Do you believe in love
at first sight? I do. Maybe that’s because I’m a true romantic at heart. Those
that know me might scoff at that statement, but it’s true. I love the thought
of a Happy Ever After. With Valentines Day this week, I know there will be millions
of girls or guys dreaming of a rose or a valentine from their true love. Who
hasn’t at one time in their life dreamt of being swept off their feet by their Mr
or Miss Right? Let me be presumptuous and answer that: None. Numerous movies
and love songs can attest to my statement. Love makes the world go around or to quote the Beatles: 'All
we need is love'.
There is something so sweet about falling in love for the first time. It’s said you will always remember your first love. As I’m writing this now, memories are flooding back to me. Immense happiness, crushing sadness and lots of good stuff in between. Not everyone is destined to be with his or her first love forever, but you will always have those sweet memories.
I guess that why I
love to read and write Young Adult Romance. It’s innocent, uncomplicated and sweet. It’s
all about falling in love for the first time, meeting your ‘soul mate’ and having that HEA. I remember being a teenager, everything was heightened; feelings are so intense that when you meet
‘The One’, you fall and you fall hard. I’m not talking about crushes or
infatuation, I’m talking about that person, that when you meet, everything and
everyone else ceases to exist except you and ‘The One’.
More often than not,
first love is an instant attraction. Love at first sight. Your eyes lock and
you just know that person is the one for you. Butterflies flicker in your stomach and that person becomes the centre of your universe. Clichéd, sure, but that’s how it
happens, in fiction and reality. I think it has been scientifically proven that love at first sight
happens, but that’s unromantic. I prefer to think of it as destiny. One soul destined to meet another, written and determined before those souls had been born on earth. I guess it easy to see why I write young adult romance. Throw in some paranormal characters, and you have my perfect novel.
As we grow up and
mature, love can be hard and complicated. It’s not as straightforward as young
love, and there isn’t always that HEA ending that we dream of. On those days, I pull out my iPad and write or grab one of my favourite YA books, and immerse myself in that innocence and first love butterflies. I hope this
Valentines Day you are with someone special, and its as sweet as the first time
you fell in love. And there are butterflies, lots of butterflies.
