here we go for the hundredth time, hand grenade pins in every line;

I've been reading a lot lately, all romances. I want to write a rom-com for NaNoWriMo, I think, encouraged by the fact that I was able to knock out all of my Marvel Big Bang with a full outline in roughly a month.

And also, well, I'm a sucker for happy endings. Are these books the literary equivalent of eating an entire bag of Skittles? They sure are. Are all of them well written? Good lord, no.

Am I going to read more of them? You bet your sweet ass I am.

I've also been reading these with an eye on how they're structured and written. I'm going to be using Romancing the Beat to help structure my plot, but it irks me how many of them end with finally getting to kiss the love interest - and somehow getting an engagement ring at the same time??? Like, slow your roll, my friends! But this is also part of the genre, so I get that. It still leaves me wanting more.

I'm also looking for any and all LGBT+ and POC romances I can find. There's more than I thought I'd find in my (very white) part of town, and available at my local library!

What I do know is that I want to write a rom-com with some sort of paranormal element. Witches, maybe. The concept that magic cannot fix love, but love fixes the magic. I also had a dream last night where a character's eccentric dad was played by Jeff Goldblum and that's really too good to pass up, so I'll have to work that in somehow.

I also learned that I still don't like Regency-era stories. I tried to read the first book in the Bridgerton series and, uh.... that's not for me. It's also written like garbage and doesn't understand point of view and I'm pissed I paid Actual Money for it but that's neither here nor there

I'm also rambling, but it's all good. I'm sure somewhere within these books, I'll get the inspiration I need to write my own.