Romance and Love or Everything Else? What Are You Reading This Week?

Release week is over, and I was overwhelmed and so touched by the outpouring of love and support I received for Water So Deep. I cannot tell you all how much it means to me to have all of you jumping in to help raise my new baby book.

But now I feel like I've talked about it nonstop for months, and it's time to talk about something else. Like love and Valentine's Day.

I mean, let's face it. Valentine's Day has become a bit of a commercialized cliche, which is focused more on kids than on adults who are actually in love. I think in a lot of ways it's better this way because then all those people who are unattached can still enjoy the day, seeing little kids sharing their candy and cards. But that still doesn't take away the sting of feeling invisible or forgotten.

That's the beauty of reading, though, I think. I am such a sucker for a good old fashioned romance novel. And not the Nicholas Sparks kid of ending, either. Happy endings. Boy gets the girl or girl gets the boy, or whatever whatever, and the couple falls in love and overcomes all odds and obstacles because in the end they belong together. That is my favorite Valentine's Day reading go-to.

Because kissing. And love. And all things romantic.

(Side note: if you're reading Water So Deep right now, please don't hate me at the end! I promise book two will bring closure!)

This week, I'm reading Joyce DiPastena's The Lady and the Minstrel, Ally Condie's Atlantia, and This Shattered World by Aimee Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. I won't finish all three in a week, because I have a deadline of my own, but still. Those are on my nightstand right now.

What will you be reading this week? And is it romance and love or everything but that? I'm curious.

Happy Valentine's Day! (Books are for Lovers)

May you have buckets of love this week!

Books are for lovers. Let's show our love for brick and mortar bookstores by purchasing an actual book on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2012.

Things I Love, End of the Week: I Love My Family

What else did you expect?

There is no better feeling than being a part of a family. Even on days when I'm frustrated or angry, I wouldn't give up my family for anything.I'm not just talking about my husband and kids, although, I love them more than anything and anyone in the world and they are the center of my world. I'm also talking about my whole extended family.


Interesting detail. I'm the oldest of seven biological siblings. I have two sisters and four brothers, and since my parents are divorced and both remarried, I also have four step-siblings. Both sisters and one brother are all married with kids--a total of five. Then my husband is one of the youngest of five. All married, all with three or more kids.

And that's just the beginning. Add in aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents--well, I have one large family. You can imagine how overwhelming family gatherings can be on this level. But it's also wonderful, and fun, and there is so much love there.

Case in point. I had my very first book launch party in December. We held it at a local Barnes and Noble, and spent quite a lot of time spreading the word. (Hm. I think I blogged about this earlier.) Anyway, even though I'd been spreading the word, I really had no idea that everyone--I mean EVERYONE--in my family was coming. We had at least a hundred people that night. Easily. And they were there for me. To support me. To buy my book. To show their love.

I had family there from both Hawaii and France (coincidental timing, I hope) as well as Southern Utah and Northern Utah. People drove for hours to get there. For me.It's not just impressive, it's touching. I love them.

And my girls, the ones I mentioned last week. I love having them in my life. In many ways, they're family too, even though we aren't related by blood.

And then there's my little family. My husband--who bought me sterling silver fairy earrings for Valentine's Day--and my children, who, with their father, are the best part of my life. Every night before he goes to bed, my nine-year-old climbs up on my bed and calls me to come sit with him for a nightly snuggle. He calls me Love. My twelve-year-old daughter will text me at random during the day, just to say hi and tell me she loves me. My fourteen-year-old daughter raids my closet and borrows my makeup and hair supplies--right before she puts on her tie-die shirt and mismatched socks to go play soccer. When I walk in the door from being gone, my sixteen-year-old son puts his arm around me and tells me he loves me. Every day. Just because it's true.

And as I write this blog, I can hear my husband doing the dishes downstairs so I don't have to. And in a little while, he'll bring me a drink so I don't have to go down and get it myself. That's real love.

There's something so special about being part of a family. And I'm sorry if I've gushed a bit, but it's Valentine's Day, so I figure I'm entitled.

Today's the day. Go call the important people in your life, your family--be they blood related or just bonded by love--and tell them how much you love them. Today you have a good excuse. Well, you know, if you think you need one. Which you shouldn't.

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!

Things I Love, Day 6: Romance and Firsts

I'm feeling a bit melancholy right now. My oldest son, now sixteen, went on his first "official" date today. He asked a girl to the Valentine dance, ordered her a corsage, bought flowers and made dinner plans all by himself. Seeing him be giddy with excitement--wait, maybe giddy isn't the right word. Well, anyway, he's been so excited, that I can't help but remember my own first date, and what it felt like to experience those independent, yet romantic stirrings for the first time.

The heady rush of adrenaline, the fluttering of nerves in my stomach, the tongue-tied conversation lulls that create awkward moments--these are the things I remember. There are a lot of things I've long since forgotten about those first experiences--that dating rite of passage--but the incredible feeling of firsts, that is something I don't think we ever forget. Or at least, I don't.

Firsts--be they good or bad experiences--are definitely worth remembering. Your first date, your first kiss, your first love...these are the important moments that make up our lives. The life experiences that have molded us into who we are today.

And right now, my son is one step closer to grown up. **sniff**

But just because first dates are romantic doesn't mean the second, third, fourth and 1553rd time can't be as well. Even for those people who have been married for lots of years--sometimes more so for them. Granted, it does take some effort from both people, but romance is everywhere. There's romance in the small gestures like a husband surprising his wife by doing the dishes before she realizes it. Or a wife making a well-loved dinner for her husband when he's had a particularly bad day.

Or flowers. Sorry, guys, but bringing flowers home out of the blue--I don't care who she is, your significant other will go all soft and mushy inside over that. It doesn't matter if she isn't a big fan of flowers. It's the thought that counts, and the whole idea that your man had the impulse, that he was thinking of you and had the urge to buy you flowers just because. That is just romantic as...heck. (Sorry, this blog is PG.) 

I love romance. Adore it. I think that might be part of the reason why I love things like moonlight, soft music, and waves crashing on the beach. Life can be romantic if we let it.

And since tomorrow is Valentine's day, it's the one day of the year, we should all allow our lives and ourselves to be romantic. Do those small, thoughtful things for each other. Because, hey, everyone needs romance every once in a while.

Okay, time for me to go taxi my son and his date from the dance. Heaven give me the strength to look away while he walks her to the door!

Love Challenge: Valentine's Day

Love is like a campfire: It may be sparked quickly, and at first the kindling throws out a lot of heat, but it burns out quickly. For long lasting, steady warmth (with delightful bursts of intense heat from time to time), you must carefully tend the fire.

~ Molleen Matsumura

I was all set to write a long blog today. After all, it's Valentines Day, a day set specifically aside for declarations of love. And I could. I really could write lists and lists of all the things and all the people I love. And if I took the time, I could probably write something that would make people cry. But here's the truth. Even for a writer, there are some things words can't express.

Words can't express how my kids carry the jar that holds my last breath. Or how my husband is not only my sturdy oak, but also the soil, water and sunshine.

And my family--in all their various personalities, beliefs, and circumstances--is a parachute that always opens.

Or my friends who are like the milk in my cereal because I could probably live without them, but my life is so much better with them in it.

And all the people who have walked in and out of my life and helped make me into the person I am. Who have inspired me and supported me and loved me--even when I didn't deserve their love.

No, words can't express the way I feel. Not today. But I love them all anyway. They're characters in the story of my life.

And so I dedicate it to them.

With all of that, how can I not believe in happy endings?