Into the Night

William Shakespeare said: “All the world’s a stage…”

 This is something I very much believe to be true.  Whether we choose to make our lives a comedy or tragedy, or whether that choice is taken from us by events, we are all but actors on this grand stage of life. 

 I’ve given a lot of thought to this philosophy, over the years.  My life has been one of high drama, with equal parts comedy and tragedy, romance and disaster.  That’s given me a survivor’s outlook on life.  I might bitch about the little things, sometimes (particularly when I’m frustrated by something that just doesn’t seem to be working the way it should), but when it comes to the big stuff, like life and death and love, I’m pretty much a fatalist.  What will be, will be. 

I’ve determined it’s my part to play the stoic.  I’ve been told I make a terrible patient.  While I’m very ill, I don’t often let people see it (not even my own family).  I use make-up to cover the physical ravages, and a smile to cover the internal pain and weakness.  I act energetic, even when all I want to do is sleep, and I’m always there, ready to help, even when I can’t possibly take on any more stress.  I don’t go to the doctor when I should, unless someone bullies me into it (and that’s not easy, believe me), and I complain more about the treatment than the actual problem, when I feel the treatment gets in the way of how I normally live my life.

I’ve also come to view death with a certain amount of nonchalance.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not talking about the death of others.  I react very strongly to others’ deaths (I hate to even think about it, because I hate the idea of losing people so much… it terrifies me, actually).  It’s my own death I have a fatalistic outlook on.  I know it will happen.  While I’d like to stick around this earth at least long enough to make my mark on it (I think I’m more afraid of being forgotten than of actually dying… strange as that sounds), I don’t have any illusions that my time on Earth is my own choosing.  What will be, will be.

Love, on the other hand, is a matter very near and dear to my heart.  To be honest, I feel so strongly about this issue that it greatly impacts my writing style, and how I view the Romance industry.  I’ve noticed an alarming trend in recent years toward a solely sexual experience in Romance… something I believe is a cheap and artificial cheat of true human emotion.  Any more, it all seems to be about how raunchy and bizarre the sex can get, or how explicit the descriptions of it are.  While I’m not a fan of the overly sweet, sentimental romances, either, I do believe that it’s possible (and indeed, a much more real and classy experience) to find a balance between the heart, mind, and body.

I hear all the time that “sex sells.”  Why is that?  Have we become such a cheap, instant-gratification society that we no longer understand the complexities of the human heart, and would rather just get off?  I find that very sad.  I still believe in romance… honest, soul-deep love, which makes everything else merely a natural expression of something deeper, and enriches more than just the body.

In my writing, you will never see what I call “instant sex”… There may be sexual tension between characters (instant chemistry is one thing), but there will never be sex for sex sake in the beginning of the book.  There is either backstory (a history between the characters) or they have to have time to get to know each other and care about more than the chemistry, before there’s any sex.  I am adamant enough about this that I would rather a book not be published at all, than to have to include sex simply for the sake of “sex sells.”

Have you ever noticed that people ask a lot of “if” questions?  Questions like, “If you were stranded on a desert island…”

I find those kinds of questions (particularly the above one) annoying and unoriginal.  The answer should be pretty obvious, after all.  IF I was stranded, it would be because my transportation (in my case, a plane, because you’d never get me on a boat) had an accident, and my first priority would be survival.  I wouldn’t care what three creature comforts I might want to have. 

*smiles and shakes head* People tell me these questions are supposed to help people get to know one another.  Truth is, if a person wants to get to know me, they should ask what I think and feel about things, not what I’d do in some really terrible hypothetical situation.  I’ve been in a lot of really terrible, real-life situations in my life.  They’ve made me exceedingly practical about this kind of thing, and I certainly don’t want to create a bunch of fictional situations to deal with, as well.

Morbid?  Perhaps a little.  Bitchy? Yeah, I guess.  I think, given what I’ve been through, I’m allowed a little of that.  I’m certainly entitled to the option to not answer an “if” question ever again, unless I choose to…

:)