Adrienne deWolfe - How to Write Romance Heroes with Sex Appeal

How to Write

Romance Heroes

with Sex Appeal

Book II in the E-Series:

The Secrets to Getting Your Romance Novel Published

By Adrienne deWolfe

Winner of 4 Awards for Sexy, Romantic Heroes

http://WritingNovelsThatSell.com

Meet Adrienne deWolfe

A career journalist and publicist with more than 45 awards to her credit, Adriennes fiction debut occurred with Texas Outlaw , which broke industry records when it was nominated for two Rita Awards by the published authors of Romance Writers of America (RWA).

Since that time, each of Adriennes five Romance novels has earned distinctions from reviewers and readers. For instance, three of her heroes won Knight in Shining Silver (K.I.S.S.) Awards from Romantic Times Magazine, and a fourth hero won the Avon Romance Readers Poll for Favorite Romance Hero.

Not to be outdone, Adriennes heroines have also rated high among readers, who have recognized her with the Honey of a Heroine Award (West Houston Chapter, RWA) and the Cameo Award for Strong Woman Characters (Calico Trails Magazine). The readers of Calico Trails also named Adriennes third book, Texas Wildcat, the Best Historical Romance of the Year.

Adrienne is a popular speaker, who has lead creativity and novel writing workshops at conferences around the country. She created the curriculum for, and taught How to Write a Novels That Sells for three years at a community college before bringing the course online (Visit WritingNovelsThatSell.com to learn more).

In her hometown, she has held the office of Vice President of Mentoring for the non-profit organization, Women of Visionary Influence, and she was appointed two serve for two consecutive years as a New Business Ambassador by her local Chamber of Commerce. She is certified as a Habitat Steward through the National Wildlife Federation, and she has trained as a Texas Master Naturalist through the Texas Department of Parks & Wildlife.

Adrienne continues to balance her time between her speaking, marketing, and publishing careers. She was a contributing writer for the non-fiction release, A Preeminently Healthy Place, The History of Medicine in Travis County, Texas, edited by Marilyn Baker.

Adrienne is a firm believer that what you believe, you achieve. When she mentors aspiring authors as a book writing coach, she draws upon her 20 years of training in Attitudinal Healing, which teaches that individuals can change their circumstances by choosing to look at their situation, and the world around them, from a new perspective. She is certified as a Peer Counselor and Group Facilitator of Attitudinal Healing, a program developed by psychiatrist Gerald Jampolsky, M.D., in Tiburon, California.

Visit Adriennes website, WritingNovelsThatSell.com, for writing resources, advice about novel writing, and publishing tips. You can also follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Table of Contents

And They All Lived Happily Ever After...

What is a Romance novel?

And what must a male character do to be classified as a Romance hero?

The answers may surprise you, especially if you are operating under the belief that Margaret Mitchells Gone with the Wind is a Romance novel.

Genre Romance novels always without exception have a happy ending. In the world of genre Romance, the ending is considered happy when the male and female protagonists have declared their love for each other and then have proven their commitment to that love by agreeing to a happy, life-long, monogamous relationship.

No other ending will do.

This e-book is devoted to helping writers of Romance achieve their own happy ending: publication in book-length fiction.

Lets be honest: no writer would devote 6 to 36 months of their lives, researching, composing, and revising a 300- to 500-page genre Romance manuscript, if s/he didnt have some desire to sell it!

For a writer, nothing is more exciting than signing that first publishing contract (except, perhaps, for watching a total stranger hug your book to her chest as she heads toward the cashier.)

Every writer should experience that bubbling, champagne-like thrill.

My goal is to help you write a book that will allow you to celebrate a rich and rewarding success. As a Romance novelist, you will be required to master many basics of fiction-writing, but none will be more important to achieving your first sale than characterization.

Specifically, you will be required to create a Romance hero a man who is so irresistible, so alluring and endearing, that the heroine cant help but fall in love with him.

More to the point, your reader must fall in love with your hero, because reader satisfaction is the secret to selling your next Romance novel.

This e-book will help you create a lovable and believable fictional man. The tips that youll find in these pages will help you make your hero sigh-worthy, even if the gentleman starts out as a bit of a tyrant. Or denies his feelings. Or enjoys ridiculous pranks. Or runs from commitment. Or suffers an illness. Or is raising a passel of kids. Or struggles to communicate. Or buries himself in his work. Or has failed at love before.

In short, realistic men are desired as characters in Romance novels. Our task, as writers, is to know our target audience well enough to turn that diamond-in-the-rough-male into a polished gem, one who rises above his faults, thus proving himself worthy of the love of a real, flesh-and-blood woman.

Romancing the Reader: Know Your Genre

Romantic fiction validates the belief that men and women can have meaningful relationships that are strengthening and healthy.

~ Jo Beverly, Bestselling Romance Author

(Beverlys quote comes from News Flash! All Authors Take Note! PANdoras Box . May-June Issue, 1995, pg. 26. The publication is compiled by the Published Authors Network of Romance Writers of America.)

Romance novels are the hottest-selling adult fiction in North America.

For more than 30 years, Romance novels have consistently dominated the fiction industry. They make up a whopping 54% of all mass market paperback sales.

If youre an aspiring author who wants to break into the fiction market, genre Romance is a good place to start, thanks to the sheer volume of books that are published each year. For instance, the publisher, Harlequin Romance, sells 4 books per second, half of them internationally. In the United Kingdom, 20 percent of all fiction sold are Romance novels. In France, 12 million Romance novels are sold each year, according to Wikipedia

Clearly, a vast reading audience around the world is willing to part with its hard-earned money to read a love story with a happy ending. But who are these people? Who is likely to read the book that you are writing?

According to statistics published by Romance Writers of America, the vast majority of Romance readers are college-educated females, the majority of whom (59%) are between the ages of 25 and 54. They often have professional careers in addition to a husband and/or children.

In a study published by the American Booksellers Association, most Romance readers (80%) identified themselves as happy in their marriages or long-term partnerships.

Romance Novels are Classified as Category Fiction

Before we discuss the kinds of stories that Romance readers prefer, lets briefly review the types of fiction that will be mentioned in this e-book.

Category fiction often called genre fiction appeals to a clearly defined target audience that has specific reading tastes. The best way to identify a novels category is to read the label on its spine. Regardless of where that book is shelved in your local store, the spine reveals the books true genre and/or sub-genre. Publishing houses define a books category, not book sellers.

As defined by publishing houses, adult genre fiction includes the following main categories: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Western, Thriller, and Horror.