Hi! I haven’t been around for a while, due to life challenges and some health issues—I’ve had a serious problem with my right eye, which is still a bit wonky. I also haven’t been working on romance recently, though I have been working on other things.
Since people may be in more need of books to read right now, I’ve decided to put all my ebooks on sale for the next few months. Most are 99 cents, and my novella, The Wedding Wager, is free. So this is a good time to check out my books if you haven’t already, and if you enjoy my books, let others know. All my titles are listed on the Book List on my website.
I also promise you that I hope to return to romance writing. I still believe in romance. Even though I was saddened by the recent turmoil in the Romance Writers of America (you can Google it if you don’t know what happened) I am now hopeful that the organization is refocusing and moving again towards greater inclusivity. Everyone deserves love, and everyone deserves to be able to read stories with characters they relate to.
I believe in love, and in people working through problems and becoming stronger together. The best romance novels don’t do this by the characters compromising, which to me means having to give up something important to them. The way I see it, and the way I try to write it, lovers figure out solutions that are a win/win, where no one has to give up their health or happiness or change who they are just to fit in with the other’s needs. They might learn that what they thought they wanted at the beginning of the story isn’t what they really need. They might have to let go of old ways of thinking and doing things. They grow in ways that might be uncomfortable, but they become more who they were meant to be.
I also believe that at the end of a good romance novel, things don’t settle down and go back to where they were. Things get better. The love between the characters benefits everyone around them: their friends and family and their communities.
I believe this is true in our lives. There’s a lot of division and strife in our world, but we’re not going to solve it if we believe there are winners and losers. We’re not going to solve it by compromises with ideas like racism or homophobia that mean some people have to suffer so others can benefit. We’re going to solve things by understanding and working toward answers that don’t leave anyone out. I believe that in the Biblical story of the loaves and the fishes, Jesus taught people that if we share, there will be enough. This is the sort of world I want to work for, where love rules rather than fear.
Please take good care of yourselves, and keep on loving.
Elena