The genre of Romance

So I've been asked to do a few things in my writing which always and completely throws me for a loop. The first odd thing I've been asked to do is write something out of genre for me. Seeing as my writing tends to drift towards the fantasy with godly overtones, something out of the norm would truly be a romance novel. I took this request with a laugh, a groan, and then a long exhalation as I contemplated what I actually know about romance. Granted, I'm a bit old fashioned in my thinking, and I've offered a few explicit suggestions to a friends erotica novel, but real romance... nothing. Furthermore, most of the women I portray in my books are strong characters, not lovey-dovey. Adding to all this, I have no idea how women think, so how could I possibly write a romance novel. Nevertheless, I took the challenge anyway.

I began by trying to do something different with the romance novel, which is to base it from a man's point of view (and I tried to keep it PG rated). Seeing as I really only know one guy intimately (myself), I could only take my own perspective when dealing with women. And in the end, after my journey of self-discovery was complete, I think I have something clever, engaging, and heartfelt. My only problem now is being brave enough to let someone else read it when I know it's (almost) me at every turn of the page. Maybe one day I'll publish it (if I ever run out of other things to write and need just one more book out there)... lol - not happening. At least not in the near future.