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What makes dark romance actually dark? Dark romance author Kelly R. Nelson joins The Author Next Door to talk about writing heavy themes, spice, complicated characters, trigger warnings, emotional vulnerability, and the reader expectations surrounding this increasingly popular romance subgenre.
Kelly R. Nelson is the author of Sisters, It's Not the Way, and The Devil and the Details, the first book in her Dangerous Comfort series. Its sequel, The Devils We Know, releases October 10, 2026.
In this conversation with Angela Haas and Cassie Newell, Kelly explains why she considers dark romance a spectrum rather than a single type of story. They dig into how difficult themes and explicit content can affect the reader experience, why Kelly changed her mind about trigger warnings, and how she approaches writing intimate scenes from different character perspectives.
But writing the book is only part of Kelly's story. As an indie author building her career, she's also discovering what works for her when it comes to bookstore relationships, author events, hand-selling, social media, branding, and finding the readers who genuinely want what she writes.
In this episode, they discuss:
What separates dark romance from other romance subgenres
How Kelly balances heavy themes, spice, vulnerability, and healing
Researching different perspectives when writing intimate scenes
Trigger warnings and why Kelly changed her approach
Why difficult subjects can have a place in romance
Finding your readers through social media and in-person events
Kelly's approach to hand-selling books and working with bookstores
Why authorship is both a creative career and a small business
Taking action even when you haven't figured everything out yet
💬 Question of the Week: Where do you draw the line between romance and dark romance? Is it the themes, the characters, the spice level—or some combination of all three?
Learn more about Kelly R. Nelson: https://www.kellyrnelsonstoryteller.com/
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🗺️ Connect with the hosts: Angela Haas – Choose-your-own-adventure storytelling 🚀💕 https://ahaaswrites.com/
Cassie Newell – Romance 🩷 https://ckdarling.com/ Young Adult 🧚 https://authorcmnewell.com/
🔑 Keywords: dark romance, writing dark romance, Kelly R. Nelson, romance writing, dark romance books, indie authors, romance writing tips, trigger warnings, writing spice, author marketing, book signings, hand-selling books, finding readers, indie publishing
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/O0i4xK8OTtw Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/48dObH0uMenOhZTiwyvWKd Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dark-romance-writing-with-kelly-r-nelson-the-author/id687959058?i=1000794556282
