She Inspired Me to Write Romance #MFRWAuthor #BlogHop

Hello, y'all, and welcome back for Week 44 of the MFRW Author Blog 52-Week Blog Challenge, and the question posed is: A Person That Inspires Me.

FIRST

I just can't ignore this, and I unapologetic-ally bring to your attention the following:

Human or not?
... who, that, and which can all function as relative pronouns in a sentence or clause. This means that they are used to refer back to a person or thing that was previously mentioned. One of the distinctions between that, which, and who as relative pronouns is based on whether you’re talking about people or things. ~oxforddictionaries.com

... because I am the sort of person who will point these things out and not feel bad about it.

You're welcome.

On with the Challenge!

A Person WHO Inspires Me would be someone who does something that actually gets my attention and makes me feel better about myself.

Easy.

Long story short, I never met a single person in all my years of higher learnin' who went out of their way to instill in me a better understanding, appreciation, or comprehension of how to pass a test, gain total-recall abilities, or figure out why it wasn't clicking in my muddled head.

A few educators and one college professor did tell me my writing was great, but none of them ever encouraged me to write or said things like, "You should be a writer!"

Me, myself, and I decided I would become a writer because of a few Romance authors who Inspired me to give it a try.

But first, let me give a shout-out to American first-grade school teacher, Gertrude Chandler Warner, who wrote The Boxcar Children mystery series... the first series I became hooked on not long after I learned how to read.

These books kept me entertained for hours on end and cemented my love of books and reading, so I have to say she is my first Inspiration as far as reading/writing novels goes.

Second shout-out goes to Johanna Lindsey for the many, many years of enjoyment I received reading nearly every book she ever wrote.

Yep, the (I hate this term) bodice-ripper genre steeped in 1970's mentality between he-man and she-may or she-melt.

I credit this woman with not only inspiring me to become a Romance writer, but also (and most important to me) to absolutely be able to distinguish between fantasy and reality.

In other words, I never got the notion to take anything I ever read in fiction and apply it to my real life, and I thank this woman for that from the bottom of my heart.

This might also explain why I enjoyed her work as much as I did, despite its content, and never once thought to degrade or become outraged by said content.

It's a book that is fiction, for heaven's sake, nothing more, nothing less.

These books are not laden with PSAs, PC BS, and worse, Feminist SJW rhetoric.

Sometimes I will deliberately Google a Lindsey novel just to find blog posts or reviews about her novels so I can get a good laugh at all of the younger generation who've been brainwashed via their first Gender Studies class and simply MUST convey all they've just learned in their anti- rant.

Johanna, however,  did something I refused to forgive her for for the longest time, and that was to go from using normal paperback to coffee-table hardcover that sold, on average, for $19.95 per book.

Not only were they unobtainable for this struggling single mom, but they were also so heavy and cumbersome, it was impossible to read in bed!

I don't normally sit leaning forward on a sofa, with my romance novel resting atop the coffee table (because it's too heavy to hold in your hand), reading and page-turning in broad daylight with two little ones running around trying everything they can to burn down the house.

It just wasn't something I could do (or afford).

Luckily, I've noticed that those ridiculous behemoths are being reissued in... yep, you guessed it, PAPERBACK and to a lesser extent, Kindle.

Sadly, I noticed that her heroines, who were always a bit on the independent side, have become more bad-ass, motorcycle-beotch, ballzy types, and that is just not my idea of a Regency heroine.


Another Inspiring Author is Lisa Kleypas.

I credit this woman and her many, MANY Regency novels with my re-entry into the world of Romance Writer.

I don't quite recall our initial meeting, but I'm thinking it occurred at the local library, when I checked out one of her novels along with a few others by different Romance authors.

I was instantly hooked on her writing style and her playful plot development that went against the grain of what had always been the cat & mouse Regency's being churned out at that time.

Lisa chose to write about not quite sophisticated women behaving normal for their circumstances who walk right into a smoldering relationship with some hapless Duke or Earl... but not as often as you might think.

A majority of her male leads also tend to be of lesser value Regency-era standards wise.

They are boxers, Bow Street Runners, ex-Cons falsely accused, or (born)bastards who fought their way from rags to riches.

Her leads always started out life being dealt a bad hand but who don't let it define or destroy them, thus making it relate-able (not realistic, and there is a difference), and often-wanted that they eventually receive a nice, pretty or hunky reward for their hard-fought efforts.

AGAIN, has zero to do with reality (which just means I don't go into a Regency or Contemporary Romance expecting to learn a life lesson that I can apply to my own existence -- I am laughing) and that's exactly how I like my fiction.

LIFE doesn't reward your efforts, your good behavior, or your can-do attitude because from birth to death, you're on your own, you create your own existence and your own happiness or misery.

Ain't no book or author ever going to show or convince me how to live my life so that everything changes and, like waving a magic wand, I become someone else after having read their words of eternal wisdom.

That's NOT how it works, people! That's not how any of it works!

Thank you SO much for dropping by and reading my post!

Please scroll down to the LinkyLink tool and click on the next in line for this week's Challenge Hop to find out WHO Inspires them!