Like all new adventures, it sounded idyllic at the time: move to a sleepy seaside town, become part of the community and buy a local business. In our minds we imagined spending quality time with our children as they grew up in a peaceful beachside haven. Memories of my long-forgotten dream to become a writer flooded back, reigniting a spark and drive within me.
Credit: ISTOCK My husband was a tower crane driver and I worked in mental health. Both jobs came with a lot of pressure and we knew we couldn’t withstand it for much longer. After much deliberation, we took the chance and dived right in.
Within months, our new exciting adventure had turned into a living nightmare. A highway bypass diverted traffic away from the town centre and our local business, decimating the foot traffic we had relied upon. The numbers we had projected when purchasing the business crumbled, leading us to near bankruptcy.
We worked seven days a week with three small children and finances were so tight that even a coffee was a luxury. Our situation was bleak. I would lie awake at night worrying that the bank was going to foreclose on our house, wondering what had become of my life.
We were diligent, hard workers – how did we end up on the verge of losing everything that we had worked so hard for? My husband was forced to go back to work. He would leave at 4am and drive 21⁄2 hours to Sydney, work a 10-hour day and then drive 21⁄2 hours home. He did this six days a week, while I was working in the shop seven days a week.
But the kids loved our sleepy little town; they had beautiful friends and the best life, and the thought of them losing that broke my heart. One night at 11pm I was folding washing while watching Oprah . The episode featured an author who had written a book on the power of visualisation and manifesting.
The whole concept resonated with me and I went out the next day and bought the book. It gave me hope. I read the book back to back three times and felt that I had found it for a reason.
I was so sure I was going to get a sign that would lead me out of our dire situation. A couple of weeks went by but still no sign. I retreated to the garage and began packing up our belongings.
Amid the dust and boxes, I stumbled on my old diaries and the love stories I had written as a teenager. Memories of my long-forgotten dream to become a writer flooded back, reigniting a spark and drive within me. This was it, this was the sign – it had to be.
With newfound energy, I resolved to write again. However, there was a significant obstacle: we couldn’t even afford a Microsoft Office subscription, so I signed up for a free 30-day trial, giving myself a tight deadline to complete a book. Fuelled by desperation and passion, I poured my heart into writing, and within those 30 days, I completed my first manuscript.
My first novel, Stanton Adore, followed Joshua Stanton and Natasha Marx, a couple I had first dreamt about when I was just 17. With a mix of trepidation and a lot of hope, I uploaded my book online. To my astonishment, people started buying it.
Sales quickly gained momentum and my book garnered enough attention to attract an online publisher. Signing that contract validated my efforts and lifted our family out of financial despair. We sold the business and got ourselves back on track.
Now, some 10 years later, I’ve written 28 books and am in bookstores in the US, UK, Europe and Australia. I still pinch myself every day. Romance transports us to worlds where love conquers all and happily-ever-afters are not just possible but promised.
We all know sex sells, and my books certainly are spicy, but at their core they are traditional love stories with the happy endings everyone dreams of. Romance transports us to worlds where love conquers all and happily-ever-afters are not just possible but promised. In a world filled with chaos and uncertainty, romantic fiction offers a beautiful escape.
When people find out I’m a writer, they often say, “You’re an author, how amazing!” quickly followed by, “What do you write?” “Romance.” I reply. Their face falls, and I watch it turn from interested to smug.
“Oh, like Fifty Shades . So, you write porn.” No dear readers, I don’t write porn.
.. I fake a smile and brush it off, like water off a duck’s back.
I do this because I know that romance books hold the largest market share globally, accounting for a third of all fiction sales. I feel the reason for this is that at our core, we all crave connection and feeling and romantic fiction encompasses the full gamut of emotions – the thrill of a first kiss, the pain of heartbreak, the joy of a reunion. These stories hit home on a deeply personal level.
What I’m interested in is relationships and intimacy. It’s all about the emotional journey of my characters – their hopes, fears and desires. It captures what makes us human.
And, yes, of course the spice – the sex scenes are obviously appealing to readers and I do write them to be as visual and graphic as I can. One of the most rewarding aspects of being a writer is hearing from my readers about why they enjoy my books. Many of them have shared intimate, personal stories from their own lives and credit my books with saving their marriages.
Romance has a special place in our lives and on our bookshelves. Loving love is brave. And, as corny as it sounds, it’s true – love conquers all.
It can even save you from financial ruin. The Bonus (Arndell) by T L Swan is out now. Get the best of Sunday Life magazine delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning.
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