I don't research until I've learned everything I'd like to know, or I'd never write the book. I write a synopsis, subject to a lot of changes as the book progresses, then I sit down and write the 400-450 page manuscript. The whole process takes about six months, and with rewrites, editing, proofing and publicity, each book overlaps into the others. Humor isn't always a strong element in a medieval romance, but your characters often laugh at each other and themselves. My humor comes from writing romance.
Romance is about the fusion of one man and one woman, and that is intrinsically, hysterically funny.
Whoever said that men and women were two species was correct. A woman wants things like world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants things like a Craftsman router with attachments, tickets to the Rockets playoffs, and a red Corvette which will miraculously make his bald spot disappear. Men and woman don't even speak the same language, yet we have this biological directive to be together. Mother Nature is the one with the sense of humor, not me.