Two romance novelists ponder the meaning of life, love and anything else that comes to mind.
Have you ever thrown a penny in a well? Have you stood there and waited to hear it splash below, then made a wish, and then prayed, prayed really hard that your wish came true? When I was fourteen, I wanted Tedd K. to give me his high school ring, kiss me out by the concession stand, and confess his undying love. I’ll bet I tossed fifty or more pennies at that wish.
Funny thing is, I got all that from Tedd. However, he kissed like a fish, I had to return his school ring, and his undying love came with conditions that I refused to meet at the young age of fourteen, so he took that back, too.
Of course, I’ve grown up since then. Matured. Today my wishes would be all together different. I mean, I’d wish for Johnny Depp, a big diamond ring, and forget the concession stand, that kiss would be at the Oscars on the red carpet. And I’d have no problem meeting any of his conditions.
Okay, that may be more of a secret fantasy than a wish. But my point is: First, sometimes when we get what we want, we realize it isn’t what we need. Second, putting blind faith into a penny might not be enough.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m a believer in wishes. Like I said, I’ve done my share of penny tossing, staring up in the night sky waiting for a shooting star to attach to my latest heart’s desire, and shamefully, less than a month ago, I even sent out those good luck emails. You know the ones that tell you no matter what you want, if you get this to ten people by a certain time, you are promised good fortune and all your dreams will come true.
But after seeing one of my heart’s desires recently come to pass, no I don’t mean Johnny Depp, I’m talking about the release of Weddings Can Be Murder, on May 27th. I got to thinking about how it all came about.
I remembered the months that I dragged myself out of bed, grabbed a cup of coffee, turned down all the cool invitations from friends so I could work the next eight or nine hours pounding away at the keyboard, telling a story that I wasn’t sure would sell, wasn’t sure would ever make me a dime, wasn’t sure if one person besides my friends would ever read. Jeepers, I hadn’t sold a book in over ten years.
So yeah, there was some blind faith involved. You can bet your bottom dollar that I did my share of wishing for it to happen, and we’ve all admitted that there may be even a little luck in this game of publishing, but dad-burn it if there wasn’t hundreds of hours of hard labor involved, too.
My dream/deepest wish was publication. What is your heart’s desire?
Five Things That I’ve learned About Wishing and Making Dreams Come True from Reading Romance Novels:
- If you wish for something in the early chapters of your life, and get it without paying some price, the rest of the chapters of your life are going to be boring and no editor or reader will every want to hear about it. Conflict in life, like in romance novels, makes us more well-rounded and likeable characters. And a life well-lived will be full of conflicts.
- Wishing and wanting something really badly doesn’t mean it’s right for you, but it sure can make going after it a lot easier, getting it that much sweeter, and realizing it was never right for you that much more bitter. So, be careful for what you wish for, but never stop wishing.
- The difference between a dream and a dream come true is a person’s willingness to kick ass, kill a serial killer, defuse a bomb, or risk it all to make the impossible happen.
- When you feel you’re close to your dreams coming true, you’d better get ready because a dark moment is right around the corner that’s gonna kick your ass. But that’s okay, because achieving your dream will be worth it.
- People who strive for their dreams, people who even die trying to make them happen are seen as heroes in our books and in our lives, but the people who give up are never talked or written about. Which one do you want to be?
Christie
About the authors: Christie Craig, an Alabama native, is a multi-published photojournalists and award-winning writer of both romance fiction and non-fiction who is happily married to her prince charming. Faye Hughes, a Mississippi native, is single and an award-winning romance author who is still searching for her own prince after having kissed a lot of frogs. Together, they are the co-authors of The Everything Guide to Writing a Romance Novel (Adams Media, September, 2008) and an upcoming humor-filled relationship/self help book (Polka Dot Press) slated for release on Valentine’s Day, 2010. Visit them online at www.WritewithUs.net.
