Christina Dodd's Blog - Posts Tagged "romance"
Christina Dodd Confesses I’M NOT ROMANTIC!
Shock Waves Ripple Through the Publishing Industry!
Dr. Phil Appalled and Pompous!
Oprah Gleeful!
This year, my husband and I celebrated a BIG wedding anniversary (we were married the same year as the great dinosaur extinction) and if he can’t figure out what to buy me, I won’t care. Because the fact is, lots of times I can’t figure out what to get him. One year on our anniversary, he followed a theme — he bought me green pajamas, a green shirt, green panties, and a set of emerald earrings and a glorious emerald ring. The next year, it was pretty much nothing. Most years, we will go out to dinner for our anniversary, but very possibly not on our anniversary. It depends on what’s convenient.
Worse, we never were romantic. We didn’t pick out a china pattern. I almost broke my mother-in-law’s heart by declaring I didn’t want silver-plated anything. We didn’t go on a honeymoon until a year after our wedding. Then we went to Yellowstone Park (there was an earthquake while we were there—we’re almost sure we didn’t cause it.)
On the other hand, when we married we were in college and so poor our rings were simple gold bands. I’ve never wanted another ring. I don’t lust after a big diamond to symbolize our love. Our kids symbolize our love. My husband and I hold hands when we walk. I listen to his stories even though I’ve heard them all four hundred times (at least.) He lets me sing in the car even though, according to everyone who’s ever heard me, it’s a painful ordeal. Sometimes he buys me a present just because. And vice versa (nothing says true love like a combination flashlight/tire air pressure/key ring.) When we go out and he has a great dinner, he likes to feed me from his plate. Once I asked him why, and he said, “I don’t get to see that look of ecstasy on your face often enough.”
Yes, he makes me laugh.
He supported me for ten years while I wrote and wrote and wrote (unsuccessfully and without making a dime). He believed in me, which is the greatest gift an author can have. He's my best friend, and the reason I believe in (and write about) true love.
Which is not to say we haven't had our rough patches. There have been times when we would have gladly divorced each other. But something always held us back — usually a lack of money — and as Jack Benny once said, "My wife Mary and I have been married for forty-seven years and not once have we had an argument serious enough to consider divorce; murder, yes, but divorce, never.” We have taken that as our mantra. Quite frankly, we’re still stupid in love with each other.
So—what signs do you look for that prove a couple is in love? Is true love the same as romance? Do you think the kind of love we write about and read about in our books is possible in real life?
Dr. Phil Appalled and Pompous!
Oprah Gleeful!
This year, my husband and I celebrated a BIG wedding anniversary (we were married the same year as the great dinosaur extinction) and if he can’t figure out what to buy me, I won’t care. Because the fact is, lots of times I can’t figure out what to get him. One year on our anniversary, he followed a theme — he bought me green pajamas, a green shirt, green panties, and a set of emerald earrings and a glorious emerald ring. The next year, it was pretty much nothing. Most years, we will go out to dinner for our anniversary, but very possibly not on our anniversary. It depends on what’s convenient.
Worse, we never were romantic. We didn’t pick out a china pattern. I almost broke my mother-in-law’s heart by declaring I didn’t want silver-plated anything. We didn’t go on a honeymoon until a year after our wedding. Then we went to Yellowstone Park (there was an earthquake while we were there—we’re almost sure we didn’t cause it.)
On the other hand, when we married we were in college and so poor our rings were simple gold bands. I’ve never wanted another ring. I don’t lust after a big diamond to symbolize our love. Our kids symbolize our love. My husband and I hold hands when we walk. I listen to his stories even though I’ve heard them all four hundred times (at least.) He lets me sing in the car even though, according to everyone who’s ever heard me, it’s a painful ordeal. Sometimes he buys me a present just because. And vice versa (nothing says true love like a combination flashlight/tire air pressure/key ring.) When we go out and he has a great dinner, he likes to feed me from his plate. Once I asked him why, and he said, “I don’t get to see that look of ecstasy on your face often enough.”
Yes, he makes me laugh.
He supported me for ten years while I wrote and wrote and wrote (unsuccessfully and without making a dime). He believed in me, which is the greatest gift an author can have. He's my best friend, and the reason I believe in (and write about) true love.
Which is not to say we haven't had our rough patches. There have been times when we would have gladly divorced each other. But something always held us back — usually a lack of money — and as Jack Benny once said, "My wife Mary and I have been married for forty-seven years and not once have we had an argument serious enough to consider divorce; murder, yes, but divorce, never.” We have taken that as our mantra. Quite frankly, we’re still stupid in love with each other.
So—what signs do you look for that prove a couple is in love? Is true love the same as romance? Do you think the kind of love we write about and read about in our books is possible in real life?
Men and Women are Different
Jacob was using Maddie's razor to shave when, without fanfare, the door opened. He swung around, ready to kill whoever stood there.
It was Maddie. She held an arm full of clothes.
He was naked.
If she cared, she didn't show it. She put the clothes on the hamper. "After the cops left, I went to your house & found you something to wear. You have good clothes in the closet, & you were wearing…these." With two fingers, she picked up his pants, his underwear, his t-shirt. "I'll take them to the garbage. You're a pig."
"You sound like my mother."
"That's because we both have vaginas. People with vaginas are smarter than people with penises. If we weren't, we'd live like pigs, too."
His penis apparently heard its name mentioned & took this inopportune moment to remember she had a nice ass.
So much for his comforting theory that he was impotent.
He turned back to the sink & leaned against the cold porcelain. That knocked back his erection.
Damn Madeline Hewitson. Like he didn't have enough trouble already. Horniness: God's gift for caring whether Maddie walked off a cliff.
-BECAUSE I'M WATCHING: Get it now in eBook, beautiful shimmery hardcover, and NOW IN AUDIO!
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
NYT Bestselling Author
A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT RELEASE DAY!
Today, A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT is out and most of you, my dear and faithful readers, do not care. A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... includes the three previously published Virtue Falls short stories … and you already have them. But some readers are new to the series and some readers prefer a compilation. So! A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT includes:
THE LISTENER: Misfit and computer security expert Cornelia Markum hacks into a text conversation between unidentified Virtue Falls residents … and realizes she’s stumbled into a murder plot. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
THE RELATIVES: When relatives invite themselves to visit a wealthy couple’s Virtue Falls home, events take an unexpectedly dark—and fatal—turn. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
LOVE NEVER DIES: A murder committed. A love lost. A ghost haunted by his past. Only one woman can right all the wrongs… If she can survive the night… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
These Virtue Falls short stories are available for purchase as singles.
A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT also includes the alternate conclusion of acclaimed action-filled adventure OBSESSION FALLS, Readers’ Guides and excerpts from the newest Virtue Falls thrillers, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING (out now) and THE WOMAN WHO COULDN’T SCREAM (out September 2017.) It also includes previously unpublished extras from the full-length suspense VIRTUE FALLS.
You can purchase A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT in eBook (even with the extras it’s too short for paper.) Kindle, Nook ,Kobo, iBooks
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
Remember to send me a friend request.
www.christinadodd.com
THE LISTENER: Misfit and computer security expert Cornelia Markum hacks into a text conversation between unidentified Virtue Falls residents … and realizes she’s stumbled into a murder plot. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
THE RELATIVES: When relatives invite themselves to visit a wealthy couple’s Virtue Falls home, events take an unexpectedly dark—and fatal—turn. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
LOVE NEVER DIES: A murder committed. A love lost. A ghost haunted by his past. Only one woman can right all the wrongs… If she can survive the night… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
These Virtue Falls short stories are available for purchase as singles.
A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT also includes the alternate conclusion of acclaimed action-filled adventure OBSESSION FALLS, Readers’ Guides and excerpts from the newest Virtue Falls thrillers, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING (out now) and THE WOMAN WHO COULDN’T SCREAM (out September 2017.) It also includes previously unpublished extras from the full-length suspense VIRTUE FALLS.
You can purchase A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT in eBook (even with the extras it’s too short for paper.) Kindle, Nook ,Kobo, iBooks
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
Remember to send me a friend request.
www.christinadodd.com
