It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been over here at Fresh Fiction. Some of you might even remember my name. Once upon a time I wrote historical romance full-time. It was and remains to be my first love when it comes to romance subgenres. But I’ve been living a secret life.
In 2020 my whole world changed, much like everyone else’s. The day before the world shut down my mother passed away. If you knew me back then, you would remember she was my constant companion at writing conferences and booksignings. She was my number one fan and my greatest supporter. Losing a parent is never easy, but grieving in the midst of a global pandemic was weird.
My concentration was gone. I’m still not sure if it was mostly the grief or if it was having my entire family home with me negating any of my usual alone time. As an introvert, I need the quiet, calm time with just myself. Well, I’m sure y’all remember, there wasn’t much of that to be found during the lock-down.
Like many authors, during that time, my writing suffered. Well, at least my writing of historical romance suffered. Not only that, but my reading suffered. Which frankly, was a little devastating. Fiction has always been a lifeline for me to navigate the hard parts of the world. I struggled focusing on larger stories and when the emotional conflict would arise, I became physically anxious. Thankfully, I came across a new-to-me subgenre during this time: instalove novellas. They were short and very conflict-lite, and I could focus on them long enough to get that happy-ending-induced dopamine.
I read a bunch of them. So many that I started thinking maybe I could not just enjoy them as a reader, but maybe as a writer as well. So in this time of grief and social isolation, a new career was born. So there is a point to me telling you a sad story about losing my mom.
In September of 2020 I launched a trilogy of short, steamy contemporary romcoms. Curvy Ever After featured three interconnected stories about plus-size women finding their happily ever afters.
What I discovered writing these stories is that I had a natural contemporary romcom voice. I really like writing in first person! Writing novella-length fiction was a great fit for my newfound focus issues. (I know now that I was going through perimenopause in addition to grieving and I was diagnosed with ADHD.)
During this time I did made some decisions about my new pen name, one of which was that I would only write plus-sized heroines. It wasn’t to create a fetishism for curvy women, but rather to prove that everyone deserves love. Everyone deserves to feel beautiful and desirable. Ninety-plus titles later and I’m still doing just that. USA Today Best Selling Author, Kat Baxter has been very busy over the last five years. Writing those books has saved my sanity amidst raising two teenage daughters (though admittedly, we’re not quite done yet). My contemporaries have introduced me into an entirely new world of readers and I one hundred percent LOVE what I’ve been writing.
But my love for historical romances hasn’t gone anywhere. I’ve released a handful of titles over the last few years; A Marriage Most Convenient (the long-awaited conclusion to my Ladies’ Amateur Sleuth Society series), as well as a very steamy novella called The Virgin Widow. While I have written some plus-sized heroines in my historicals (notably, Courting Claudia, Seduce Me, and The Marquess and the Maiden), it had never been my focus. So when I was invited to join the Busty Bodice Club, I couldn’t say no!
An entire series of big, beautiful women finding love in gorgeous dresses, sign me up! My book, CURVES FOR THE BETROTHED DUKE releases in May. I can’t wait for y’all to meet Imogen. She is a classic Robyn DeHart heroine; headstrong, witty, and a little diabolical—all for a good cause, though.
Have you seen the lineup of authors? Holy Smokes, it’s like a Who’s Who of historical romance! I’m honored to be included and can’t wait for the launch of the series. And wait until you see the final covers. They are so gorgeous!!!!!
Thank you to Fresh Fiction for letting me hang out with y’all today. Let me know if you read across subgenres or if you’re a tried-and-true dedicated reader of one specific type of romance.
About Robyn DeHart
Robyn DeHart always knew she wanted to be a writer, but it took a while to discover precisely what she wanted to write. Reading Kathleen Woodiwiss’s A Rose in Winter sealed the deal, and she’s been reading and writing romance ever since. She should have realized she was destined for this career when her Barbies insisted on hosting elaborate masquerade parties, complete with stolen kisses in the moonlight. Researching her novels is always exciting, but when it involves eating chocolate, it’s especially sweet. She lives in beautiful central Texas with her incredibly supportive husband, The Professor, and their 2 precocious daughters as well as a menagerie of animals. She loves to hear from readers.
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