Friends who Write Romance

Writing is a solitary occupation and for a long time, when I lived in the country, I didn’t know any other writers. I barely knew I was a writer. Then I wrote a short story that won a national competition. I began to take my scribbling a little more seriously and joined a local writers group. Although I eventually outgrew that group, I learned a lot, enjoyed the experience of having other work published, and it was inspiring and interesting to be in the company of people who didn’t think writing was a kind of weird thing to do.

Romance Writers of New Zealand is a Professional Organisation

I began to focus on writing romance and went to a couple of weekend workshops with Daphne Clair and Robyn Donald, two multi-published authors who were willing to share the knowledge they’d gained through years of hard work and commitment to their craft. As a result of attending these retreats I discovered Romance Writers of New Zealand (RWNZ) and joined up.

I’ve learned so much from being a member of this professional writers’ organisation where members range from nervous newbies to multi-published authors and many other writers at various stages of their journeys. Wherever we are along the writers’ path, we all learn something from each other.

The core RWNZ body is separated into chapters and I belong to the Coast-to-Coast group (C2C), so named because the group includes members from the central part of the North Island and from one coastline to the other in that area (you can never be far from a coastline in New Zealand!). Through C2C I’ve met some wonderful people and forged friendships that are truly special to me. This week I’m going to introduce you to one of these special people.

Jen Yates writes Regency ‘Romantica’

Jen Yates lives in rural New Zealand and says Romance has always been her genre of choice – the sexier the better! Jen’s work encompasses both contemporary and historical romance but she says her author’s heart lies with Regency. Her latest Regency Romance ‘Her Dark Lord’ is the last novel in her Lords of the Matrix Club series. Other novels in the series are: The Earl of Windermere Takes a Wife The Perfect Duchess and The Virgin Widow.

A Permafree Prequel and Sequel to the series is also available on Amazon, although Jen says you might want to hold off reading the sequel until you’ve read the last of the series-it’s a peek into the characters’ lives 50 years on. A word of warning-if sweet romance is your preference, ‘Her Dark Lord’ and the three preceding novels in Jen’s Lords of the Matrix Club series are probably not for you!

But if you’re a Regency fan and enjoy what Jen calls ‘Romantica’ – sexy romance with elements of erotica, I do hope you’ll click on one of the links. Allow yourself to be transported back in time to the early 19th Century, to that sparkling era of exquisite style known as the Regency.