How to create historical romance heroines that readers love

Readers tastes have changed. It used to be that a swooning, simpering heroine who lacks backbone, was not only commonplace in historical romance, but also acceptable to readers.

These days, that just won't fly.

Modern women are independent, self-directed and increasingly focused on interests beyond finding romantic fulfillment and Mr Right. Many just aren't interested in reading about women who lack spark - these days feisty is in, passive is out!

For historical romance, the challenge for authors is to create a female lead who is both true to the time, and someone modern readers can actually relate to. No easy task.

I write historical romance set in a brutal age - 7th Century Anglo-Saxon England. I don't shy away from the grittier details of the time, or the fact that women in that period were the property of men. My readers demand realism, they don't want stories tied up with a pretty bow. However, at the same time, they don't want to read about subjugated, abused women who have no rights, freedom or autonomy.

It's a challenge I enjoy...

I love creating believable female leads that my readers can relate to... and here are three guidelines that help me do just that.

• USE ARCHETYPES NOT STEREOTYPES: women have been women throughout the ages. Just because our heroine lives in a time where women didn't have many rights doesn't mean she's a doormat. Feisty females have always existed - it's just that many didn't make it into the history books! Write about women you feel you could know. It doesn't matter what time she lives in, most women want friendships and a sense of fulfillment in life. Most of them want to love, and to be loved in return. Many have insecurities about their looks, weight or intellect. Stay away from cliche and make your women real.
• FIGURE OUT WHAT SHE WANTS: whether she lives in a castle or a hovel, your heroine is not going to exist in a vacuum.What are her hobbies and her pet-hates? What are her goals, aspirations and dreams?  How do events, other characters, and the hero conflict with them?
• DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS: it's not just about the love story between the heroine and hero that matters. We learn a lot about someone by seeing how they relate to those around them. Siblings, friends, servants and pets - ensure your heroine has a network around her, so that the reader sees her as a 3D character.

I write about women who rarely get to choose their husband - yet none of my heroines are wimps. Even if it appears that our female lead has few choices at all in life. she still can retain her emotional and intellectual independence. Sometimes, she can also rebel.

Every time I pick up a historical or fantasy romance, I want to read about a heroine I can relate to on some level. Grace Draven, who writes fantasy romance, does a great job of this - I love her heroines. Sure, we live in completely different worlds to the heroines in these stories, but we're all women. Are we really that different?

And since, the majority of romance readers are also women, it makes sense to write for them!

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My hero: Cynddylan, Prince of Powys

Great news - THE BREAKING DAWN has just come a step closer to publication! I've finished writing the manuscript and am now going through the editing process.

Calling it the 'editing process' makes the whole thing sound more painless than it actually is. Editing requires taking a hard look at the story you've created and, with the help of a talented editor, unraveling what works and what doesn't - and making the necessary changes.

It usually involves a few tears.

Every book is different. In one, the edits might be centered around the plot, in another conflict or characterization.

The majority of the edits in THE BREAKING DAWN are hinging on the latter: the characters.

A Welsh prince with an identity crisis

I've based my hero in THE BREAKING DAWN on an actual historical figure: Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn - the Prince of Powys. Quite a mouthful I know, but basically Cynddylan (or Dylan as he's called mostly in my story), was a 7th Century Welsh prince who famously allied himself with the Kingdom of Mercia.

I initially drew Cynddylan as an arrogant flirt who, despite the fact he was a great warrior, hated war. Then, I wondered why he just wasn't working. Once I dug a little deeper into history, I discovered that the Prince of Powys had a fiery temper, was stubborn, and had a ruthless streak.

Unsurprisingly, once I reworked him using these details, Cynddylan came to life.

We don't have many historical details about Prince Cynddylan, although more than some of the other rulers of the time. Most of the details about him come from two famous poems: Marwnad Cynddylan (The Deathsong of Cynddylan) and the Canu Heledd (Heledd's lament), a 9th century poem in which his sister sings of her brother's death. Both are hauntingly beautiful, if grim, poems.

In a nutshell, here's what my research unearthed about Cynddylan:

• He wore a mail shirt and purple cloak
• He was fiery, stubborn, brave and ruthless - a great warrior
• He went to battle alongside King Penda of Mercia, against the Northumbrian King, Oswald, bringing 700 warriors with him. They fought together in the Battle of Maserfield (Maes Cogwy in Welsh), in the summer of 641 A.D. The battle ended with Oswalds defeat, death and dismemberment
• He died fairly young in battle and never married (I ignore this detail - it's a romance after all!)
• He had 9 sisters and 12 brothers (I also ignore this detail - for the sake of the story - preferring to shrink the family to one sister, Heledd, and one brother, Morfael)
• After the Battle of Maserfield, Cynddylan appears to have fallen out with Penda
• Details around Cynddylan's death are hazy - he may have fought (and died) alongside Penda again at the Battle of Winwaed in circa 655 A.D. (We don't get this far in the novel - I prefer to leave Dylan's future open, for the reader to decide...)

 And in case you're wondering, here's how I imagine Cynddylan looks...

(Welsh actor, Ioan Gruffudd)

Watch this space for news on the actual publication date!

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