Local author fulfills 30-year dream, publishes first romance novel

Fulfilling a lifelong dream, a local author's first novel has finally been published. 

In late December 2022, while her family was still in a food coma from the holidays, Steinbach’s Tanya Renee began writing Prairie Sky, a romance novel. 

“The story came to me about a year and a half prior and I had sat down to write it several times, but I never felt ready to, and I finally just felt ready. By the end of that night I had written the first 2 chapters and I just kept writing. It was about a month by the time I was done the first draft.” 

When her husband first asked to read the novel, she says she was very protective, exclaiming “no! Absolutely not!” 

But she couldn’t hold out forever, and her husband not only enjoyed the novel but was a big help in the first edit of the book. 

Renee says seeing a physical copy of Prairie Sky in her hands for the first time on March 10th was an emotional journey. 

“This was 30 years in the making, 30 years since I declared that I would someday be an author. So, it was really, really cool to finally have it in my hands and say this is mine, these are my words, people are going to read it, which is the scariest part, but people are going to read it and it's mine. It came from my own mind, which is so, so incredible.” 

@tanya.renee1 SPECIAL DELIVERY and Announcement! 🤩 #prairiesky #primroseseries #tanyareneeromance #smalltownepicromance #BookTok #authorsoftiktok ♬ original sound - Tanya Renee

Since she began writing, Renee notes the floodgates have opened and she already has publishing dates for the next few novels. 

“Prairie Nights comes out in June and the third, Prairie Fire is coming out in September. Every three months there will be a new book in the Primrose series. Primrose is the fictional small town that I have written, actually based on where I grew up here in southeastern Manitoba, which is Landmark Manitoba.” 

Renee says she is currently working on book number 9.

Considering these are all romance novels, Renee says her husband has been fielding a lot of questions from people who are curious if he is the inspiration. She laughs, noting “I'm like, you know what, honey, you're a romance novelist’s husband, you can own it!” 

In all honesty, Renee says her husband has been a big inspiration and very supportive in this wild journey.  

Prairie Sky is available on Amazon, the eBook version is available on Google, Apply, Kobo, and Kindle, and physical copies will be making their way into select stores soon.  

Renee says this whole process has been nerve-wracking, but also incredibly rewarding. 

Renee's romance novel is now available for purchase