title: Creating Romantic Characters: Bringing Life To Your Romance Novel
author:  Leigh Michaels 
description: Leigh Michaels is the author of more than 80 books, including ON WRITING ROMANCE. Her romance novels have been published by Harlequin Books in 120 countries and 25 languages, with 30 million copies in print. A six-time finalist in the Romance Writers of America RITA contest for best traditional romance, she also teaches romance writing at Gotham Writers Workshop.
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  ## [Acknowledgments](9780062652874_Contents.xhtml#r_idParaDest-82)
  
  
  I can’t find the right words.
  
  
  Perhaps it’s because _Heart of Iron_ means a great deal to me. But see? Even
  those words don’t really convey how I feel. They don’t have the weight I’m
  looking for, the moments in a quiet room while Di braids Ana’s hair, the seven
  years in search of Jax’s stars, the different coats Robb tried on before he
  found a perfect blue vintage number that fit like a _dream_. I daresay all
  these characters have become a part of me, as things often do when you carry
  them long enough.
  
  
  Everyone says that writing is a solitary thing, but it’s because of _Heart of
  Iron_ that I met so many wonderful people, and they are all carried in these
  pages.
  
  
  I want to thank my agent, Holly Root, for being my greatest champion, and for
  believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.
  
  
  And I also want to thank my wonderful editor at Balzer + Bray, Kelsey Murphy,
  who gave Ana a home. She took my words