ROSA - Where South African love stories begin
A volunteer – run, non-profit organisation founded to support and develop romance writers across Southern Africa. Every story ends happily – starting with yours.
About
Great love stories don’t write themselves – but ROSA believes every writer deserves the community, resources and encouragement to tell theirs.
ROSA exists to champion romantic fiction in all its forms: from sweeping historical sagas to contemporary romance, from tender love stories to pulse-racing passion.
We celebrate the writers who pour their hearts onto the page, and the stories that remind readers why love matters.
ROSA is a registered Non-Profit Organisation that is volunteer-driven and governed by an elected EXCO – meaning every decision, every initiative, and every opportunity we create comes from writers who understand exactly what it means to sit down and craft a romance worth reading.
Whether you are working on your first manuscript or your fifteenth, ROSA is your home in the South African romantic fiction landscape.
NEW FROM ROSA AUTHORS
ROSA
BOOKSHELF
Change is often challenging; however, it is an unavoidable reality. The emergence of artificial
intelligence presents an additional and serious challenge to the credibility and integrity of the craft of authentic romance writing. Romance writing has long struggled to receive the recognition it deserves as a skilled and nuanced creative writing genre. The wholesale use of AI generated content risks further diminishing the talent, imagination, and craft required to be a successful romance writer.
AI is undeniably a powerful tool and one that is here to stay. While it was developed with the potential to deliver meaningful societal benefits, the replacement of authors and the creative writing process is not among those benefits.
As an organisation, Romance Writers of South Africa (ROSA) acknowledges and embraces
technological advancement where it serves to enhance and support original creative work produced by human authors. Our objective as always remains to empower both established and emerging writers to produce their best possible work through learning, development, and creative growth.
ROSA does not condone the use of AI to generate entire romance novels. However, we do not
prescribe how our members choose to work, nor is it our role to police individual creative processes.
We do, however, expect integrity and transparency from our members to themselves, to their readers, and to the broader writing community of which they are a part.
As always, we wish our members continued creativity, inspiration, and productivity in their writing
journeys.
Issued February 2026 by the Chairperson
Romance Writers Organisation of South Africa
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What makes a Novel a Romance ?
A romance novel is defined by two essential elements. First, it must feature a central love story. The romantic relationship between the main characters is the heart of the book, driving the plot and shaping the characters’ emotional journeys. While other themes and subplots may exist, they always serve the development of the relationship.
Second, a romance novel promises an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Whether it is a Happily Ever After or a Happy For Now, the story concludes with the characters choosing love and overcoming the obstacles that once stood between them. Romance can take many forms — sweet or steamy, historical or contemporary, realistic or fantastical.
Romance Writers of America (RWA) is a United States–based, non‑profit professional association founded in 1980 to support and advocate for career‑focused romance writers.
RWA has historically provided resources, mentorship programs, local and online chapters, conferences, and industry recognition for both published and unpublished romance writers.
Romance
Genres
Based on setting, plot elements, time period and heat level (whether sweet romance or explicitly steamy), romance novels are divided into sub-genres. This list is by no means exhaustive as new genres continue to emerge and many novels cross genres.
Other genres include time travel/time slip, dystopian, steampunk, multicultural, sagas, sports romances, thrillers, mysteries, military romances…if you can imagine it, it probably exists.
Historical
Novels set in time periods as diverse as Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, the American west, the twentieth century, and of course the perennially popular Regency period.
Inspirational
Novels in which spiritual or religious beliefs are integral to the story. Though these can be any religion, they are predominantly Christian.
Paranormal
Stories involving werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, angels, faeries. Characters with extraordinary powers.
Fantasy & Sci FI
Time travel, futuristic or fantasy novels in which romance is central to the story.
Dark Romance
Romance with a darker edge, often including antiheroes, taboo subjects or elements of horror. “Not for the faint-hearted!”
Romantic Comedy
Light-hearted stories with humorous plot lines, but still focused on the central relationship.
Chick Lit
Novels featuring romantic elements but not exclusive to romance, often focusing on issues of family, friends and careers.
Erotic Romance
Though the central relationship is important, the explicit, erotic scenes are the novel’s primary focus.
Medical Romance
Romances set against a hospital backdrop or featuring medical practitioners – including alternate therapies. The Grey’s Anatomy of books.
Romantic Suspense
Novels in which the central relationship is set against a backdrop of danger and intrigue.
Young Adult
Aimed at readers aged 13-18 years. No sex, but no less intense, these explore the experience of coming of age.
New Adult
Aimed at readers aged approximately 19-28 years, often more angsty and intense than other contemporary novels, and focused on characters who are in college or their first jobs.
Copyright 2026
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Chapters:
Cape Town | Johannesburg | Pretoria
Email: admin@romancewriters.co.za