Entangled Indulgence Authors

New Years. Here in New Zealand it’s a time to swan off to the beach with a good book. And this year the weather has been so epically beautiful I have broken all the promises I made to myself about finishing my WIP by the end of 2012 and have swanned my way through five hefty tomes and loved every minute of it. But with an email telling me I was scheduled to post here, I’ve dragged my sorry ass back to my computer and started to switch back into the romance of the page rather than the romance of the sand dunes (although there’s plenty of romance in the sand dunes in that latest WIP…chalking up all that swanning as “research”).

I don’t generally make New Year’s Resolutions. I’m definitely not a five year planner and although I’m organized, I’m messy, a little haphazard even in my organizedness. I do make lists though, aspirational notes that I throw out to the universe, hoping she’s listening and to be fair, my life has been pretty blessed with joy, luck and love. Perhaps those lists do work. But I guess I like to plot and plan all year long rather than saving it up for the one day each year. So as I was thinking about what I wouldn’t resolve to do, and with those reservations, I realized I’d be quite an annoying character were I ever to write myself set in a New Year’s type romance. But thinking about it was fun, so as my sun addled imagination ran away with itself, a conversation with my hero ended up sneaking out something like…

“I guess I’ll just stick with finding a man, getting rich, becoming famous. You know, the usual,” Michele tried to be flippant but her BFF wasn’t having any of it.

“You know I’m crap at resolutions. I didn’t go out on a date with him because of that. And anyways, I’m not sure he and I would ever get to Happy Ever After.” She paused while Bryony laughed.

“I know right? Anal retentive for sure. I mean who keeps a room tidy like that unless they want to keep it all to themselves. I wouldn’t dare sit down. What if I wrinkled something?” She sniggered, picturing the horror on his face when she’d touched his white couch with her sand-crusted leg. The painting behind her shifted as she rubbed her eye. Hang on. A painting? Since when did she have a…oh crap. The mirror was old, a little dusty. But there was no mistaking those icy eyes. Eyes that were currently narrowed and full of dark, furious pupil. “Umm, I think I better go.” Michele hung up the call and inhaled as she turned.

“Don’t worry, I was just leaving.”

“Stop,” she said. “Wait. That’s not what I meant.”

“Really? So what part wasn’t I supposed to hear? The bit about me being anally retentive or the nice little opener when you said I couldn’t keep a New Year’s Resolution to save myself?”

Crap. Better add bionic hearing to his list of attributes. Best to fess up if he heard all of it. “Okay, so you caught me. But that’s not what I meant. I just think you’re the type who doesn’t make New Year’s Resolutions. And Bryony’s lonely, I couldn’t tell her how perfect you and your apartment are without a little dressing.” Was that his face lightening? “I mean, look at you, you’ve got everything so sorted, you probably have a fifty year plan, rather than a five year plan.” Yuss, that was definitely a smirk.

“Nice try baby. But you know I can tell when you’re full of shit don’t you.”

A smirk maybe, but not for the right reasons.

See what I mean? I’m not sure I make the best romance character. Luckily, I don’t have to, I just have to like the characters my imagination comes up with instead! Hope you had a great holiday season and your New Year brings everything you’re hoping for. And just for fun, do you think you as a romance character would make good New Year’s Resolutions or be lame at it like me? Let me know.

x Michele

www.micheledewinton.com