HAUNTED HEARTS
A Time Guardian anthology~
Get two Time Guardian tales for the price of one! This paperback includes:
SACRIFICIAL HEARTS & NAKED ON THE STAIRCASE
HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH!
Look out world. I started thinking...
Since tomorrow is Valentines Day, what is love?
I could ramble on about chemical reactions in bodies, about how there are two phases of love... The initial oh-I-can't-lose-him phase that's supposed to hang on three years from the moment of sexual union. Then the first phase is replaced by the oh-this-is-comfortable phase. But there would inevitably be comments posted that someone still loves her spouse as much as she did the day they met 24 years ago. Or I could talk about soul mates--the thing that usually pops up in my romance novels. But sometimes I feel like that's all I ever talk about. So, why not talk about the human condition?
Are we supposed to be here to love? Not love comparable to chocolate melting across your tongue. But the feeling of love for another human being. This is what my first Time Guardian novel, HE OF THE FIERY SWORD, is all about. I play with the idea of what it is to be human by taking a time-traveling shape-shifting dragon and transmuting him into human form (King Arthur) in medieval Ireland. He struggles with life in learning what it is to be human--his greatest fantasy. The focus is he must "live" before becoming king. And living involves his falling in love. He soon understands human loneliness and desires. But is the reason we are here to love? Or do you think love is just an aspect of the social nature of human beings? Must we fall in love to truly experience life?
This week I blogged about the Knights Templar http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com/. Their passion for their duty is still truly commendable. I'm not saying I agree with war. But I can appreciate why they felt driven. Is this love? Then Nadya Suleman just birthed octuplets. I'm exhausted just typing that whopping number. But she's thrilled to have what she deems a success. How does her perspective rank with the other situations for love? I even watched a documentary on Abraham Lincoln yesterday explaining how he loved his fiance so much that he was on suicide watch after she died of typhus. His lingering depression from her death is what is theorized to have kept him driven enough to become president. Although I've come full circle back to love between a man and a woman (or at least in a man's mind), what is this thing called love? Nature? Nurture? Are we hard-wired to yearn for connection with another human being, or something perceived to be as significant? Is this what the human condition is all about--making a connection with someone?
Oddly enough, that "connecting with something" other than the ourselves is what Joseph Campbell states drives the human subconscious. What the heck is Skhye rambling about? Campbell calls that moment the "metaphysical moment" when a person is driven beyond the self to do something selfless for another person... or even the planet. That's the kind of love I write about in romance. That's what romance authors write about. Love isn't about loving the self. It's about a person loving someone else enough to risk their own health and safety for that person they love. When you throw in something like the planet will explode if the loved one is allowed to live, well, you've got major conflict. ;) Alas, I digress too much. [Campbell is Mr. Mythology in he analzyed myth and legend (stories) in THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES and is worth reading if you are a writer.]
A CONTEST...
What do you think is the purpose for love? Leave me a comment with your slant (anything goes!) by midnight, CST tonight to be in the running to win a paperback copy of HAUNTED HEARTS. Refer to the cover at the top of the blog post. I'll choose one winner tomorrow on Valentines Day! And remember, when you're trying to pick a suitable Valentines gift for your beloved, the symbolism is what counts. ;) Thanks for sharing your time with me! ~Skhye
Read my first chapters, free read, and buy my stories at
http://www.skhyemoncrief.com/.
Read my first chapters, free read, and buy my stories at
http://www.skhyemoncrief.com/.
You'll find everything on my New Release page.
~Diane Mason at The Romance Studio
"Intense, original, suspenseful, and dramatic... an unpredictable topsy-turvy romance... the suspense builds with every page in SACRIFICIAL HEARTS. In a world where symbols mean everything, magic is the way..." ~Snapdragon at The Long and Short Reviews
All Skhye's works are available at http://www.thewildrosepress.com/
http://www.timeguardians.com/
http://www.skhyemoncrief.com/
"Intense, original, suspenseful, and dramatic... an unpredictable topsy-turvy romance... the suspense builds with every page in SACRIFICIAL HEARTS. In a world where symbols mean everything, magic is the way..." ~Snapdragon at The Long and Short Reviews
All Skhye's works are available at http://www.thewildrosepress.com/
http://www.timeguardians.com/
http://www.skhyemoncrief.com/
"Be the change you want to see in the world." ~Ghandi
23 comments:
I dont really know what the purpose of love would be, except is definitely keeps your emotions in check. Love can be wonderful and horrible on in the same breath. The saying Love Hurts is definetly so true, but then other side of the coin is that it is the best feeling in the world. I do believe it could be a game of chance, and it is a finicky emotion at best but when you do find the real thing there is nothing that compares and I truely beleive that there is that 1 special person out there for everyone.
Thanks, Sarabelle! What excellent points. Skhye
Okay, I'll be different. Romantic love is the expression of a biological need to procreate. How's that Skyhe? Seriously, who really knows. There are all kinds of scientific studies that show our emotions are indeed driven by our reproductive cycles. However, I like to think it's a little more than that.
While we are individuals, we are not meant to be alone. We need others around us for support and affection. Love is what provides the binding.
It's okay to go with nature here, Emma. I've been programmed to go with nature by both hard and soft science. Then, philosophy seeps in. Alas, I will keep my opinions to myself. Better to have fun trying to psychoanalzye Skhye by reading her tales! Bwa ha haaa
Hi Skhye,
I watched a documentary the other night that suggested love was for the purpose of procreation and that humans weren't engineered for that committment to last a lifetime, just long enough to produce a family and raise them. But, it also focused on how some people do mate for life, their love lasting, and they identified a portion of the brain where this love shows up in scans. It was very interesting.
Linda
www.lindalaroque.com
If the love is good than the purpose would be to have someone there for you in times of good and bad; someone to keep you going, see the positive in troubles, etc.
Love encompasses all the hurts, joys, etc. and is what keeps everything together.
Thanks, Linda & Robyn! Great perspectives. Have a wonderful holiday.
Love is so difficult to describe, and so easy to feel when you find the right person. As to its purpose, I think it's to ensure we don't walk this earth alone. Love can be for a spouse, a family, a friend, or a child. As people we love love us in return, our lives become richer, fuller. Perhaps it's love that makes life worth living.
The purpose of love can be defined in so many ways. My view is it is spiritual. When you find that someone, you not only want to procreate but just be with him or her. However, it can also be a double edged sword when the feelings are not shown in return. Whether or not we find that one true love, we are all searching for them. Let's just hope we learn something along the way.
I think there are many different types of love. But I also think the love we feel can define who we are. If we grew up in a loving family or with one that did not believe in showing affection.It can be a very hard life out there and to me love is the rock we can stand on when our lives are out of whack. And it will never let us down.
Wondeful points, Debra, Housemouse, and Melanie. Thanks for stopping by and adding to the thoughtful discussion.
The purpose of love, an answer for the unexplained, it can generate super strenth, love can help miracles to happen, love always was and always will be, love can help you to face your greatest challenges
Definitely, BethRe. That's all the motivations for the individual to do something selfless. ;) Thanks for posting!
I think love exsists to help us grow and learn as humans. I also think love exsists because with out it or lifetime would be baren and lonely. Love exsists because we need to be able to FEEL, and without love, I dont think we would feel any emotions.
Ooooo, EdgesAngel, you so think like me! Thanks for stopping by.
Love is a connection that keeps people together even when things are not going well. It is a response to the biological imperative to continue the species, not just produce young but raise them until they are independent. It has a quality of possessiveness because why should you protect that which is not yours.
I think the feeling of love was created so that people would feel as if they are never truly alone. Somebody, somewhere, loves them -- that someone may be their parents, sister, friend or that special man(or woman)of their dreams. We all want love...there wouldn't be an entire day devoted to it if we didn't. Happy Valentines Day :)
Yes, Lindseye and Pam. I totally agree with the nature aspect that pulls the group closer together. Thanks for stopping by!
I love your cover!
Love - it's probably different for everyone and the trouble comes when a couple has two different meanings. I would say for me it's when you think more of the other person than yourself.
It is hard to say what the purpose of love is. But that person serves as a source of so many things that we cannot live without happily.
Nice explanation, Catslady. I think that's paraphrasing what Joseph Campbell called the metaphysical moment. But your slant seems to be softer, more feminine. ;) Me, I tend to be clinical. Thanks!
Most definitely, Debby! Thanks for stopping by.
Congratulations, EdgesAngel123! You won a copy of HAUNTED HEARTS. Please email your mailing address to skhye@skhyemoncrief.com so I can get your book in the mail.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by and shared a moment of their day with me. This turned out to be an excellent discussion. Eat chocolate, sip champagne, and make merry on this day of love!
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