Who am I, what do I write, and why?

Well, I’m either an academic and bureaucrat who has a second career in romantic fiction, or a romance writer with a blamelessly boring past and an academic streak – you can take your pick.

I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since I was a teenager, but it took me thirty odd years and a lot of dead ends and near misses before I actually achieved publication. I had a paying career in local government and charity administration, a large part of it in London, most of which I enjoyed as I climbed the career ladder. When I wasn’t enjoying it I would take a lurch into academia – with a Master’s degree and then a PhD in History. Alongside that I was always writing, and always romance. Part of that was because of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, which encourages unpublished writers through its new writers’ scheme, which requires you to submit a manuscript for professional critique every year. It meant a great deal for an aspiring writer to be able to mix with other hopefuls and also published writers, many of whom are very big names and are generous with their time and friendship. I also like writing romance – for me it’s positive and life affirming and I always want a happy ending. I’m a thoroughgoing escapist where my reading matter is concerned, and that’s what I write too.

Photo credit: Sian Trenberth Photography

During those years of apprenticeship I experimented with all types of romance from family sagas to Regency historicals. I eventually noticed that everything I wrote had an element of crime in it, but I knew I didn’t want to write police procedurals or psychological thrillers – I didn’t have the expertise. Then, eventually, when I’d almost given up, I read an American novel in the genre romantic suspense – a hot love story with a crime element – it was The Reef, by Nora Roberts. It made me think – can I do that?

It turned out that I could. It still took a while. I had some success in American competitions for unpublished authors, including a reality contest run by a big romance review magazine – that was a roller coaster and a lot of fun, although I didn’t get anywhere near winning. Then at last, I got a British publisher who liked what I was doing – American style but with European locations. I achieved a dream and my first published book – Never Coming Home – won the award that the Romantic Novelists’ Association gives for the best new writer each year.

I write across the romantic suspense spectrum – some books are grittier than others. At the moment I’m enjoying a series at the lighter end, set in resorts on the French and Italian Riviera – plenty of glamour and sunshine and a sexy encounter or two. For the future I’m looking to return to the grittier stuff, and I want to set a lot more of it in Wales, my home country, where I’m now living. I love the landscape, especially the National Parks, for their romance and their more sinister potential for a thriller writer. My books can be dark and scary, and they have a lot more dead bodies than your average romance, but there will always be a love story and always, always, a happy ending.

You can find out more about Evonne on her website https://www.evonnewareham.com/home and her weekly blog https://evonneonwednesday.blogspot.com/