The Magical Experience of Writing Romance Novels about Healing

By Patricia Leavy

The Celestial Bodies Romances are a love letter to love itself—love in all forms—romance, friendship, country, work, art, and most importantly, learning to love ourselves. Tess Lee and Jack Miller’s love story is the heart of these novels. Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Despite her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find personal happiness and is in the lifelong process of recovery from childhood trauma and sexual abuse. Jack Miller is a federal agent. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself. He also struggles with grieving the death of his four-year old daughter. These are two innately good people who have sacrificed in service of others, and found little for themselves, until now. There’s a saying that “hurt people hurt people” but Tess and Jack show us that hurt people can love each other in extraordinary ways. 

Penning these novels was unlike any other experience in my life—the way the story came to me, how quickly it happened, and the way I approached the writing. When I was ten years old, I tried writing a novel. I don’t remember all the details, but it was an epic love story between people who help each other heal. While I gave it a good try under the guidance of my fifth grade English teacher, I wasn’t able to finish it at the time. Decades later I became an author and published several novels, none of which were romances. Then one day, Shooting Stars Above came to me in a burst. I wrote the entire first draft in ten days. I barely slept, I didn’t respond to emails, and if anyone spoke to me, I’m sure I didn’t hear a word they said. I was completely immersed, more than I’d been with anything before. It was magical. 

I spent every waking moment of every day and night mentally in the story world. It was an immersive, emotional, and cathartic experience. The writing process was completely different than my previous novels. In the past I had always drafted a rough outline and then written in chronological order. I viewed this one as a compilation of scenes, and that’s how I wrote it – completely out of order. The last chapter in the book was the first one I wrote, then I skipped around in the middle, and I finished by writing the first chapter. In fact, because there was no outline, I had no idea how many chapters there would be so I saved each one with names like “cake scene” or “cereal scene,” confident that in the end I would be able to string the scenes together. The structure of this novel is completely organic; there was no formula. By abandoning everything that had worked for me in the past, I was able to achieve something new. Shooting Stars Above could not have been written any other way. The entire process was magical—one of cocreation with a source of inspiration that somehow came to me as if it had been waiting all along.

After I finished drafting Shooting Stars Above, I fell into a deep depression for twenty-four hours. This was the best writing experience of my life. Finishing it was devastating. Would I ever feel that way again? My heart also ached for the characters who had come to mean so much to me. Waking up without racing into their world left me with a profound sense of loss. I missed them. While I always experience some measure of sadness finishing a novel and saying goodbye to the characters that have occupied my days, this time it was worse. I knew more about them than I was able to share. I loved them more. And we only had ten days together. It wasn’t enough.

Standing out on my balcony looking up at the sky, suddenly, I realized I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the characters. I knew there was much more to explore. Again in a burst, Twinkle of Doubt came to me. I immediately started writing. This time, I knew it wasn’t merely a sequel, it was a part of a series. I drafted Twinkle of Doubt in about twelve days, in the same manner as Shooting Stars Above—writing scenes out of order. I loved Twinkle of Doubt even more. More books followed, six in total to date. It’s important to note that while these novels were drafted quickly, they were each revised dozens of times over a period of years. Magic came in the first draft, polish in the many that followed. 

I’m so excited that Shooting Stars Above and Twinkle of Doubt are both out. I look forward to releasing future titles in the series. These novels have embraced me in the warmest hug, and now that they’ve been released, I hope they do the same for others. In the end, these are books about the power of love to help us heal and to accept that we are enough. 

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Patricia Leavy is an award-winning, best-selling author. Formerly Associate Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College, she has published more than forty books and has received career awards from the National Art Education Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, and more. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz when they established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice” and in 2024 the London Arts-Based Research Centre established The Patricia Leavy Award for Arts-Based Research. Her website is www.patricialeavy.com. She lives in Kennebunk, Maine.

TWINKLE OF DOUBT

For fans of Colleen Hoover, this inspirational follow-up to Shooting Stars Above continues the love story between internationally best-selling novelist Tess and counterterrorism agent Jack as they both fight to overcome their deepest fears.

Tess Lee is a wildly successful and world-famous novelist whose inspirational books explore our innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Jack Miller is a federal agent who has spent decades working in counterterrorism—a violent world that has left an inevitable residue on his psyche.

Two years into their marriage, as Tess and Jack both heal from past trauma, their epic love, fostered by their ability to truly see one another, has brought them profound happiness. When an anonymous threat is made against Tess’s life, however, everything changes. Will they learn to lean on each other, or will they fall apart into the darkness?

In Twinkle of Doubt, the second Celestial Bodies Romance, Tess, Jack, and their chosen family explore the nature of doubt and the struggle to feel worthy of love.

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