Valentine’s Day and That Thing Called Love

I could care less about Valentine’s Day, honestly. Not because I’ve never had a significant other (that’s not me complaining or anything, just stating a fact), but because… well, I’ve never been much for the PDA and expensive dinners and giant boxes of disgusting chocolate candy (why can’t they have Reese’s candy boxes? I like Reese’s). If you love someone, you don’t need a day in the dead of winter for you to express it. Giving me a paperback book that I’ve been dying to read “just because” is much more thoughtful and romantic than some Hallmark holiday in my opinion. All those lovers out there: enjoy your lovey times, but don’t think just because you took your gal or guy out on the 14th that you don’t have to pay attention to them for the whole rest of the year. That’s just lazy. *waggles finger*

Me, I’ll be in Detroit on V-day for Wayne State’s Scholars Day. As a ‘scholar’, I get an orientation, campus tour, and group interview. And lunch. Let’s not forget lunch. My treat for surviving the interview will be a full day working on my novel, and then a giant bag of discounted candy the day after. I love holiday markdowns.

…It’s actually ironic that I have decided to loathe Valentine’s Day, because secretly, I’m a sucker for romance. I also hate chick flicks, but perhaps that’s more because of my hatred of cliched, corny, insincere expressions than it is hatred for the emotion called love itself. I devour romance novels like I breathe air. My addiction is maddening. I love the conflict, the stupid fights, the uncertainty, and then the fairytale happy ending. I love the way love makes me feel. I love the way love (true love, anyway) changes people for the better. I love the idea of growing old with someone and enjoying every minute, although I also admit to being irrationally frightened by old people. I am cynical about relationships only because I’m scared. My heart is a fragile, fragile thing, and I would shatter if I gave my all to someone and not have it returned. But I’m certainly not going to let that stop me from appreciating it.

So I suppose that is why I love writing romance – why every story I’ve ever started and/or finished has always had even the slightest bit of infatuation thrown in. Right here, as I am now, I’m not ready for deep things like commitment or relationships, but that’s okay. Because I’m living out every fantasy, right there between paper and pen, keyboard and screen.

Love is not just for lovers.