Meet the Author: Betsy Norman As written for the October, 1998 issue of The Lover's Knot Magazine Do you believe in fate and love at first sight?  Oh, how cliché!  How about     soul mates?  Or destiny?  Electric currents jolting between two strangers across a crowded room?  Silly dime story novel and fairytale ideals.  That stuff never really happens.  Romance doesn't exist. But it does. The night I met my husband (described by my envious friends as "The Nordic Prince") I  knew he was the one.  We talked all night and made uncanny predictions on our future.  In less than a year we were married. Three kids--two boys and a girl, in the very same order we prescribed-- three homes, and nearly ten years later, we're still living happily ever after. I read and write romance because I believe in it.  I revel in the challenge of two unsuspecting characters journeying toward the gift of everlasting love.  My greatest goal is to imbue that belief into my writing so strongly, my readers will walk away with an enchanted glow in their heart and renewed faith that Romance really does exist. My Hero goes off to work every day and I've got kids and carpools, household chores combined with part-time bookkeeping for my husband's business, exercise and writing classes, hobbies--cake decorating, stenciling and Christmas crafts to get finished in time... plus I need a haircut, baby is grinding Cheerios into the carpet by my feet again, the phone is ringing and that loud thud downstairs sounded suspiciously like the four-year-old falling behind the couch. Where do I find five minutes to write between naptime and exhaustion? Sometimes, I just don't.  A week will pass without jotting down a single paragraph.  Does this present an obstacle?  No, because I refuse to let it.  I'm always on the look out for real-life stories to inspire me, plotting out a dozen different story scenarios in my mind.  Even hubby gets into the act, brainstorming ideas over late night pillow talk.  Blank monitors no longer intimidate me because I've got so much stored up.  Those rare moments when I can write are used to their fullest advantage and not wasted on trying to conjure up images. I don't follow the 'write every day' adage, but that doesn't mean I'm not committed to my writing.  My motto is simplistic:  Believe in romance, so much so that it reflects in your stories and illuminates your readers with the same conviction.  Romance doesn't have to be an extraordinary circumstance that invokes a wistful longing for something that doesn't exist.  In fact, the most heartwarming sentiment comes from the most ordinary of observations. Romance is a 6'4" husband rocking his newborn 'princess' to sleep. Romance is a fly-by hugging from a four-year-old in the middle of his Power Ranger routine.  Romance is a second grader presenting field flowers from behind his back in honor of Mommy's first sale.  Romance is laughing with your Mom and being pen-pals with your best friend. Romance exists in my life.  I bet it does in yours, too. What's your real-life romantic story? Email {Home} {Short Stories} {Non-Fiction} {Excerpt} {Links} {Family}