Little Maggie Shayne
I bet this was you, too
The video of this little girl really hit me where I live, so I bought the rights to use it in a 30 second ad spot, and I love it so much I have to share it with you. It just speaks to the part of me that still is still that little girl, reading with a flashlight under the covers. She's why I am who am, and she's absolutely why I do what I do.
Here's the ad spot in case you want to see it. If you like it, would you give it a share or a tweet for me? Thank you in advance. But before you do that, please, read the rest of the post first. I promise it's short and it's kind of a Valentine to you.
Why I do what I do
I was born a storyteller. But the kind of stories I chose to tell, that was up to me. I chose romance because it's ours. It belongs to us. To women. I write stories that are truly meant for women, and they're stories about women, too. They are the heroine's journey. And that is uniquely, completely ours.
I have male readers of course, and I adore them. But women get these stories at a different level, just as men relate to novels written for, by and about men on a stronger level than women do. These stories aren't just for us, they're about us. They describe us to ourselves.
Our stories are our mirrors.
The Heroine's Journey
Our heroines start out flawed, like we all believe ourselves to be. And then there's a disaster, a menace, a challenge that threatens the very fabric of her existence. The stakes are high. The stakes are everything.
She's afraid, but she can't walk way. She faces the enemy, uncovers the secret, survives the attack, triumphs over the villain. And along the way she has gathered around her, allies, among them our hero. He was once a foe, but she's healing him with her magic, and by the end he'll lay his sword at her feet.
The powers of the feminine rise up in her. And the powers of the masculine are also hers to wield.
We take her journey along with her. We become her during those precious pages while we're together. We face down those obstacles and we win. We win. We WIN! And along the way, we gather our own allies, our innate female magic, our intuition and wisdom, our healing and nurturing powers, our strength, our true, infinite feminine power. We awaken our inner goddess, as our heroine awakens hers.
And when she triumphs, we feel her rush of empowerment expanding in our chests, filling our hearts.
That's what that feeling is when you read a few lines that seem to take your breath away. Those parts of the story that make you press your hand to your heart as your eyes tear-up. It's your inner Goddess waking up and inhaling that makes your chest expand like that. That's the warmth you feel there.
The Power in that feeling
That feeling is what readers come back for, again and again. That feeling is like a drug that not only induces bliss and well being, but is good for you at the same time. Because feeling good is good for you.
I get that rush when I write the stories. I experience the same feeling you do as you read them. I'm addicted to it. That's why I can't stop writing the kinds of stories that deliver it, over and over. I think the feeling gets even better when it's shared. So we kind of experience this together, my readers and me. Again and again.
And that is the best feeling ever.
So thank you. Happy Galentine's and Valentine's Days!