Would y’all believe that I’m not really a romantic at heart? I’m not, despite being a Pisces and despite writing it for a living. I didn’t really start reading romance until I was out of college. I grew up reading Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey westerns, Andre Norton’s fantasy and SciFi, along with Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. I read the classics. I read historical fiction. I read Leon Uris. Mary Stewart and Phyllis A. Whitney were also checked out from the library. Oh! And one summer in college, while on vacation with my parents in Colorado, I discovered the Mac Bolan series by Don Pendleton. I inhaled those suckers. LOL I don’t really remember the first romance I read–not an actual, true romance that would be shelved that way. I was lucky. My dad signed me onto his library card when I was ten because I’d read all the books in the children’s section of the local library. He told the head librarian that I could check out any book I wanted. The first two I checked out were Mary Stewart’s THE MOONSPINNERS and Ian Flemings THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. Which I contend to this day was a romance, or at least had romantic elements. Anyway, I wrote a teen fanfic in the 9th grade that might have been considered a romance. And I wrote a “bodice ripper” right after college on a dare. It was truly awful. I started a women’s fiction. I started a couple of mysteries. I wrote a female-centric semi-Bolanesque military thriller and then a romantic suspense. After several rejections, I stopped writing. And then I truly discovered “romance.” It’s all about the love, as the Universe explains:
Never regret love, Silver.
No matter how blind, it improved your vision.
No matter how foolish, it made you wiser.
And no matter how generous, it made you more.
Hubba, hubba,
The Universe
©www.tut.comP.S. And while we’re at it, Silver, never regret the second scoop—that one’s always mine.
I’ve never looked back. I’ve written straight contemporary romance. I’ve written paranormal romance (all within several sub-genre), and urban fantasy–with romance. The Universe is right. And for y’all who DON’T write romance, consider looking at this from a career viewpoint. Because, dudes and dudettes, ya gotta love what you’re writing or it ain’t gonna be worth it. So yeah, writing AND life both pretty much comes down to one word: LOVE. Now get out there and love what you do. And out of curiousity, what flaver is that second scoop you’re going to enjoy? Mine will probably mint chocolate chip.
Silver James 