Just the word ‘romance’ evokes
beautiful imagery. We immediately think
about true love and kisses and intimate moments between the sheets. All of our daydreams about romance, the ones
which cause us to sigh out loud and offer wistful little smiles to everyone we
meet, add to the mystique. Men can be
hopeless romantics too and if we’re lucky, we connect with one who brings us
flowers on special occasions or just because.
We women get sentimental over weddings, new babies, spring blossoms,
heart shaped chocolates, jewelry, special gifts, and those three little words
“I love you.”
We turn to romance novels when we
want a break from the everyday grind.
Romance novels offer an escape, a chance to pretend we’re somewhere else
with someone different. Whether we run
away into the past with a historical romance, indulge in a little fantasy with
a paranormal romance or one based on a fairy tale or just step into a
contemporary novel with a hunky hero, we’re looking for something to take our
minds off the humdrum moments of life.
I love curling up with a romance
novel on my corner of the couch on a chill winter’s night or a rainy day. I like to settle down on my front porch swing
on a spring afternoon or stretch out on the deck to read on a summer
evening. A good read can lift my
spirits, shift my mood, and take me away almost as effectively as a long soak
in a scented bath.
What happens, however, when you
write romance? If I waited to write when I feel romantic, I’d have to find a
new occupation. So I write in between
running a basket of dirty clothes down to my basement laundry room or pausing
to throw a hunk of meat into the crock pot or to slap together a
casserole. I write with a little voice
in the back of my head reminding me I need to pick up one of my three kids at a
certain time or to remember play practice.
I write in between phone calls,
running errands, paying bills, and running the vacuum cleaner. Ideas and plot twists pop into my head while
I’m driving to the supermarket or while I’m sitting in the conference room at a
library board meeting. I try to keep a
notebook with me at all times but I’ve been known to use my Blackberry to
dictate notes, lines of a work in progress or remind myself of something to use
in the story.
My kids interrupt me when I’m
working and on occasion so does my husband.
But in between the hectic moments, those times when the dryer quits and
I resort to hanging clothes on the line outside to dry in winter temperatures
or the kitchen sink drain clogs or the ants come in looking for food, I
write. And I manage to evoke something
of love, of romance, of the fire that erupts between two people in love.
But then it’s not so different than
life, really. We steal our romantic moments
when we can, the stolen kisses, the rare moment to share when the kids are away
on a field trip or at grandma’s house.
Sometimes we plan for a getaway weekend but sometimes we just take what
we can get. So I write the same way –
when I get blocks of time (like on school days) to write, I take full advantage
of them and I learn to work around the interruptions the rest of the time.
Find me online daily:
Facebook: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Twitter:
@leeannwriter
Rebel
Writer: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy http://leeannsontheimermurphy.blogspot.com
My
novels are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Bookstrand, All
Romance EBooks, and more. All are
available as eBooks, three are available in paperback at Amazon.com and at
Champagne Books.
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