For a shy person, the thought of big, social occasions can be daunting, causing sweaty palms and a racing heart. I considered myself to be one of those, until I realised that for the writer, they are a wonderful way to glean fresh ideas and learn about conversation, body language and human nature. I found the best way to interact with people is to get them to talk about themselves - and lets face it - a lot of us like to do that : )
My favourite question of all to ask is: How did you and (insert partner's name here) meet?
It never fails to amaze me the myriad ways people connect and fall in love. And for a romance writer, this is sheer gold, not to mention fascinating stuff - plus it has the added bonus of potentially making some new friends. Suddenly, the social occasion became something for me to look forward to instead of dread.
My own story is a little like a romance novel: Girl falls in love with big brother's best friend, he ignores her for years. She blossoms into a woman and he finally notices her - but does nothing about it. Girl gets engaged to another even though she still loves brother's friend. He realises he's made the worst mistake in his life and has lost her. Girl has car crash, totals car and our hero declares undying love to her with the thought of really nearly losing her. And as you can see from the picture below - they live happily ever after (most of the time!) : ) - Oh, and if you're wondering about the jilted fiance, don't worry - he was the toad ; )
