Nothing_But_ScandalMy Book Addiction and More Blog – 6 July 09

“Hope at the Core”

Thank you, Wendy, for inviting me as a guest blogger!

As a new author, I’ve been overwhelmed by the process of publishing and promoting–and much of this in a good way. The online community of readers and writers is certainly a thriving one. Actually, I guess I’m not *new* …but my previous publications were shorter, non-fiction academic pieces which were mainly purchased by the people who wrote them and a few university libraries…SOOO not the same! And while I love academics, writing romance novels that make their way into a much wider world is tremendously fun!

I think the thing I love best about romance novels is that they are, at the core, full of hope. (This is probably why they appeal in tough times, whether economic, personal, political…when hope is hard to find in real life, a person can turn to a romance novel and be pretty darn sure to find it).

There is the hope of finding true and lasting love, of course…finding the one person who understands and loves you for who you are.

But it’s more than that.

The characters in our romance novels grow and become better, fuller people. No matter what obstacles get thrown at them–and we authors throw EVERYTHING at our characters to make them struggle for their reward–they find a way to overcome these obstacles. And I believe this sends a message of hope to the reader–that things may get hard, the outlook may seem bleak, but a person who can persevere, who can stay strong yet be open to new possibilities, well, that person will get their happy ending.

In “Nothing But Scandal,” my heroine, Elizabeth, has a lot on her plate–the death of her father (whose debts leave his surviving family in peril) and pressure to marry a man with ill intentions. And that’s only the beginning 😉 Trust me, her problems get much worse. But since it IS a romance, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that, in spite of seemingly insurmountable problems, Elizabeth’s determination and spirit see her through…and in growing into her own as a woman, she discovers a love far greater than she could have dreamed of before.

Don’t we all hope for that?

 

Best wishes,

Allegra

P.S. If you’d like to leave a comment, I’ll enter your name into a drawing and at the end of the day, pick a name and that person will receive a signed cover flat for “Nothing But Scandal.”