This is the second in a series of posts about me. I hope these help
you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time
for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more
disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm
reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a
single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as
football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.
I write clean romances. No swear words. No explicit anything, which does not mean I sanitize. I'm an abuse survivor, so many of my characters are abuse survivors. The resultant problems do not magically disappear. Several of my characters deal with PTSD. Curing them isn't part of the story. I share methods of coping, from prayer and counseling to coloring books and therapy dogs. I endeavor to offer hope. In several of my books I touch on human trafficking. It's ugly. It's dehumanizing. I handle it as gently as possible.
I don't believe in anyone going it alone. Building a support system is part of every journey to becoming healthy, which may include a pastor and his wife, friends, and family. Sometimes family is the problem, and my characters choose to walk away. There is no fairy dust to make the family all better when the family chooses dysfunction over healing.
I write less "sweet" and more "blush." Sweet is holding hands and quick kisses and focusing on the emotional aspect not the physical. I find it difficult to relate to sweet books. Blush adds more of the physical responses, in addition to the emotional side. My heroes have "typical male" responses.
Even before seeing the movie
Old Fashioned, I endeavored to have my characters lean more toward courting. Some of my heroes have been playboys, others have made mistakes, a few made the chastity vow early and held to it. My heroines are more likely to be the sexual abuse survivors but not exclusively. My teen nieces have read my books.
I write in third person, not first, and only from the point of view of the hero and heroine.
