Showing posts with label Valentine's Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Valentine's Day. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
VALENTINE'S DAY - A SHORT HISTORY
At first for February I thought I'd blog about how Valentine's Day
inspires romance authors, but then I realized I'm not a big fan of the holiday.
There's the whole St. Valentine's Day Massacre thing and my dog died on
Valentine's Day. Not very romantic. Plus, I was pretty sure the idea was
invented by some greeting card company like Sweetest Day and Grandparent's Day.
So I did a little research on how Valentine's Day got started.
Seems the holiday started out to honor several Christian
martyrs by the name of Valentine. The two that are celebrated are Valentine of
Rome martyred about AD 269 and Valentine of Terni about AD 197. The original
biographies of these martyrs make no mention of any romantic elements in their
martyrdom. It wasn't until the 14th century and Chaucer that romance was linked
to Saint Valentine and the distinctions between the two saints were forgotten.
The connection between the martyred saints and romance is
based solely on legends. In one legend Roman Emperor Claudius II tried to
convert Saint Valentine to Roman paganism. Valentine refused and tried to
convert Claudius to Christianity instead and as a result was executed. Nothing vaguely
romantic here.
In modern times the lore has been embroidered to show
Valentine as a priest who performed marriage ceremonies in secret, defying
Claudius II's law that young men remain single so he could grow his army. When
Claudius learned of Valentine's actions he was jailed.
Another addition to The Golden Legend with no basis in fact
is told by American Greetings (yep, I knew a greeting card company was to
blame) to History.com. The night before Valentine was to be executed he
supposedly wrote the first "valentine" card to a young girl he
addressed as beloved. The card was signed "From your Valentine." A
bit more romantic in a sorry, sad sort of way. No Happily Ever After for St.
Valentine.
Then there are Valentine's Day cards - a whole other subject
I'm not a fan of. Like Charlie Brown said, "I know people don't like me,
but why do we have to have a holiday to emphasize it?"
Remember how in grade school there was always a Valentine's
Day party? There'd be cupcakes decorated with red, pink and white frosting.
Each child made fancy lace cards with glitter and painted macaroni glued on
them, and decorated a shoebox to set on their desk. Then they'd all walk around
the classroom and drop the cards into the boxes of their friends. Well, up
until some sympathetic teacher made it mandatory for the kids to make cards for
everyone, not just their favorite friends my box was usually pretty empty. I
was not a popular kid.
Except on the playground. There I was the queen of
storytelling.
When in third grade some mean boys teased that because I
didn't like kickball I was an alien, my always active imagination took flight.
For the rest of the school year, every day at recess I spun tales of being from
Venus. Being in the accelerated reading group and an avid reader of science
fiction I drew on the stories I'd read and created a fictional world and
persona that kept my tormentors interested in something other than teasing me.
Unfortunately it didn't earn me any more Valentine's Day cards.
After that I discovered that I liked making up stories with
happy endings about fictional places and people. So I guess in a way
Valentine's Day did inspire me and set me on the path to becoming a romance
author.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
CUPID IS COMING!
Christmas is over and a New Year is about to dawn. To me January has always been the month to settle back and recover from the hectic days of Fall and its myriad of Holidays - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and many more. So while we're waiting out the slow holiday season here are a couple of short stories to get you ready for the next wave of celebrations.
To earn her wings, Cupid's apprentice Medarda "Dar" has until
Valentine's Day to match two-time Loser Laura Quinn with Boring Brian
Hoffman. When Dar's love arrow goes astray and hits the sexy PE teacher
Flynn Sullivan instead things get interesting.
Lucky no longer believes in wishes, hope or dreams. Cheated by his
bookkeeper and his ex-girlfriend, he's resigned himself to losing
everything.
Twenty-five years ago curiosity about a small human trapped Diamond, a leprechaun, inside a crystal paperweight. Now she has one day left to grant Lucky his final wish or perish.
Can a chance meeting between a little boy and a leprechaun result in love twenty-five years later?
Twenty-five years ago curiosity about a small human trapped Diamond, a leprechaun, inside a crystal paperweight. Now she has one day left to grant Lucky his final wish or perish.
Can a chance meeting between a little boy and a leprechaun result in love twenty-five years later?
Friday, February 14, 2014
Space Age Love on Valentine's Day
Love and the future go together like a Reese's PeanutButter Cup collision. After all, the future is the gist of romantic love, right? The Happily-Ever-After?
Plus, love is a little like the Great Unknown, or something we sense but cannot fully understand or contain. Like space, time...the universe.
The Science-Fiction Romance genre capitalizes on this theme, exploiting the boundaries of what we understand about our world. There's a plethora of books and movies in this genre, but one of my all time favorite SFR novels is:
The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee. It's the SFR book that got me hooked on the genre in my teens.
Love is made of more than mere flesh and blood....
Tanith Lee is one of the most thought-provoking and imaginative authors of our time. In this unforgettably poignant novel, Lee has created a classic tale--a beautiful, tragic, erotic, and ultimately triumphant love story of the future.
For sixteen-year-old Jane, life is a mystery she despairs of ever mastering. She and her friends are the idle, pampered children of the privileged class, living in luxury on an Earth remade by natural disaster. Until Jane's life is changed forever by a chance encounter with a robot minstrel with auburn hair and silver skin, whose songs ignite in her a desperate and inexplicable passion.
Jane is certain that Silver is more than just a machine built to please. And she will give up everything to prove it. So she escapes into the city's violent, decaying slums to embrace a love bordering on madness. Or is it something more? Has Jane glimpsed in Silver something no one else has dared to see--not even the robot or his creators? A love so perfect it must be destroyed, for no human could ever compete?
Treat yourself this Valentine's Day and check out this SFR classic!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
A Valentine's Gift
Hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day with the special someone in your life and don't forget the chocolate.
Elysa Hendricks
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elysa-Hendricks-Author/137316289643103
Friday, February 15, 2013
New Release
I'm very happy to say that my latest, a Valentine's Day themed romantic comedy is now available.
How's a girl supposed to stay single with the entire town wants her married? Alessa Lombard has a plan to avoid the marriage trap. It's not that she's opposed to marriage. Wedded bliss if fine for other people. Now all she needs is the help of the town's newest bachelor to help pull off a fake romance.
Determined to fall in love, Sloan Dugan immigrates to the magical town of Amores. Surely in the town devoted to love, he'll find a woman who doesn't use trickery and deceit.
But Cupid has other plans. Soon Alessa and Sloan will find themselves playing the game of love. Will winner take all?
Monday, February 4, 2013
Looking Back at a Year of Doing Big, Fun, Scary Things
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. It's a hair early, but there's always room for love.
I'm happy to report that I managed to rewrite and finish that novel I deleted accidentally on purpose. January was a great month for writing for me. I've even had time to read over it once and I'm relieved that it isn't as bad as it could be for a second first draft. It's not due out until this fall, so I have plenty of time to edit it. It's the fourth book in the Legends & Lovers series, more mythical beasties, but this time one with a heart as opposed to creatures bent on evil. It was quite the challenge and even though it gave me a lot of grief, I'm happy where it eventually ended.
I mentioned last month that I have a lot going on this year. The Turncoat's Temptress, my third book is coming out in April and I'm working on edits, promo and marketing for that. Looking back on where I was this time last year, it's hard to think that I'll have three out when last year I was just getting started in self-publishing. I still think of myself as that debut author. It's a stretch to imagine that by the beginning of next year, probably around this same time when the fifth book comes out, the series will be over.
One of my beta readers keeps nudging me toward adding more books. Don't let it end, she says. There's potential for a lot more. She's right, but I'd hate to be accused of overkill.
I'm between things right now, editing The Turncoat's Temptress, finishing a historical romance I abandoned in order to take on the L&L series in 2010, plotting the fifth book. In the foreseeable future, I can't even imagine starting another steampunk, either stand alone or a series. I'm not even sure I want to write another series for a while, although I have an idea for a trilogy.
It's a little scary, this ending a series thing. For me, the thrill of writing the book, sharing little snippets as I go, is a lot more exciting that putting a book out there. After NaNoWriMo is over, they have a topic on the forum called The Year of Doing Big, Fun, Scary Things. I feel like I've really reached that point. There are still tons of things to do, but there's so much scary stuff left over.
And I'm looking forward to it. The second year in self-publishing is bound to be interesting.
I'm happy to report that I managed to rewrite and finish that novel I deleted accidentally on purpose. January was a great month for writing for me. I've even had time to read over it once and I'm relieved that it isn't as bad as it could be for a second first draft. It's not due out until this fall, so I have plenty of time to edit it. It's the fourth book in the Legends & Lovers series, more mythical beasties, but this time one with a heart as opposed to creatures bent on evil. It was quite the challenge and even though it gave me a lot of grief, I'm happy where it eventually ended.
I mentioned last month that I have a lot going on this year. The Turncoat's Temptress, my third book is coming out in April and I'm working on edits, promo and marketing for that. Looking back on where I was this time last year, it's hard to think that I'll have three out when last year I was just getting started in self-publishing. I still think of myself as that debut author. It's a stretch to imagine that by the beginning of next year, probably around this same time when the fifth book comes out, the series will be over.
One of my beta readers keeps nudging me toward adding more books. Don't let it end, she says. There's potential for a lot more. She's right, but I'd hate to be accused of overkill.
I'm between things right now, editing The Turncoat's Temptress, finishing a historical romance I abandoned in order to take on the L&L series in 2010, plotting the fifth book. In the foreseeable future, I can't even imagine starting another steampunk, either stand alone or a series. I'm not even sure I want to write another series for a while, although I have an idea for a trilogy.
It's a little scary, this ending a series thing. For me, the thrill of writing the book, sharing little snippets as I go, is a lot more exciting that putting a book out there. After NaNoWriMo is over, they have a topic on the forum called The Year of Doing Big, Fun, Scary Things. I feel like I've really reached that point. There are still tons of things to do, but there's so much scary stuff left over.
And I'm looking forward to it. The second year in self-publishing is bound to be interesting.
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