Monday, August 10, 2015

I Hate True Love







"Love isn't always difficult at the beginning. No. Falling in love is easy. Love enduring is the challenge. And, if it's real. it does."
S.E. Hudnall

 
I hate true love.

It sounds like an improbable statement for a writer who calls herself someone who writes love stories. A romance writer who doesn't like romance? She must be deranged or something? It isn't right! One has to believe in love to write love stories, yes?

And that's exactly where the trouble lies. I do believe in love. I can't stop believing in it. I don't believe in true love, I believe in real love.

Like Len Barry’s song, falling in love is easy. Not difficult at all. A spark. A glance one second longer than needed. The sound of laughter. A smile or grin that melts your heart. One single moment, perhaps dismissed at the time but long remembered after as the moment you fell in love.


Staying in love? Continuing to love? Now there is the challenge. It's easy to love when it appears to be some dreamlike destiny, perfect, and filled with roses and champagne.

Real love hands you a cold washcloth after a bout of morning sickness. Real love has no qualms about going toe-to-toe over something then stepping back and saying, “You’re right. I was wrong.” –sometimes even when you’re right.  Real love fights for its existence and never gives up. It finds its anchors in the everyday, ordinary joys of banal existence–.washing the car together on a sunny day, hearing the door open and a voice asking for you, standing up and feeling a hand on your shoulder. It perseveres against threat. Real love endures, finds happiness in every day moments, and smiles.

Yes, that’s my trope and I’m sticking with it. Yes, I write love stories.
 
 

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Cover Reveal!

 
 
 
 
This is more than a simple cover reveal.
 
I am pleased to announce the upcoming publication of the Anything Goes, Volume II anthology on September 1, 2015.
 
A group of writers from all over the world gathered together last November, under the auspices of Writers Anarchy, to write, critique, and produce a collection of short stories. Anything Goes means exactly what it says when it comes to genre: historical, humor, fantasy, romance, science-fiction, literary. and some that cross genre lines.
 
I am both proud and honored to have two stories here. And the privilege of working with such folks has left me humbled.
 
Rather than ramble on and on, I will leave you with a taste of what you can find within the pages. Oh, there is more  You can find the complete list at Literary Sweet.  
 
Tempest - by Rae Z. Ryans
In 1046, William de Hauteville died, but death is only his beginning. As he stumbles through the netherworld, a new face rises from the sands and unleashes his reverent bones.

The Familiar - by S. E. Hudnall
They say a wizard must choose - love or magic. They also say the greatest creature of legend no longer exists. Both sayings are of long antiquity- both are wrong.

Disaffection - by Joseph Y. Roberts
What kind of man is born of a childhood with a father whose love is indistinguishable from hate?

The Bond - by Jeanne Felfe
Maggie and the people on the Gulf in Port Aransas are tough, but when a hurricane takes direct aim, can her family’s bond survive?

Sea of Ingenuity - by Damien Lutz
When a lunar eclipse occurs on second earth, humanity realizes their greatest achievement comes at a price.

The Unrendering - by Paul Draper
A tour bus carries a university party to a food processing plant in the mountains high above Geneva. The personal networked interface seems a bit patchy for one student.

Home for the Holidays - by Kerry E.B. Black
Twin sisters risk a winter storm to celebrate the holidays at home, but a brush with the supernatural may alter their plans.

Wave Dancer - by Michali Lerner
Some people hear the call of the sea. Will one lonely young girl listen?

When It Rains - by Danise Janica C. Bautista
"The rain will remind me of you..." -Lawrence. Can a voiceless love end up with a happy ending? Or will the silence cut it off the forever?

Teacups and Tansy by R.L. Andrew Murder and mayhem ensues when Sabrine takes her first \detective case. What she doesn't expect is the geriatric Jerry Springer Show.

In Shadows - by M.N.Morrow
Colette is tormented by a shadow and her mother's lifestyle, she seeks help from a stranger who regrets her choices.

The Harbor - by Elizabeth Ann Patterson
When love isn't enough, how do you find the words?

Sniffing for Clues - by Michael Steffens
When reluctant partners are thrown together; it's not just about four legs good, two legs better. It's about who is actually smarter...