I was an English major in college. I read a lot of great literature. Said great literature was also really depressing most of the time. After college, I stopped reading. I’m such a self-centered little brat that I really internalize everything I read, and if I read nothing but “real” literature about how hard life is and how we’re all going to die without figuring out why we’re here, I get sad. (Imagine that.)  I just couldn’t handle being depressed on top of all my brand new real world responsibilities. So I stopped reading.

Ok, confession time: When I first latched on to the idea of writing a romance novel, it was a bit of a Get Rich Quick scheme. (It’s not anymore. And “ha! ha ha!” to anyone who thinks writing any kind of book is a viable Get Rich Quick scheme.) Anyway, the conversation went something like this:

Robbie (my husband): How can we get rich?
Sonja: I dunno, honey. Buy Google stock.
Robbie: Yeah, I wish. We have no money. [later kicked himself for not coming up with the money because we would have been zillionaires by now if we'd bought Google stock]
Sonja: I know! I can write a book. Lots of crap gets published. Why shouldn’t it be my crap?
Robbie: Sure. Whatcha gonna write?
Sonja: Hmm. Romance novels seem pretty formulaic. [Ha! Haha!] I mean, not that I’ve actually read one yet, but hey. Maybe I’ll write one of those. And your mom just gave me a bunch of old ones from her basement to read, so I’m set on research.
Robbie: Cool. So when we gonna be rich?
Sonja: [doesn't answer... already planning on quitting job and sitting around all day in slippers and pink boa eating bon-bons while dictating the next great American romance novel to mousy assistant]

Lady Sophia’s Lover by Lisa Kleypas was the first romance novel I ever read (in the name of research, of course), and I was hooked from the beginning! Not only was there adventure, mystery, history, love, and a happy ending, but there was also hot sex! Why did it take me so long to discover romance novels? I plunged into the romance world, both reading and writing, and soon found myself in a fun and challenging new place. Not only that, but I got back one of the joys I’d lost after college: reading.

When I pick up a romance, I know I’m going to be happy when it’s over. That doesn’t mean it won’t make me cry, because the best romances always make me cry. It means that by the end, they’ll make me happy again. And that’s how I want my life to be: sad is ok (and even necessary to appreciate the un-sad times), but I want to end up happy.