Writing a romance novel is like having the perfect affair.

It is a threesome in which the lovers are born from your own fantasies.They can be young, beautiful, mature, sexy, femme, butch, rich, poor, brilliant, brooding, funny, shy, flawed, talented, toned … but always deliciously tortured.

You don’t hesitate to get involved with them, because you know there will be a happy ending.

You can watch them, or be them. See what they see, feel what they feel. Savor the agonizing anticipation of the courtship and the wonder of the first kiss. Experience with them (figuratively) that incredible first sex where they achieve the multiple orgasms you’ve never actually managed. Surrender your heart along with them as they make promises to love and be loved forever.

The final chapter is your climax. Editing is the sweet cuddle that follows. The day it goes to the readers feels like the first time you go out in public as a committed couple.

These lovers are never jealous.Even when you move on to a new seduction, they will always welcome you back between their pages for a quick tryst.

The coup de grace: No matter how many of these affairs you engage in, your real life lover still rewards you with a kiss and, if you’re lucky, her own seduction.

D. Jackson Leigh

Two-time Golden Crown Literary Award winner and Lambda Literary Award Finalist