Sometimes I hear a song lyric that just sticks with me.

I think that good music, like a good book, evokes emotions and makes you think -- and I've been thinking about this bit for a while: (From "Hoodoo" by Muse, on the Black Holes & Revelations cd)



I've had recurring nightmares
That I was loved for who I am
And missed the opportunity
To be a better man.

This probably loses something in translation -- it's really a beautiful song. I would actually recommend the whole cd -- but even on the flat computer screen, the words affect me.

I think it comes down to this: I'm a romance writer, but I've been a romance reader much longer. I like that stanza because it is the anti-romance.

In a romance novel -- no matter what internal or external conflicts the writer throws in their paths, no matter how dark the "black moment" -- the characters are always happier together than they were apart.

In a romance novel, we never wonder if the characters are sacrificing too much for the relationship; we never have to wonder if the characters would be better off alone.

In a romance novel, you can be assured that the answer to this equation is always the same: Main Character + Love Interest = HEA (Happily Ever After)

I read romances, in large part, because life is not a romance novel; I like those lyrics for the same reason.