I’m Francesca Hawley and I write plus-size heroines. Always have. Always will. That’s what “Romance with Dangerous Curves” actually means to me. It means a big girl. A girl with curves.

In modern parlance, plus-size seems to mean anyone who isn’t a size 0-2 or 4. By modern standards, Marilyn Monroe is plus size. That just seems whacked out to me. Marilyn was a round, healthy girl. But times have changed, and not always for the better.

The modeling world classifies models who are size 12 and above to be full figure models. I personally think that’s crazy but the modeling industry worships a size 0, so I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything different there. Sad but true.

My view is that any woman size 16 and over regardless of how the weight was distributed is a plus-size woman.

That’s what I have in mind when I write my heroines. Tall or short – it doesn’t matter. They are size 16 (US) or above. I haven’t written any really large heroines, but I should. Women deserve love regardless of size and we aren’t just a number…we’re people. With hearts and minds and souls who yearn for happiness and partnership.

Beauty comes in all sizes. Love comes in all sizes. And I just want to write about women who look like me who get their happily ever after with the partner of their dreams. I also like to write about heroes who love those curves. Men who like big butts. Full breasts. Who dig a woman’s jiggly bits. Who see dangerous curves and want to explore every inch of them…more than once.

So what the hell is plus-size? And what qualifies as a plus-size romance? I really want to know. Does the story have to focus on the woman’s weight to be a plus-size romance? Or is it enough that the heroine is plus-size? Will that make the story a plus-size romance?

Oh, and would you want to see a plus size woman (like one of the ladies above) on the cover of your romance? I’ve had that fight too. Various folks telling me that if you put a big girl on the cover the book won’t sell. What do you think?