January 2009

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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.
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I'm not a big fan of horror, but I'd feel awful if I never read a Stephen King. I mean, come on, it's Stephen King. Thinner was gruesome and creepy, as expected, so it delivered on that front. What made me mad, though, was that one of the characters in the book said something like, "This whole situation is starting to sound like a Stephen King novel." Honestly, I almost threw the book across the room and stopped reading right there. It totally shook me out of the story, and that is pretty unforgivable in story-teller world. Still, I recognize Stephen King for his imagination and ability to creep me out.
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I love a reformed rake story, and The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas was a great one! I knew I would enjoy Sebastian and Evie's story, from the glimpses Kleypas gave of them in the previous books in the series, and she didn't disappoint. Well worth a read!
[caption id="attachment_794" align="alignleft" width="175" caption=""Gone But Not Forgotten" by Sabrina Jeffries"]"Gone But Not Forgotten" by Sabrina Jeffries[/caption] I LOVED "Gone But Not Forgotten" by Sabrina Jeffries! It made me all weepy at the end. So thanks to Sabrina Jeffries for writing that and putting it out there. I know it means a lot to her personally, and I thought it was really touching. (This is an audio book, and you can get it at audible.com or iTunes.)
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Protagonist

I just bought myself the best new necklace! And you know what makes it better? It was made by a local high school English teacher, and she also sells her stuff on Etsy! Check her out, she makes awesome stuff. I think my favorite part is her description of the necklace: Without you, there's no story. You're the protagonist of your life. Doesn't get much more straightforward than that, eh? I'm wearing it to the HCRW meeting tomorrow.

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