Musings on being a single romance writer.

When people discover what I do for a living, they usually assume I’m happily married and living my own version of a Happily Ever After. They tend to react to the news that I’m single with surprise. I don’t blame them. When I first started writing romances, I didn’t admit to my single status, because I was afraid people wouldn’t want to read love stories written by someone who wasn’t in love. As time passed, I realized that wasn’t the case.

I have been married. In fact, this past month would have been my twentieth wedding anniversary. I was quite certain I haven’t been on the planet long enough for that to be a possibility, but according to my birth certificate, I’m that old. (yikes.) My marriage only lasted five years. There are a lot of reasons for that, but they can all be neatly summed up by the image below.

I know what it feels like to fall in love. The rush. The trust. The joy. The belief in an HEA for everyone. I’ve been single for the better part of fifteen years now, and I’ve also learned more than I ever expected about the darker side of love. The tears and lies. Regrets, heartbreak and ice cream therapy. I try to bring all of that to life in my books, and I'm still a hopeful romantic.

I’ve tried dating online, offline, and smiling at strangers in the grocery store. (Be careful what you’re holding when you do this, or the message can get very muddled. Bananas and cucumbers should be avoided at all costs. Trust me.) I’ve gone on so many dates I've lost count. Some were wonderful, others were train wrecks.

In my new Star-Crossed Alien Mail Order Brides series, you can read about some of my funnier dating experiences. From diehard Ghostbuster fans to wannabe Doms, they’re all real guys I dated (at least once.)

I’m back to trying my hand at online dating again right now. So far, I’ve scored a few new stories, but no Prince Charming. I’m seriously considering crowd-sourcing my dating profile to my Facebook reader group, just to see what happens. It might not work, but it should be a whole lot of fun. If you want to see how that turns out? You can join in the fun. Join my Facebook Group.

If you'd rather read some sexy 'n sweet Sci-Fi romance, you can check out Joran, Vadir, and Kash, the heroes of the Star-Crossed Alien Mail Order Brides series.