Top Ten Ways to Know You're in Love

by Carolyn Brown

Don’t you just love those long lines at the grocery store or at Wal-Mart? And the foresight of all those who market magazines for putting them right there so we can pick one up and thumb through it while we wait. Of course, the line is going to speed right through by the time you get the first two paragraphs of an interesting article read and you are going to have to purchase that magazine. Don’t tell me those marketing experts don’t have the IQ of a rocket scientist!


There’s always something about love on the front of the magazines that makes our fingers itch to read it. Last week I saw one that said Top Ten Ways to Know if You’re in Love…but the line was too short for me to read it so I came home and did a little research. And I found it without paying out the price of two gallons of milk.


Then I got to thinking about converting it into the Top Five Ways to Know if You’re in Love with writing romance for this month’s post.

1. You’re in love if you think about writing romance all of the time.

Whatever you love is going to be in your thoughts all the time. In fact, you won’t be able to get it out of your head. You wake up in the morning and your first thought is that you left your characters fighting and you have to jump out of bed and write a few paragraphs before breakfast, sometimes even before coffee, so they’ll be in a happier mood to start the day. Characters from the WIP sit on your shoulder. Characters from the next book in the series hang around behind you pushing you on to write their story. And characters from past books beg for a cameo shot in a book somewhere down the line.

2. You’re in love if everything reminds you of writing.

A man with a seeing eye dog walks past the café window where you are having a burger and suddenly you rip your little idea book from your purse and write down a brand new idea for a book. A stray cat peeks around the end of a trash can and yep, even that scene reminds you of a scene you are writing. And when you are in love with writing romance it seems like every time you turn around the person you are dealing with has the same name as your hero or heroine. Since I’m mildly superstitious…okay, okay, so I will drive four miles out of the way not to drive across a road where a black cat just crossed…I count all the names suddenly appearing as good omens and it spurs me on to get more writing done.

3. You’re in love if YOU can’t wait for your readers to get the next book!

One of the biggest compliments I ever had was from our local librarian. She asked me to never stop writing for Avalon because there were many, many people coming into the library to read my books who had never picked up a book before. And some were branching out and reading other Avalon authors. Her excitement was contagious … along with, ahem! ... all those wonderful readers who stopped me in the grocery store or on the street to tell me how much they loved my books! So readers…my next Avalon book will be out in October and it’s a single title which already has a frame ready for the awesome cover. Title is The Ladies Room: What is said in the ladies room at a funeral stays in the ladies room. That doesn’t mean it won’t change Trudy’s life forever.

4. You’re in love with writing romance if an email with a new jacket cover makes you squeal.

You’ve written the book. The characters are hanging around waiting patiently to see what “their” book is going to look like on the wall. And I mean wall, not shelf where only the spine shows. At my house all the covers get matted and framed and hung on the wall. Series are framed together. Single titles, of course, get their own frame. (I call my office my ego room.) And then there it is in living color and WOW!!! The happy dances and squealing begin.

5. You’re in love if commitment to another contract makes your heart beat fast and you can’t wait to get started on that next series or single title!

What, you commit to something that requires you to meet a deadline … again! What strange, evil spell has been cast upon you that would actually make you excited about starting another book after that last one that had you pulling out your hair by the time you got to the finish line? Are you going goofy as an out house rat? No. You’re in love with writing romance and you are now addicted to it so put those fingers on the keyboard and get busy. There’s no cure once you are bitten by the WRB disease (writing romance bug) and it can not be cured with antibiotics. It’s one of those forever things. WOW! That’s the title of my December release with Avalon…A Forever Thing. See No. 2 above!

One symptom: You’ve been bitten.

Two symptoms: You are in a committed relationship with writing romance.

Three symptoms: Get out the calendar and mark the date for the next deadline. You are engaged to the romance writing business.

Four symptoms: You are married to writing romance. It is your new lifetime partner. I’m about to celebrate my fourteen year!

Five symptoms: Suck it up, darlin’! The last thing you will see before you step into eternity will be an idea for a new book.