Why I love writing strong women and protective lawmen

When I sit down to write a story, the first thing that usually appears in my mind isn’t the mystery.

It’s the people.

I start thinking about the woman at the center of the story. Who she is. What she’s been through. What she’s running from… or what she’s about to run toward.

I’ve always loved writing strong female characters. Not perfect women. Not superheroes. Just women who find themselves in situations they never expected and somehow dig deep enough to survive them.

Sometimes they’re scared.
Sometimes they’re stubborn.
Sometimes they make mistakes.

But they keep going anyway.

And of course in romantic suspense, there’s often someone standing beside them in the middle of the storm.

I’ll admit it — I have a soft spot for writing protective lawmen.

Sheriffs. Deputies. Investigators. The kind of men who carry the responsibility of protecting a small town and the people who live there.

Part of that probably comes from my own family.

My stepson Adam is a Sergeant with the sheriff’s department, and before that he served in the Air Force as military police. My other stepson, Kelly, served in the U.S. Army, and my daughter Kayla’s husband Seth is a Marine.

So our family has been surrounded by service and law enforcement for quite a while.

I’ll be honest — as proud as I am of them, I do worry about Adam’s safety sometimes. Law enforcement isn’t an easy job these days. But I also love hearing the stories he shares from his military police days and the experiences he’s had working in the sheriff’s department.

Those real-life glimpses into the job — the responsibility, the situations officers face, the decisions they have to make — inspire me more than he probably realizes.

They help me understand the kind of courage and dedication it takes to do that work.

And then there’s my other little hobby.

I’m a bit of an armchair detective.

Give me a cup of coffee and an episode of Dateline, and I’m all in. I’m the person sitting there trying to figure out the plot before the end of the show.

Sometimes I’m right.
Sometimes I’m completely wrong.

But those stories — the investigations, the twists, the puzzle of putting the truth together — are exactly the kinds of things that spark ideas for the mysteries I write.

So between the real-life lawmen in my family, the stories they share, and my love of a good mystery show…

it’s probably no surprise that I ended up writing romantic suspense novels filled with sheriffs, deputies, investigators, and secrets waiting to be uncovered.

And somewhere in the middle of those stories, there’s always a strong woman determined to face whatever danger comes her way.

Because in the end, the best stories aren’t just about the mystery.

They’re about the people brave enough to chase the truth.

— Lesa Renae