Why I Write

Specifically, why I write romance.

I write because people heal. And those are the people who fascinate me.

They heal from pinpricks and catastrophes. They heal seamlessly or with scars, hidden or visible. They heal in as many ways as there are things to heal from, then multiplied by the number of individuals there are in this world.

As a journalist, I witnessed moments of “injury” and frequently found myself asking “How does someone get past that?” – whether “that” was pinprick or catastrophe. That question is also at the heart of my stories. What my characters are healing from frequently falls into the realm of wounds most of us carry. That makes the healing no less fascinating and no less admirable than if a character has troubles few of us will ever encounter. (Right now I am piling on with one character in the upcoming JACK’S HEART, Book 4 of the Wyoming Wildflowers series, and it’s starting to make me feel a little guilty.)

Some realms of fiction focus on the wounds. Others explore the people who never heal and call that the only reality. I know it’s not. I see, I know, I love people who have healed from many varieties of wounds. What idiocy to contend that their lives aren’t real.

Shadow appears in Elizabeth Danniher’s life in Book 1, Sign Off, and becomes increasingly important to her in the “Caught Dead in Wyoming” mystery series.

The great saying is to “Write about what you know” and I know people with the courage to heal. So that’s what I write about. That’s true in every one of my romance books, but also in my mysteries. In the series, “Caught Dead in Wyoming,” Elizabeth Margaret Danniher is healing from the end of her marriage and the end of her professional life as she had known it. The dog, Shadow, is also healing — what can I say? I’m a dog-lover and especially a rescue-dog lover.

I find people often heal from doses of humor, honesty, and being pushed into situations they’ve been trying to avoid. Since few people will push themselves into situations they’ve been avoiding (wg), these characters need friends, family, and community willing to push. So my stories have a lot of those elements.

That’s why I’m most pleased that my readers say my books blend “laughter and tears” with characters who “live and breathe.” I don’t have the most focused writing career – contemporary romance, mystery, women’s fiction, historical romance, nonfiction – but those elements unite my 30+ titles.

Some say my stories have happy endings. I like to think of each story as being the process of the main characters getting themselves to a point where they can have a happy beginning. Because they’ve done a lot of healing.

If you enjoy stories about characters learning, growing, and healing, with some humor, sometimes some mystery, and frequently romance, I hope you’ll try my books.

For more on what’s coming up with my writing, you can sign up for my newsletter at:
www.PatriciaMcLinn.com/newsletter

On the other hand, if you truly want to know about my childhood, education, and journalism career, click on “Meet Patricia.”

Enjoy your reading!

Patricia