My New Novel

I started my second Romance Novel this week. It was more difficult to start my second one than it was for my first time. I think that has to do with higher expectations. With my first one, there were no expectations. Now, I have some experience and knowledge I didn't have the first time around so I think I am holding myself to a higher standard. Rightly so, I suppose. In any case, I am quite excited about it. I have added a word tracker to the bottom of my blog so you can track my progress if you want. I am also adding it below:





My main character, the heroine, is named Amilee. If I had another daughter, which isn't likely, I would want to name her that. One thing that is fun about writing books is that you can use all the names that your spouse wouldn't let you use when naming your children. In my first book, my character is named Anna. When we had our first child, I wanted to name her Anna and Jason wanted Nia. We compromised with Annania, but we call her "Nia" for short. Thus, I named my first main character Anna. :)

Writing my first novel was one of my most enjoyable adventures. I hope this one is that way also.

Wish me luck!

:)

Fight for me...

I am reading my book (I know, big surprise) and two characters had a very interesting insight into my last post about my life not being a Romance Novel. They said...

"'And what it all came down to was that she expected me to fight. I've been fighting all my life, but I've never had a fight like this one. But she's worth it. For Emma I would fight the world. And yes, like you, I would die for her.' Michael laughed again. 'I got thinking about that later, and I realized from reading one of those silly books Emma likes that fighting is what it's all about. If women like those books, then it stands to reason they want to know a man cares enough to fight for her.'"

(Gables Against the Sky - Anita Stansfield, page 374)


Michael Hamilton (the one speaking in that excerpt) hit the nail on the head. He describes perfectly what it is about the romance novels that I love. I love the feeling of someone fighting for someone else (not physically, in most cases, of course). I want to feel like I am worth fighting for. Now, with that said, that leads me to say...

My life CAN be like a Romance Novel without all the Conflict!!! I am so excited about that!

:)

My Life is not a Romance Novel

I stayed up until almost 2:30am last night reading Anita Stansfield's "Gables Against the Sky." I love that book. It is probably one of my all-time favorites. The adventure and love stories are so exciting. It's funny how a kidnapping can be romantic in a romance novel. You almost think to yourself "Why doesn't someone do that to me?" Well, if you really think about it, do you really want to be kidnapped? I don't think so.

Sometimes when I read a romance novel, I wonder "Why isn't my life like a romance novel?" The notion seems exciting (and makes my life seem a bit dull sometimes) but if I dissect a good romance, I have to recognize the enormous amount of conflict. The are two types of conflict, internal and external. The internal conflict is the conflict(s) going on inside - emotional, mental, etc. The external conflict(s) are those that are not inside a character - death, illness, relationship problems, etc. Sometimes a conflict can be both internal and external. Regardless, my favorite books, the ones I just can't put down (and read until 2:30am knowing that I will be up in less than five hours) are the ones chalk full of conflict.

Do I really want my life to be full of conflict? No. That's not even a question. Just the thought of my life being so dramatic sends my blood pressure rising. Who wants to deal with conflict at every turn? Not me.

So how do I accept that my life is not a romance novel? How can I make it exciting without all of the conflict? Hmmm...