I love macarons, don’t you? I first discovered them in Chicago at a bakery called Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique on Wabash Ave. Macarons are like little pieces of heaven. Bite into the crisp shell cake sandwich and the smooth sweet cream of the filling bursts over your tongue. They come in a rainbow of flavors for every tastebud under the sun. Heaven, right?
But which flavor is right for you? I will go to my grave insisting that the wonderfully tart lemon is the best. My daughter disagrees. She would gladly choose an exotic flavor like lychee or lavender vanilla every time. Maybe you like salted caramel or double chocolate? And someone out there has to be a fan of pistachio (YUCK), or they wouldn’t keep making them.
Just like flavors of macarons, authors have their own brands, their own flavors. When I started out writing, I wanted to be the next J.D. Salinger. I even entertained far-flung fantasies of being a female version of Hemingway. I wanted to write the next great American novel.
Guess what? I’m no Hemingway. My books are never going to win a Nobel Prize. I’m not going to make people sob for chapters on end like Khaled Hosseini (read A Thousand Splendid Suns if you want bags under your eyes for days), or fall off their chairs with laughter like Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones’ Diary). But, if you pick up one of my books, your partner is likely to get lucky later.
I love love. And there’s something about falling in it that makes love so poignant. There’s nothing like feeling those butterflies take flight in your stomach when your lover touches your hand for the first time. There’s nothing like that quiver of anticipation when your eyes meet and hold.
I want my readers to experience the first shiver of romance along with my characters. I want them to remember why they love their partner so much and relive the first moments of their own meet cute.
So, I’m a little cheesy. I’ll be the first to admit it. I probably won’t ever join the ranks of Faulkner or Steinbeck, and my prose will never be praised for changing the world. But if you like a good love story with hot characters, sexy settings and some fun between the sheets, then I’m your gal. If you have a few guilty pleasures (Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, anyone?), then grab my latest release and settle down with your favorite flavor of macaron, because you, dear reader, are in for a treat.
