CELEBRATING 35 YEARS: A TRUE LOVE STORY

I may write romance, but I’m not much for sentimentality in real life. Okay, I harbor a (deeply hidden) soft spot for puppies and kittens, for Hallmark ads and four-hankie movies. But most people rightly think of me as a hard-shell type, prone to “laughing at bad things”, as my daughter once put it.

So it may surprise you to find that this post is openly dedicated to my husband Graeme as we celebrate our 35th anniversary this weekend. We took the plunge at what seems now to be the impossibly young age of 23, and we’ve stuck it out through all that life has thrown at us—Peace Corps in Africa, two kids, careers, dreams lost and found, age and change. All these years later we’re still going strong, together.

The odds were against us from the beginning. Neither of us had a role model for what a good marriage is supposed to be; we both came from what used to be called “broken homes”. But I had an idea of what a hero was supposed to be and this guy fit the bill. He loved me for who I was; he may have broadened my horizons, but he never pushed me in a direction I wasn’t willing to go. He was full of adventure, but responsible at the same time. I could follow him anywhere, knowing I would be safe. He respected me; we were partners whose strengths complemented each other. He was funny and smart. He was a good dancer. And, well, take a look at the picture!

There were times even then when I wondered how I’d lucked out. I still wonder. But there’s never been any doubt. The boy loves me. And I love him. Yeah. Still now. No story I could write beats the one I’m living.

Donna’s Journal

Action!
Actions I've taken as a writer. Where am I? What am I doing?

Most of my focus this week has been on generating new material for the third book in my Interstellar Rescue series, Fools Rush In. Inspiration struck last week, so I’ve been working to put words to, um, screen while the good times last. Any revisions to to be made in response to contest feedback on my second book, Trouble in Mind, will just have to wait.

I did have to laugh about one legitimate comment made by the contest judge regarding Trouble in Mind. The set-up in the opening scenes of the book proposes that a lead character, drugged and beaten, makes his way from a relatively remote rural location to a country store, where the story emerges that his wife and son have been kidnapped. So the judge reads this and says, “Where’s his cell phone?” ARRGHH!! Fifteen people have read this, and NO ONE HAS NOTICED THIS GLARING HOLE IN THE PLOT! And now I’m wondering, “Where the heck is his car?” Gone the way of my brain, apparently!

Bookshelf
Books we're reading and mini-reviews. . .

In no particular order:
Marcella Burnard’s RITA-nominated Enemy Within—like dark chocolate, slightly bitter and complex, but ultimately satisfying.

Heather Massey’s Once Upon a Time in Space—a space opera with heart, with a tormented heroine and an earnest hero determined to save her.

J.R. Ward’s Lover Unleashed—I didn’t think I’d like this story of V’s sister Payne and the human surgeon Manny Manello, but Ward worked her magic again, and I finished it in three days.

Zoe Archer’s Rebel—another in Archer’s series of steampunk/adventure romances, this one set in Canada’s western provinces. Archer has a winning style, and this genre-mashing series is a lot of fun.

Special Note

Thanks to all of you who commented on last week’s special edition of my journal with such encouragement and support. All of your positive energy is much appreciated!

Cheers, Donna