Author: Dina Keratsis
Publication date: July 24, 2013
Published by: Dina Keratsis
Genre: Fantasy | Romance
Blurb: She has nothing left to lose... When Breena stumbles into the enchanted borderland of Cake, she is given the choice to return to her world or face the unknown. Unable to bear returning to her empty life, she embraces the challenge, much to the annoyance of the handsome, brooding Rune. He wants redemption... Long ago, Rune failed in his duty to guard the Queen Likely and vowed never again to let desire rule him. Then he meets Breena, the last Likely, and least likely, to succeed. Sworn to protect her from the killer who seeks to destroy Cake, Rune is forced to face his awakening desire for the one woman he can never have. Together, they embark on a magical journey to save Cake and while Rune abandons his heart, Breena discovers that she has everything to lose.
Why I Write Romance by Dina Keratsis
I am a born-again romantic.
After writing a few romance novels, I had a baby. I stopped writing. By the time my son turned four, I wanted to write but could only produce grocery lists.
I tried prayer, exercise, exorcism, whiskey, empowerment courses, meditation, rain dances. Still could not write. Finally, I went to Salem to ask Laurie Cabot for a creative unblocking spell. Nine months later, I got a little girl.
Now the itch to write surpasses the need for groceries. But what to write? With two children, husband, and a full time job, I assumed that the characters would be happiest in the following genres:
- Women’s fiction. Scenes must include laughter, tears, boxed wine, sunsets and porch swings that overlook a body of water or country lane.
- Classic. Heroine must wade a romp through literary waters with pocketfuls of rocks while sipping weak tea.
- Horror. Zombie children protagonists seeking diet of mama brains. Lots of shambling. And bloody Zwieback cookies.
Turns out, the characters in my head want romance.
I thought my love of romance novels had died, buried under the couch cushions with Legos and stale Cheerios. I even stopped reading them in favor of biographies and young adult novels, both of which seemed more relevant to the real world. I opened my journal and started writing.
I was born again.
Why do little pink and black hearts pour out of my pen onto paper? Why not squashed brains or car wrecks or purple dinosaurs or bourbons and barflys? I pondered this as I wrote my bio for a new website. I thought about it for days. Then I stopped thinking and got an answer.
Short answer:
Romance novels celebrate love and joy and LOVE (The Stuff That Makes the World Go Round). And they make me happy. So I write them. Blog End.
To help you procrastinate:
DNA. Really. I did one of those spit genetic tests have a 95% predisposition for romance. The rest is all nurture. Books were as necessary as eating in my house. Writing them was a natural extension.
As a kid, I loved all stories but I enjoyed them more if the story had romance…Laura and Almanzo, Laurie and Amy, and let’s not forget Phantom and the Pied Piper. I devoured my first romance novel at age fourteen and was hooked. I knew, deep down, that these novels captured the very heart of life, and I yearned to write one of my own.
Fate intervened when a now famous romance author happened to be in my local bookstore for a signing. She looked lonely. I was too shy to talk to her. Mom dragged me over, chatted with the author for a while, and bought her book for me.
Inside, said author wrote: “Write the story of your heart.” Yeah, yeah, I know. She probably scribbled that in every aspiring writer’s book. But to me, the inscription was a direct message from Above telling me to answer my calling.
Books, according to the world of me, are a direct path to the divine. Romance just happens to be my favorite road to travel.
Take A Room With a View, a romance novel disguised as a literary classic. At the end, Lucy feels that “in gaining the man she loved, she would gain something for the whole world.”
Lucy is wrong. She did gain something for the whole world, but it is not George. He is the icing on the cake. Lucy gains something for the whole world one step before gaining George. She finds the Eternal, the One, the Way, God, Aslan, the Force. Lucy finds LOVE.
Lucy’s journey mirrors the one we all must take. We choose to live in darkness or light. The journey is fraught with peril. Lucy must empower herself, not with weapons or wit, but with an open heart and compassion. She must choose light to gain Self. She finds Truth. She realizes her Full Potential. She Lives. She Loves. She finds LOVE. In finding that force, she is equipped to help herself and her fellow human. Darkness defeated.
If she can’t accept LOVE, then she’s not going to be happy with a man. Any man. Even Hugh Jackman in Woverine mode.
While some protagonists in books find LOVE, others don’t, and while many of these books are beautifully written, gripping and give the reader a satisfying ending, such books do not make my heart sing. I want my heart to sing. I need to be reminded that the real world, which is littered with gloom and despair, is undeniably resting in LOVE.
Romance novels are this reminder. The romance heroine always finds LOVE. She completes herself. She wins because she opens her heart and dares to be herself. She finds grace. The hero, by the way, must also take this journey. He must be complete. He must LOVE before he can love.
Because it is a romance novel and not a murder mystery or horror, the hero and heroine always find each other in the end. The icing on the cake. And I like icing. Especially butter-cream. Together, the couple enters a relationship that that is never perfect, but is filled with mutual regard, respect, humor, joy and support. As it should be.
And there goes that heart again, singing.
Dina Keratsis is an award-winning author of romance fiction in which all roads lead to illumination and magic is found in the mundane. A New England girl, she has a penchant for punk rock, Scottish tea rooms and a mad crush on Sirius Black. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two children.
Connect with Dina here: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter
Check out this book and/or let me know what you think!
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