A Hopeless Romantic

I will admit, I'm a hopeless romantic. Even though I have only technically written two romance novels...

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I will admit, I'm a hopeless romantic. Even though I have only technically written two romance novels, (Act One Willow Beach, an adult romance, and Tropical Transformation, an adult romance fantasy), but I am all in when it comes to  romance stories. I love reading romances and I am also a Hallmark movie addict. Yes, I have seen all of their movies several times, and I salivate when a new one is released!

As a woman growing up with only a brother, it was more of a male-focused life for activities in the household, and, because of my summer cabin and camping days, I was more of a tomboy growing up when I was around my brother. Yes, I could still be a girly-girl and I had the full array of Barbie dolls in the city, but my brother would not play Barbie dolls with me, so I would play Tinker Toys cars, and build structures with Lego and Meccano sets with him. Obviously, at the cabin, I was all certainly all tomboy frolicking in the woods with my bro, playing hide and seek, and building things from widdling wood with a small pocket knife, and building things with a hammer and random nails.

Fast forward to my married life, and I had a husband and a couple of boys, so it was a male-dominated household again. I can tell you I craved to sneak away and read romance novels, and did, when I had the opportunity to steal the time from my full-time work, managing a husband and family, keeping a house and a cabin.

Today, I'm still that hopeless romantic who really enjoys to read a romance and cozies up frequently to watch all the rom-coms. I just love it.

I do write a substantial amount of poetry, with my pieces usually playful and rhyming, but, funny enough, they are seldom about romance. I've written a few poems and rhyming books for kids (examples, The Boot Under The Bush and Could It Be? Is That The Boot I See?), and written for adults, that includes playfully writing about subjects like food, (Tasty Treasures & Edible Pleasures), and playing the card game of Texas Hold'em poker, (The Rhythm of Poker). I have more poetry books in the works, such as, one I have been inspired to write about the beautiful area where I now live, and one based on the subject of wine, a new-found interest that has bloomed because of living in this wine-producing area, plus working now and then as a wine tasting host for a local organic winery.

However, my true love is still the genre of romance. Do I plan on writing more, you might ask? Well, yes, I have been writing a seasonal fantasy romance, which is nearing story completion, but, as I have mentioned before, I only work on it during the months leading up to Christmas, and then I put it down for next year. Rolling into January now it is tucked away until the months leading up to this year's Christmas.

I have started one novel that is a sequel to Act One Willow Beach, but it is in the early stages and is currently tabled. I have a lot to figure out on the storyline still, and it needs to simmer in my mind.

My M.O. is to write where my inspiration takes me and I am drawn to projects that feed my soul...so sometimes I do bounce around between my writing projects. (I must apologize to my writing coach and good friend, because it drives her crazy when I bop around from project to project. She uses an analogy that it is best to work on the field kicking one ball towards the goal line, than running around kicking many balls trying to score a goal. I get the concept, I just personally can't seem to work that way, unless I'm fully inspired and all-in on one specific project in that particular moment.

Right now I have other writing projects in the works in various stages of development and completion, but that is just how I roll, and I will head to where I am inspired, and work my way through this one and that. Some will be completed and some may not, but just spending time creating and writing is my true bliss, so I'm okay with that.

These past several months have been tough for me since the accident, and I have been writing this winter more privately as a means to express myself and cope. That is the beautiful benefit of expressive writing, you can use it to purge your feelings, cope with things, and give yourself some support. I usually do it in the form of poetry, but sometimes I journal. It is my way to get through the tough stuff, and I'm grateful.

I'm also grateful for my eBook, Your Power To Heal Is Real, for the supportive poems, affirmations, and meditations I wrote when I poured my heart out into that book to help myself and others. I spent a lot of time this winter in the hospital reading my own affirmations and meditating. It certainly helped with the trauma of my accident. It is a book not meant to be able to miraculously cure us, but to help us heal and support us in positive and powerful proactive ways when we are hurt or injured. I know it has helped me immensely, even though I am currently still in the process of healing.

January has been slightly quieter on the writing front, and I will admit to binging on rom-coms by the handful. I have also curled up on a cold winter's day and read a couple of romance novels lately...so delightful.

Today, I am curled up sharing my words with you sipping my hot brew, and will shortly pick up a new romance novel and break into its exciting pages...

Let's all get through the January and February blues with a good book of whatever genre calls to you, and be rewarded with a dose of enjoyment and escape within its pages...

Happy reading!

Cheers! Lise

*photo courtesy of nathan dumlao on unsplash