freedom of earning a living from telling the stories in my head is a dream come true.

 If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?

To have more confidence in yourself. Work out your writing strengths and then study or practice the areas you could improve. I didn't start writing until quite late in life as I'm slightly dyslexic, but I've learned I'm a good storyteller.

 How do you select names for your characters?

You're a little bit restricted with character names in historical romance. If you're on point in the Regency era, names were pretty boring: Elizabeth, Mary, Anne, John, James… etc all the royal-type names. But I sometimes push the boundaries a bit. I'll search the names online to see when they were used and by whom. When a character pops into my head, they usually come with a name already attached.

 What author or books inspired you to write?

I've always had stories in my head and love to read, watch TV and go to the theatre. My favourite authors are Catherine Cookson, Sarah Donati (whose stories I enjoyed more than Diana Gabaldon), and Johanna Lindsey. But it was while I was living and working in London that I discovered the offices of Mills & Boon and I first thought about writing as a career. Almost eight years later, on my return to New Zealand, encouraged by a close friend battling a life-threatening illness, I finally started down the path to publication by joining RWA (Romance Writers of America), The Beau Monde (a Regency-era fiction writers group), RWAustralia (Romance Writers of Australia), and RWNZ.

How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?

I'm a very slow writer; I usually write about 2000 words a day. However, my process for a book creation is in three parts. Plotting makes up a third of my time, writing the first draft is the subsequent third and then editing the draft is the final third. Instigating this process has helped me speed up my output as I know what I'm writing each day. I use plottr.com, and I use the Michael Hauge Six Act Story Structure.

Read more of Bronwen Evans’ work at www.bronwenevans.com

USA Today bestselling author Cheryl Phipps married her high school sweetheart, so it's not surprising that she's a romantic when it comes to her writing as well. Phipps' characters include feisty heroines, handsome heroes, quirky friends and family members, and her stories, such as her popular Sycamore Springs series, are often set in small towns. Phipps, who is based in the Waikato, also writes cosy mysteries under the pen name C. A. Phipps, and she says these stories always "star a clever pet or two and feature food and baking and maybe even a touch of paranormal." When she's not writing, Phipps is one of the creators of theSPAGirls (Self Publishing Authors) podcast, where she and fellow romance authors Trudi Jaye, Wendy Vella and Shar Barratt share tips for those wishing to pour their heart into their writing.

Kete: If you could give advice to your younger writing self, what would it be?Phipps: Believe in yourself and get your work out to an editor for a proper critique before you even consider getting it edited by professionals. Finding and accepting your weaknesses and learning how to overcome them will improve your work.  How many hours a day do you spend writing? I spend two to six hours writing, depending on where I am in the book creation cycle and if the writing is flowing well. Stopping when your allocated time is up is one thing; stopping when you're in the middle of the flow is torture!

How do you select names for your characters?

Sometimes they come to me, sometimes I google names from where my book is set, and sometimes I ask my Facebook group or my newsletter subscribers for ideas. It's a great question for a giveaway.

Do people in your life make it into your stories?

Yes. But do they know about it... that's another matter entirely!

 Which authors inspired you to write?

Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Jane Austin, Diana Gabaldon, Marianne Keyes, Cathy Kelly.

 How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?

It usually takes me four months from start to finish to write a book, but it depends on the book's length.

Are there any lesser-known authors you'd like to give a shout-out to?

All the authors who support the SPAGirls podcast. You're all superstars!

 Read more of Cheryl Phipps work at www.caphipps.com

A big thanks to the Romance Writers of New Zealand for granting Kete permission to republish these Q&As.