Oh the Romance

Valentine's Day today and the anniversary of the day I met hubby tomorrow. Yes we are brimming with romance in the Caitlyn Nicholas household.

Sorry, did that sound a wee bit churlish?? Its been a week of colds and upset tummies at my house, and as a result I'm not really feeling the romance. Yes, a bit grim for a writer whose aim in life is to write about wuv, twoo wuv.

Actually am doubting my romance writing abilities at the moment. It was a bit of a shock to re-read High Speed (no I haven't decided on another name yet), and discover that whilst the central love story was watertight, the rest of the book contained elements that sucked all the romance out of the story. I have discovered that writing romance is not just about a love story between two people, but everything in the book has to be romantic. In previous stories I've done this automatically, but I think the combination of the fact High Speed is set in a world brimming with machismo, and I was writing it at an incredibly difficult time (when my Grandmother passed away) I lost the plot (no pun intended!).

I enjoy re-writing, and I am enjoying injecting the romance back into High Speed. Its not that its gone entirely, it just needs digging out from underneath all the swear words and car crashes. But what's got me a bit uneasy is that with Boys of Summer I was making the same mistake. I'd just gone so overboard with a drug addled heroine and a lost hero that there wasn't a skerrick of romance to be found.

And, I must admit, I forgot all about Valentine's Day.

Sigh.

I think a weekend of Chick Flicks is in order. Might try to commandeer the dvd player and hide the Angelina Ballerina dvds. I think Love Actually will be first. Maybe? Oh who am I kidding! But I can dream.