Happily Ever After

Romance is a great genre to read and write. Every book you read guarantees a happy ending. The hero and heroine ride into the sunset and share a life of bliss from that day forward. Millions of people read romance for that very reason (Well, that and the steamy love scenes! - let's be honest!). I write romance for that reason...taking a couple who separately have hardship and difficulty and sometimes face insurmountable odds to being together. But in the end, everything works out. They find love despite of, or maybe because of, the conflicts they face. They get their happy ending. The author makes sure of it.

In real life those happily ever afters aren't as easy to guarantee. If you don't believe me, just look at the divorce rate or read the tabloids about Hollywood's exploits.

This past week I have had the privilege of being surrounding by real-life happy endings. Last week my mom and dad celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary. Yesterday I attended a party for my aunt and uncle who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. On Friday I mailed out invitations for my in-laws' 50th anniversary party next month. Today we'll head over to my sister-in-law's to scan pictures for putting a DVD together which will highlight the 50 (so far) years of happily-ever-after they've shared. Has it always been easy for these couples? Of course not. Real life isn't a fairy tale. It brings no end of struggles and hardships and things to deal with. But through it all their love has perservered all these years. How amazing is that?

And then I've had my own personal romance author happy endings this week. I got an e-mail from my editor saying the release date for WILD WEDDING WEEKEND has been moved up three weeks! How cool is that? I'll now be able to hold it in my eager little hands on April 23, 2010. And at my aunt and uncle's anniversary party, my number one seller (thanks, Mom) came through again and sold three of my books (THIS TIME FOR ALWAYS) on the spot. We had a fun impromptu autograph party. And I had another friend of the family say she read my first book and couldn't put it down because she was so drawn into the story.

So all in all, it's been a fabulous week. I hope yours was filled with happily-ever-afters as well.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra

www.debrastjohnromance.com

P.S. I was also Nicole McCaffrey's Friday Friend this past week. (There's still time to pop by and say hello over there if you're so inclined.)