A Change of Pace

By DeeDee Hunt

I just finished writing chapter 7 of my first LDS romance novel. It's a bit weird for me to admit, but I'm a man writing women's fiction. It's not so much that I decided to write a romance novel, but rather that I had story in my head that I found I had to tell—it just happens to be a romance.

I'm finding that I like this story a lot. It's different from most of what I've written thus far, but yet still very similar. It's all about telling a good story and writing about compelling characters. Romance stories are generally character driven, which is what I write most of the time anyway, so I haven't found much difficulty doing it.

I have found it interesting to be writing from the point of view of a woman looking for love, which is a situation I've never found myself in—I have, however, been a man looking for love, though, so I think I may be partially qualified. Love is love, right?

It feels good to be giving birth—to a new story, that is. I don't feel like I'm making up the story as I go, but rather finding out what happens to the characters that have been living in my head for years. I feel a bit like a mother in that I'm giving these characters life. I care what happens to them and I feel sad when they are downtrodden. (But then, isn't all good writing like that?)

So, for now, I'm tossing aside Mr. Darvell Hunt and picking up the pen of Ms. DeeDee Hunt. I'm liking the experience. I don't plan on making the sex-change permanent, but I'm enjoying it while the story flows.