A Happy Ending is Worth its Weight in Gold

When asked why I write romance novels, I always give the same answer - there are not enough happy endings in the world. And I mean it. Call me a Pollyanna. I like my rose-colored glasses. That’s not to say I don’t live in reality, I can assure you that I do, but when I want to relax and unwind, I want to read or watch a good love story. I want the same thing when I write. “Once upon a time” is one of my favorite phrases in fiction, right up there with “And they lived happily ever after”.

I want to experience the hero and heroine falling in love, going through all the relationship firsts, and struggling to be together against all odds (the more substantial the odds the better). I want to know that no matter what their love will conquer all. They will triumph in the end. They will get their reward and so will I as a faithful reader. Or when I’m writing, I can get the same thrill my characters do when my hero and heroine achieve their Happily Ever After (HEA).

With hard economic times, lots of pessimism out there, too much stress and too much work, who needs a book or a movie where the hero or heroine dies, someone gets maimed or the villain wins in the end.

Screw that.

I want to smile, to laugh, to cry “good” tears. I want that “damn, that was good” feeling ala Joan Wilder in Romancing the Stone. I refuse to read a wall-banger because “everyone else is reading it” or wish I had watched the news instead of the latest film meant to make me “think.” After a hard day at work with only a few moments to manage my personal life each day, do I really want to use my limited free time to get depressed at how harsh life can be? I would rather eat a bucket full of broken glass, thank you very much.

That being said, I like it best when our favorite characters earn their happy ending. Characters that are flawed, get a few bumps along the way, and have to wrestle some internal as well as external demons along the way.

A heroine does not have to be pure as the driven snow when she meets our hero, but she does have to worthy of falling in love with, worth the struggle he must endure to win her heart, not to mention to overcome the obstacles in their path. She must be strong, smart and courageous in her own right, helping the hero (even if begrudgingly at times) at every turn throughout the course of the story. Dim bulbs need not apply.

The hero can be a jerk on his way to redemption, but he can’t be a heel forever. Wounded alpha-males trying to prove they don’t need anyone only to find out they most certainly do are among my favorites, but so are the Everyman beta-types finding their true calling on the way to saving the world, who also can’t believe they finally found the one girl who "gets" them.

With all the ups and downs in life, a good love story can give us all some comfort – a proverbial port in the storm. So, as we hunker down for winter and the days are bleak outside in New England, remember a happily ever after has the power to chase your troubles away – if only for a day.

Writing is like shoveling snow!

So after shoveling for what may be the tenth time in a month, I’ve decided that writing is like shoveling snow.

Sometimes, the snow is fluffy, light – it sparkles like fairy dust. The bright sun kisses your face as you inhale clean, crisp air, your body moves with ease and grace as you lift the snow from one spot to another, going about your work with purpose. Other times, it’s soggy, heavy, messy, and each move you make is a major chore. Every time you lift the shovel, the snow feels like you are moving a mountain one rock at a time.

Over the years, I’ve found my writing can follow much the same pattern. There are days when I can write for hours, the words pour out of me like music flowing from a secret symphony only writers can hear, but few understand. My mind, my heart, my body soar in unison as I attempt to bring my characters and my story to life. I can write chapters at a time, thousands and thousands of words.

And then, there is that other kind of day. I struggle with every word, the page before me taunting me. Hours go by and I manage only to string a page or two of words together and I’m not happy with any of them. Again, the pages mock me; remind me of all the other things I should be doing other than writing; all my insecurities churning inside me, chipping away at my resolve to continue.

But…then I remind myself. If I write a paragraph, a page, a chapter or a whole manuscript, I’m writing. And, as all writers know that’s the whole point. Whether it’s fifteen minutes a day, two hours a night after all the chores are done, or a glorious all day writing extravaganza, writing feeds my soul, writing is an essential part of who I am, so any writing is meaningful writing.

No one said it would be easy. In fact, if it was so easy everyone would do it. Simply put, it’s the difficulties and disappointments we go through as we move along this writing journey that make the special moments so poignant and the successes so joyous. So pick up your pen or start typing at your keyboard….and write.

The Klaus Boys Will Not Be Denied

Are you one of those people who drag your battered, tinsel-strewn Christmas tree out to the curb at the break of dawn on December 26? Celebrate Boxing Day by flinging all of your family heirloom decorations into the basement? Stuff the dilapidated gingerbread house into the garbage and breathe a huge sigh of relief?

Well, I am.  As much as I love the holidays, I can't wait to start fresh for the New Year.  There's nothing like a clean slate.

Now just imagine that you're a writer, and your write about...Santa Claus. And the North Pole. And elves and magik and romance (of course), but imagine that this seasonal topic obsesses your creative mind twelve months of the year. When the spring bulbs are in bloom, the sultry heat of summer beckons, and the crisp crunch of autumn ushers in apple-picking season, you are still writing about Christmas.

At the end of December 2008, I finally hit my limit.  After finishing my first book, Sweet Inspiration, I was struggling to start book two of my five part series about the Klaus brothers (yes, those Klaus brothers).  I hated my characters, the elves were taking over the story, and the manuscript was strewn with profanities (the elves tend to get a little bit rambunctious).  I decided to try my hand at historical romance.  An idea for a story was bobbling around in my head for quite a while and I figure I could give it a go.  So I made peace with my decision to temporarily shelve the Klaus brothers.  This decision was a reasonable, rational, market-savvy choice.

And then I took the kids for haircuts yesterday, and while I was waiting I picked up a travel magazine.  Inside was an article about Greenland.  A two page photograph of a snowy landscape caught my attention.  This photo was incredible...it literally sucked me into the page.  I could feel the bitter cold, hear the howl of the wind, suffer in the isolation, and marvel at the beauty of the sun glistening on the ice.  And before I had a chance to analyze my thought process, I became Andi, intrepid newspaper journalist, searching for Sven Klaus and the truth about Klaus Enterprises, lost in a relentless snow storm in a landscape just as bleak and beautiful as the one I was viewing.  I got that jolt of excitement when a story pops into your head, and you start brainstorming and can't stop.  And I knew then that I wasn't yet done with the Klaus boys. Even if the decision isn't quite rational, marketable, and maybe a tad outside of the proverbial romance box.  But I rationalized to myself, as I started to flesh out this new story, that maybe it's not so bad to have a little Christmas spirit 365 days a year. So, here I go again....