When I took up writing romance, one of the hardest things I encountered was devising enough conflict between hero and heroine. I’m eager for that happy ending. I can see them together already.

But that wouldn’t make for a very exciting read.

Right now, I’m very wrapped up in my latest work in progress (WIP), a medical romance. It consumes my days and I’m falling in love…with the characters. So, why not write about what I’m consumed with?

In the beginning of Prescription for Love (working title), the hero and heroine both see in each other the same undesirable traits their former spouses had. In other words, they’re attracted to a type, but it remains to be seen if they’re also different enough and willing to change enough to find happiness with each other. Each secretly envies some trait the other has, wishing they could be more like that and the attraction is more reluctant than I’ve ever written. It’s a new slant on the initial conflict for me. These two aren’t starry-eyed young twenties, they’re a bit older and one hopes, wiser. But with past emotional hurt comes baggage that must be dealt with.

In the following snippit (very much a rough draft), this is Lanna’s assessment of her new tenant. To give you a little setup, he’s arrived at the beach house he rented to find the caretaker is late. A neighbor directs him to the first aid station on the beach where she works for a kind of Baywatch facility and has since her workaholic husband’s death. Tom’s wife ditched her family to become a Hollywood reality show wife (think Housewives of Atlanta/Orange County). His twins and nanny are in the ladies room.

- – - – -

“Where do you refer cases needing follow up?” Tom asked as they stepped out onto the beach.

Lanna kept her pace sedate though the sun was warm, even for April. “We give patients a brochure with three choices. The local hospital, the nearest after hours facility and Bailey Cove Wellness Group.”

“In that order? I’ve heard BCWG is the best in town.”

“It’s a fair statement, but we don’t play favorites. Our list is in alphabetical order.”

“Well, at least we made the cut.”

“Ah. You must be the wellness group’s newest recruit.” She had to give him props for hawking his interests so soon, though it didn’t bode well that he was all business at the beach.

“Guilty as charged.”

Lanna halted outside the women’s facilities to wait for the rest of their party. “How was the trip?”

“Fine. Did you not get the message that we were arriving today?”

“I did and told Slade to send you over if I ran late. Since you found me, I guess I now owe him a beer.”

The slight hitch of his brows let Lanna know he wasn’t pleased with her answer. Such a stuffed shirt. He made her shoulders tight. Already she didn’t like him and it wasn’t because he was essentially filling the position her late husband, Garry had filled. They’d had a string of temporary doctors filling in over the last year. She was used to it.

No, something about this guy just rubbed her wrong. Probably steam pressed his socks and sorted his canned goods in alphabetical order. Maybe he’d loosen up at work. Otherwise, he’d never fit in with the casual, family-like atmosphere she and Garry had deliberately fostered among the colleagues at BCWG.

Lanna relaxed when Hargrove’s nanny and kids reappeared at the Ladies exit so they could continue on their way. The less she had to do with this uptight guy, the better.

- – - – -

And so even their initial meeting has conflict undercurrents. Without knowing it, they’ve each presented to the other traits that are deemed undesirable because they echo what they didn’t like about their former spouses. He – all business. She – too laid back and flippant, shows no regret for missing their appointment.

Though we’re also writers, the members of PFHT do our share of reading, just like we suspect you do. Do you have favorite themes or conflicts that you find yourself selecting over and over in your reading material? A favorite author because of the type of character’s, setting or theme that re-occurs?

1. Romance heroines never settle for second-best when choosing who they love.
2. Romance heroines are strong in heart and in mind and in soul—or they end up that way after growing through the conflicts in the story.
3. Romance heroines, like all strong women, are good role models for our daughters.
4. Romance heroines don’t obsess over their weight or if their hair looks good. They focus their energy on what is important to them.
5. Romance heroines believe in the sanctity of a strong and faithful relationship and will accept nothing less.
6. Romance heroines choose mates who bring out the best in them.
7. Romance heroines understand and embrace the power in being a woman.
8. Romance heroines are brave enough to be vulnerable and fall in love.
9. Romance heroines believe in hope for a happy, healthy future.
10. Romance heroines gives readers hope that they can be the heroines of their own lives.

As a romance reader, I have been bolstered and encouraged and inspired time after time by the heroines in romance novels. While these are fictional characters, all characters are based on real traits we have in ourselves or we’ve seen in someone else. The women in the medical profession have my highest admiration. When writing Dr Stephanie Montclair, in  THE BABY WHO SAVED DR CYNICAL, I came to realize how strong-willed and strong-spirited these women must be. They must balance sympathy and compassion with the knowledge that what must be done to save a life could hurt, on so many levels.

In THE BABY WHO SAVED DR CYNICAL, Dr. Stephanie Montclair and Dr. Jason Drake are diagnosticians, the doctors of last resort. They have the lowest success rate in the profession because they are the doctors people turn to after everyone else has given up hope. They are strong, brilliant, independent people. Finding their equals is something neither thinks will ever happen for them. Until, one day….

Dr Stephanie Montclair finds in Dr Jason Drake a man who inspires her to be a better woman, just as she inspires him to be a better man. While they rely on each other they also challenge each other to grow. Love makes them vulnerable enough to grow and become more of who they were born to be.

And isn’t that what happily-ever-after relationships are all about? That we all become better people because we love.

THE BABY WHO SAVED DR CYNICAL is available at Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com for Kindle and BarnesandNoble.com for Nook.

About Connie Cox

After many years of working for the worlds biggest corporations as an electrical engineer, I’m now a full time writer / web designer / freelancer / writing instructor. And I get to work in my pajamas!
Life is good!

Carol/Annie: Hey, Susan. Last night I went to bed with a scene problem in my head and this morning I woke up with the solution. Love when that happens. (grin) But I got to thinking about how many times that’s happened to me over the years. I think that just-before-waking time may be my most creative moment of the day. Has something like that ever happened to you?

Susan: Sure. If I’m stuck in a scene I often take a bath, go for a walk and *bang!* There is the answer. There’s something about clearing my head that makes the answer pop in.

C/A: Really? I’ve heard several writers say that exercise or showering clears their head and helps them figure out plot problems. Showering just gets me clean. LOL! As for exercise, I have to confess I haven’t tried that very often. Must put my new exercycle to use. What time of the day do you prefer to work?

Susan: I’m a morning person. I can usually get more done before lunch than any other time of the day. Surprisingly, I have found that I’m a pretty good writer in the mid-afternoon too.

C/A: We’re kinda opposites there. I’m definitely a night owl. I’ve written some of my best stuff after midnight. And mid-afternoon my brain goes into this dull, wish-I-could-nap mode. (light-bulb moment) Maybe that’s when I should put my new exercycle to good use. Hey, what about characters? How do they reveal themselves to you?

Susan: Recently, I’ve started thinking, what would such and such character do in this situation? Suddenly I have a tidbit, a detail that, makes the character more well-rounded, more real. That is exciting stuff for me.

C/A: And more exciting for the reader, I’m sure. Speaking of that – Congrats on your upcoming release date of your first Harlequin Medical Romance! Now that you’re doing guest blogging and interviews, what’s a common question that crops up?

Susan: Thanks! The question writers often get is where do your stories come from? To be truthful, I’m amazed sometimes how I come up with stories. Often I’m somewhere and I start wondering who would be here and why. Because I write medicals my first question is always what would a doctor or a nurse be doing here?

C/A: Since my stories incorporate Crainesians in our normal world, I look for ways to twist our everyday life, or themes in romance like a marriage of convenience plot that I can twist around to fit my Crainesian customs.

Susan: Tell me how you came up with your Crainesians? My mind so doesn’t work that way. To come up with that kind of world is so cool.

C/A: Funny you should ask about that because they came to me in a dream. I woke up with it still playing out in my head during the wee hours one morning and had to get the scene into the computer. Because they were telepathic and had different mating habits, I knew they had to be from another planet, yet they looked like us and were living in Denver. Voila! I had the Crainy world.

Susan: That’s neat. Our blog sisters must have these kinds of creative experiences, don’t you think?

C/A: Let’s ask them and our readers. Many of the non-writers have hobbies and do crafts. I wonder if they have special creative times or routines with bursts of creativity, or more productive times in their work day?

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Commercial break:

Learn more about Susan Carlisle and her medical romances here: website, blog, Facebook, Twitter

Learn more about Annie Rayburn’s Crainesian world here: website, blog, Facebook, Twitter

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Back to our regular programming:

Well? Let’s continue this conversation…just between us (wink) in the comments and be entered to win. Today we’re drawing for two prizes! One lucky commenter will win a copy of Annie’s Phantoms & Fantasies. Another will win …Heart Surgeon, Hero…Husband? and a basket of goodies.