374. Tricia Levenseller Explains Why the Villainess Girl Lead in Romance Is So Popular

374. Tricia Levenseller Explains Why the Villainess Girl Lead in Romance Is So Popular

From Writers of the Future Podcast by John Goodwin

April 4, 2026 · 1h 2m

About this episode

Tricia Levenseller discusses the popularity of villainess girl leads in romance novels.

#1 NYT and USA Today bestselling author Tricia Levenseller was interviewed at the Superstars Writing Conference in Colorado Springs and discusses the various types of romance and specifically romantasy novels and what makes them so popular. NOTE: This was the first romance novel I ever read, which made the interview all the more interesting for me! We discuss her “villain love story,” “The Shadows Between Us,” and how she writes fantasy romance novels. She explained why the villainess-girl lead female character in a romance is so popular with the female audience. Find out more about Tricia at https://tricialevenseller.com

People in this episode

Host: John Goodwin

Guest: Tricia Levenseller

Topics covered

  • romance
  • villainess character
  • fantasy romance
  • romantasy novels
  • female audience

Keywords

  • romance
  • villainess
  • fantasy
  • Tricia Levenseller
  • romantasy
  • female leads
  • writing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Superstars Writing Conference

Books & works: The Shadows Between Us

More episodes of Writers of the Future Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Writers of the Future Podcast podcast page.