50 Years

Today I am writing about 50 for Anstice Potts' Nifty Fifty Blogfest. It's not too late to join, so pop on over to her blog!

It's my son's birthday so I took the day off work. I had his cousin spend last night, so they are skipping school, building Lego sets and having a fun time while I sneak on here real quick. Earlier I was looking for an old email, and while searching through my email folders, I found one titled 'Novel'. I've been writing since I was 5 or so, and wrote a ton of stuff through my teens, before taking a few years off writing when my son was young. So, as I clicked on the folder I was curious as to what story of mine was hidden away from years past.

When I opened it up, I saw that the emails were from 2001. A whole decade ago! Crazy. Anyways, I had been working on a novel I'd titled Blood Moon, which involved a race of people that descended from vampires and had other cool magical abilities (I will point out that this was way before the trend). It was saved in my email because I'd been getting a friend to do some editing. I started reading it, and it was good! And horrible. Intermittently. I'd written it a few months after I'd lost *ahem* something, so it's pretty juicy. I made my ten-year-older and much more settled down self blush a little.

So what does any of this have to do with 50? Well, in one of my emails to this crit partner, I mention that no matter what, I will be published one day, even if it takes me until I'm 50. And here I am, writing again after years away from my stories. While I was reading, I realized that this is me. I've always been creating stories, and characters and magic. And I always will. It's who I was when I was 5, 18, 28. Who I will be when I'm 50. Who I will be when I'm twice that. So, even if it does take me until I'm 50 to get published, I'm never giving up. Hey, Harlequin might be pretty interested in Blood Moon, so if this urban fantasy thing doesn't work out I can write romance :~)

What about you, writer friends? Any nostalgic writing tales to share?

P.S. Later tonight at my son's party I'm going to kick everyone's ass at laser tag. Those kids better watch out!

When Characters Get Busy

Yes, I mean exactly what you think I mean.

So: romance in writing.  Love it or hate it?  For me, I like a nice balance.  A little sizzle and some romantic tension is the icing on a really good read.  But no need for gory details.  I want no mention of shafts, pillars or secret places of desire in what I read or write.

The second part of that question is, if you like it, can you write it?  Some people just don't have it.  You guys know I love J.K., but her attempt at romance is pretty terrible - "and then suddenly they started snogging".  What the heck??  But it's hard to write good scenes without being cheesy.  And then there are the writers who build up a ton of awesome tension, and then it fizzles out into nothing when the deed is done (I'll pick on Stephenie Meyer here).

Further, how do you decide who's going to hook up?  Do you know from the beginning that certain characters are destined to get together, or does it evolve naturally?  I'm currently working on the second book of my trilogy, and have been debating this for my MC (which kind of makes me feel like some sort of literary pimp).  Does she have a fling with the hot shapeshifter, even though she's in love with this other character?

So, writer friends, how do you feel about romance?  How much is too much (or can you never get enough)?  Do you like to write it, or does it make you blush?  Does your MC have multiple love interests?  Do tell! And happy V-Day!