Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Love is in the Air: Romance, Writing and Believing in Love Again

If you've ever suffered from a broken heart and wonder how you could ever love someone again, today's guest post is for you.

First featured on my blog in February when she shared her real-life romance fairy tale called "My Hero," originally written for my True Love Stories series which took place for the entire month featuring one true love story of a real-life couple every day, Angela Ruth Strong is here again. Only this time, as a guest for my new "Love is in the Air" blog series!

Today, Angela will show you that it is possible to recover from your broken heart. She will testify about how God, who IS Love, never gives up on you even when you've given up on yourself.

Enjoy visiting with Angela! :)

~*~
Romance, Writing and Believing in Love Again
A guest post written by Angela Ruth Strong

I grew up reading romance novels. Everything from young adult books to my mom’s favorite author Debbie Macomber. So it was pretty natural for me to start writing romance. I sold my first one to the Love Finds You series. I’d never been happier.

Until my husband left me. And I had to finish writing the love story as my own marriage fell apart.

I was never going to write romance again. How could I spend my time making up characters who fell in love and got married? Attending weddings as a divorced woman was hard enough. I even ended my relationship with my agent because she wanted to focus solely on selling romance novels.

But then I met this man named Jim Strong. He loved me like I’d never been loved before. And I’m not talking romance. I’m talking about respect. Understanding. Patience. Acceptance.

It changed my life. And I don’t just mean I had somebody to sit next to at church again. I mean I could open up and spill the worst things about myself to try to scare him away, and he would adore me more. I could totally completely freak out about something small and inconsequential, and he would sacrifice himself to make it better. Or I would ignore a really big problem in my life, and he would point it out because he wanted the best for me.

This couldn’t be real, could it? It couldn’t last. It was too good to be true. Just like all those romance novels I’d read.

Even if it was real, I didn’t deserve it. I was damaged goods. I’d had my chance and blown it.

Except it did last. It grew stronger. It was better than any romance novel I’d ever read.

I realized that love is the most powerful thing on the planet. It changes lives. I wanted to share it with the world.


So I’m writing romance again. There’s nothing else I’d rather write. Even when a Christian bookstore owner tells me that Christians shouldn’t read romance. “They should read important things like politics.”

I don’t only feel bad for that man’s wife; I feel bad for him. I feel bad for the broken me who was afraid to believe in the mysterious beauty of two people coming together as one.

Now here I am, ringing figurative wedding bell. Restoring hope. Promising that the most amazing thing about love is that it can’t be earned; it can only be given freely. And when it is, miracles happen.

There is nothing more “Christian” than a love story. We are his bride.

This is the answer our society craves. This was the answer I craved. And I’m an even better writer now that I’ve learned about love the hard way.

“We love because he first loved us.”

Whether you believe in true love or not, you are loved. And writing about love stories is my way of wishing you all your own happily ever after.

~*~
Author bio: 

Angela sold her first story to a national magazine while still in high school and went on to study journalism at the University of Oregon. Her debut novel, Love Finds You in Sun Valley, Idaho released in 2010. 

She started IDAhope Writers to inspire other authors, and she has currently won the Idaho Top Author Award two years in a row. 

Find out more than you ever wanted to know about her at www.angelaruthstrong.com

~*~
Author book info: Angela’s story “False Security” is featured in the series of “three high-stakes novellas of Inspirational Romantic Suspense,” the other two books are written by other authors not featured on my blog here today. 


Here’s the summary for Angela’s story “False Security”:

Alex Pierce needs Laney Winters to help him prove neither of them is responsible for the millions of dollars that went missing after Laney arrested him for bank robbery five years ago. Besides Laney not believing he truly repented in prison, there’s the problem of the real thief trying to kill her and the police department treating her like a dirty cop. With the possibility of another crime being pinned on them, Laney finally teams up with Alex to save her life. If only she could trust him with her heart, as well. 


Buy Angela’s story “False Security” on Amazon.com by following this link to the official book series "Love on the Run" http://amzn.to/1IeUIFn

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.