Ewe - "Romance"

My children believe I'm a sappy romantic. They stick up their noses at romance novels and movies. Anything "romance" makes them wrinkle their nose and go "ewe". My "children" range in age from 14 up to 28. They're not little kids any more.

This is despite the fact they also know I love "end of the world" movies as they call them. Examples: 2012, The Stand, Night of the Comet, Knowing, The Mummy, Left Behind, Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day, V

SPOILER ALERT: Don't read on if you get upset about hearing the end of movies (in particular "Love Story", "The Mummy", "Night of the Comet", "Indiana Jones")

This is also despite the fact my daughter-in-law loves "Twilight". Not just love but is obsessed by it. To her, that's a vampire story, not a romance.

I've explained time and again what "romance" means officially but they still don't get it. They still equate "romance" with a love story. Some of the greatest love stories don't fit the romance formula which means simply - there's a happily ever after - the hero and heroine end up together at the end and basically everything is good with their world. Examples: Gone With The Wind (if you don't count the sequel "Scarlett" where Rhett and Scarlett finally wind up together), Time Traveler's Wife, Love Story

I know Love Story was made a long time ago so some of you may not have seen it. It was a very touching love story with a lot of love and devotion. But the heroine, Ali McGraw, died of cancer, leaving her young husband, Ryan O'Neil, widowed. It was a great love story, perhaps one of the greatest of all times, but it didn't fit the official romance formula: There was no happily ever after, no happy ending.

I saw "Time Traveler's Wife" two nights ago. I cried through most of the movie as the ending was foretold halfway through the story. Like "Love Story", it too was a great love story. But it didn't fit the romance formula. Actually this one falls into a gray area for me so someone might be able to argue the fact. But I don't think it fit the formula.

That said, movies my kids enjoy and don't consider romances are in fact "romances". "The Mummy" is a romance. Boy and girl end up together and live happily ever after. They've thwarted the bad guy and the world is safe (from that particular bad guy anyway).

"Night of the Comet" although not billed as a romance fits the romance mold. Just about everybody on earth dies, but the hero and heroine thwart the last bad guys on earth, get together, and live happily ever after. In between there are a lot of yucky zombies, scads of death and scary things, yet it ends on a happy note with the couple getting together and setting out to rebuild a brave new world.

The most recent Indiana Jones movie fits the formula. There's plenty of action and adventure and lots of typical Indiana Jones humor. In the end, he finally ends up with the love of his life, saves the world (again), and they live happily ever after.

Sometimes I just shake my head and roll my eyes when my children (or anybody else) puts down "romance" or dismisses it. They're often the same people that love "Twilight" and other vampire stories (that are romances - they don't think so because it contains other elements like vampires). Sometimes I get on my high horse. It annoys me that most of them don't understand what romance truly is.

By the way, I only went to see Time Traveler's Wife because my older daughter wanted to. She's one of the ones that sticks up her nose at "romance". (Shaking my head again)

Oh well. It's not the end of the world if people just don't get this. I'll get over it.




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You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Soul Mates? Is there such a thing?

Do soul mates really exist? I used to think so, when I was young and innocent. I used to think there was only one perfect person for each of us, that we couldn't possibly love more than one person. That if we thought we did, that we hadn't really found our soul mate. I didn't believe my mom when she said we could love more than one person at a time, that although she loved her current husband, she still felt love for her ex, even if their relationship hadn't worked out. Since then, I've thought about this a lot. I've heard many theories. I've read and written many romances. Here's one scenario. You marry the man you love and have a happy life. He dies prematurely. Then you meet someone else and fall in love with him and live happily. So you were happy with both men. Which one is your soul mate? The first or the second? Of course now, I've fallen in love more than once. Can I honestly say I have no soft feelings for some of them in my past? No. Can all of you say the same? Isn't that a popular romantic theme? The reunion? Sometimes after the heroine's been married in between, sometimes not. And why is it so popular? I'd be willing to bet because a lot of us still harbor feelings for someone from our past. Have you ever gone to a high school or other reunion hoping to see someone special from your past? If they were there, how did you feel? Lately I've been writing menage romance where more than two people are in love with each other all at once and they're happy together. I'm not sure anymore that love has rules, at least not until we make solemn vows to God. Even then, part of our hearts might still belong to another. Also, if there is one true soul mate for us, how do we know we'll ever meet them? Does fate step in and arrange for us to meet them? We live in a BIG world. Some of us travel a lot. Some of us live our whole lives in one small town. What are the chances that our soul mate lives in our tiny little town? Or will fate move us (or our mate) into our realm? I know one woman who said she looked for her soul mate until she was about 30 and then gave up finding him. So she decided to travel around the world. Guess what? She met him in another country when she'd stopped looking for him. Our romance books often allude to soul mates. My most recent release plays heavily on the soul and not just the heart aspect of romance. You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)