Is It Love, or Is It Chocolate?
Today is St. Valentine's Day, the day where tons of people
give each other tons of chocolate. It's a great day, truly, both because of the
chocolates and because of love. We all know the feeling--that rush of
adrenalin, the inability to breathe when the one we love enters the room, the
blush, the fears, the hopes, the elation of that new relationship. It's
something we search for, something we cling to once we've found it. But how do
we fall in love?
He's hot, but is he for real?
For some, it's sheer lust at first sight. Cuteness, nice eyes, even better body, and the list goes on. For others, it's almost gluttony, where you cannot get enough of the person--like a huge box of chocolates you keep pulling the lid off of, until the box is empty. Many people are inspired by status or wealth, choosing partners from the upper class, or those who have expensive cars or lots of money to spend. Even more get that spark from clandestine romances--the danger adds to their feelings, making them mistake them for true love.
But none of that lasts. What happens when we get older and flabbier? What happens when the box of chocolates is empty? When the money is gone and we lose everything, or when money isn't enough? When the affair comes out in the open? Then we find out we weren't nearly so in love as we thought, or weren't in love at all.
You see, love doesn't happen at first sight. Love is something that develops and grows over the long haul, as we see more and more of the people we truly are. In our anthology, this theme comes through as clearly as the delicious taste of chocolate: Kira Saito's heroine Claudia finds her love grows as she learns to know--and trust--the boy from school. In my story Sweet Witchery, Catalena sees all too clearly what love is not, and she must be strong enough to fight for the love she knows is true. In Suz Korb's story, Kate discovers her love is far more than she believed, but that knowledge helps her survive frightening circumstances.
To be true, love shows in action. It's not "in his kiss," but in what he does to protect, defend, and help you. Lucy Swing, Nikki Jefford and Stacey Wallace Benefiel all give us heroines who have to figure out whether their love is villain or hero, finding proof only through supernatural means. Sometimes the one who seems to be the ideal is nothing short of evil, it turns out, and we can't always trust words, or kisses. With time, the truth comes out.
That's perhaps the best lesson there is. Only time can tell us for certain whether love is real and lasting. Lust dissolves into a steady warmth, long and lasting. Instead of gobbling up the chocolates all at once, we eat them bite by tiny bite, savoring everything to the fullest. Our love only grows when we face harsh circumstances, and we find life easier to bear if we are together.
This day will soon be over, but if you eat your chocolates slowly, the box you get will last far longer. And isn't that what it's all about, enjoying your box of chocolates as fully as you can?
Speaking of chocolates, please enter our Death by Chocolate contest! (U.S.
Delicious chocolates... and even more delicious reading! It doesn't get any better than this!
He's hot, but is he for real?
For some, it's sheer lust at first sight. Cuteness, nice eyes, even better body, and the list goes on. For others, it's almost gluttony, where you cannot get enough of the person--like a huge box of chocolates you keep pulling the lid off of, until the box is empty. Many people are inspired by status or wealth, choosing partners from the upper class, or those who have expensive cars or lots of money to spend. Even more get that spark from clandestine romances--the danger adds to their feelings, making them mistake them for true love.
But none of that lasts. What happens when we get older and flabbier? What happens when the box of chocolates is empty? When the money is gone and we lose everything, or when money isn't enough? When the affair comes out in the open? Then we find out we weren't nearly so in love as we thought, or weren't in love at all.
You see, love doesn't happen at first sight. Love is something that develops and grows over the long haul, as we see more and more of the people we truly are. In our anthology, this theme comes through as clearly as the delicious taste of chocolate: Kira Saito's heroine Claudia finds her love grows as she learns to know--and trust--the boy from school. In my story Sweet Witchery, Catalena sees all too clearly what love is not, and she must be strong enough to fight for the love she knows is true. In Suz Korb's story, Kate discovers her love is far more than she believed, but that knowledge helps her survive frightening circumstances.
To be true, love shows in action. It's not "in his kiss," but in what he does to protect, defend, and help you. Lucy Swing, Nikki Jefford and Stacey Wallace Benefiel all give us heroines who have to figure out whether their love is villain or hero, finding proof only through supernatural means. Sometimes the one who seems to be the ideal is nothing short of evil, it turns out, and we can't always trust words, or kisses. With time, the truth comes out.
That's perhaps the best lesson there is. Only time can tell us for certain whether love is real and lasting. Lust dissolves into a steady warmth, long and lasting. Instead of gobbling up the chocolates all at once, we eat them bite by tiny bite, savoring everything to the fullest. Our love only grows when we face harsh circumstances, and we find life easier to bear if we are together.
This day will soon be over, but if you eat your chocolates slowly, the box you get will last far longer. And isn't that what it's all about, enjoying your box of chocolates as fully as you can?
Speaking of chocolates, please enter our Death by Chocolate contest! (
Delicious chocolates... and even more delicious reading! It doesn't get any better than this!
All images are from Simon Howden /FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Death
by Chocolate- The paranormal young adult anthology with a cocoa twist.
Authors Suz
Korb, Cheryl Carvajal, Nikki Jefford, Kira Saito, Stacey Wallace
Benefiel, and Lucy Swing
Back in Time by
Stacey Wallace Benefiel
Nothing in Aurelia
Lemon's life is turning out how she'd planned. She's unemployed, unattached,
and her family bakery is on the verge of closing. To make matters worse, the
guy she dumped in high school is doing well and getting rich off of one of her
departed mother's recipes. It would take a miracle to right everything she's
done wrong. Or maybe just a phone call and the chance to go Back in Time.
Sweet Witchery by Cheryl J.
Carvajal
Catalena is only one of many
dreamers in a small medieval town in Romania
Spellbound by Nikki Jefford
Two months after dying, Graylee
Perez wakes up in her identical twin sister, Charlene’s body.
As the daughter of a witch, can
anyone blame her mother for attempting to bring her back to life? Only now
Gray’s stuck sharing her sister’s body 50/50 in 24 hour shifts.
The race is on for Gray to find a
way back into her body before Charlene purges her from existence.
Warlock Raj McKenna is rumored to
meddle in the black arts, not to mention he’s after Gray’s invisibility spell
and worse – her heart. But Raj might be the only one powerful enough to save
Gray from fading away forever.
Bloody Valentine by Lucy Swing
One by one the girls of Hollow High
disappear and when Bailey receives a heart-shaped box filled with chocolates
she might be next.
Sweet Torture by Kira Saito
Sixteen year old
Claudia Bernstein is obsessed with two things: chocolate and Dante Torres.
However, being an invisible minion to Upper East Side princess Beatrice
Wildenbert isn't helping her get anywhere with her dream guy.
Everything changes over Christmas break when Dante actually starts noticing her.
But are Dante's intentions as pure as they seem? When Claudia finds herself in the middle of a cruel prank, she decides to take revenge. But is revenge enough? Or will she finally realize that her own worst enemy is herself?
Everything changes over Christmas break when Dante actually starts noticing her.
But are Dante's intentions as pure as they seem? When Claudia finds herself in the middle of a cruel prank, she decides to take revenge. But is revenge enough? Or will she finally realize that her own worst enemy is herself?
The Girl with
Three Heads by Suz Korb
Kate wakes up on
the morning of the Death by Chocolate fundraiser event to discover she has two
extra heads resting upon each of her shoulders. She is not pleased about this.
She's even more displeased when she discovers the head on her right shoulder
(which looks like Santa Claus, complete with fluffy white beard) is actually
Zeus, lord of lightning, or something like that. The head on her left shoulder?
Yeah, it's the head of Hera; goddess-of-looking-like-a-blonde-bombshell and
getting on Kate's nerves by shouting in her ear all the time.
Will Kate ever rid herself of these two extra heads? Will she ever get to experience an actual kiss from a boy without extra-head-situation interruptions? Join Kate as she struggles to survive being flung into the Underworld, as well as eventually landing uponMount Olympus
Just because she's got two extra craniums doesn't mean either head is an extra set of useful brains.
Will Kate ever rid herself of these two extra heads? Will she ever get to experience an actual kiss from a boy without extra-head-situation interruptions? Join Kate as she struggles to survive being flung into the Underworld, as well as eventually landing upon
Just because she's got two extra craniums doesn't mean either head is an extra set of useful brains.
Author Bios
Stacey Wallace Benefiel is the author of the Zellie
Wells trilogy, the Day of Sacrifice series and The
Toilet Business, a collection of essays. She lives in an orange house in Beaverton , OR
Cheryl Carvajal goes by the name Shakespeare at her two
blogs: http://creativeartsanonymous.blogspot.com/ and http://notwritinganythinganymore.blogspot.com/ You
can also contact her by email at shakespeare824@hotmail.com Over the last
decade she has ventured into YA writing. She has three degrees in English, teaches
Zumba and works on her writing with help from her husband who is president of Bainbridge College , Georgia
Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan now
residing in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands
Lucy Swing is a mother of two and a wife to a
Firefighter/Paramedic. She is the author of the upcoming paranormal YA romance
novel "Feathermore". She is a Goodreads author and you can find out
more about her writing endeavours on her website http://www.LucySwing.com
Kira is a magic junkie and loves writing YA paranormal
romances. Some of her heroes include: Jack the Pumpkin King, Willy Wonka, Larry
David, Princess Jasmine, the vampire Lestat, Andy and her Maltese Costanza. You
can email her at kirakatwritingservices@gmail.com and you can find out more about Kira
on her website http://kirasaito.blogspot.com/
Suz Korb loves comedy. She also loves magic. She loves, loves to inject these key elements into her paranormal stories. She also loves, loves, loves cereal and eats way too much of it whilst novel writing. She’s an expat of the
I enjoyed your post. I think a lot of people show their love, especially on Valentine's Day, with a box of chocolates, which there is nothing wrong with.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
I agree... nothing wrong with it. The only time I've objected is when I was doing Weight Watchers... but thank goodness that's over!
ReplyDeleteOne of the best pleasures in life, chocolate. Why not indulge? And kudos to you for visiting my posts all over!
Way to go, BN100! You win this particular prize by default. I'll be e-mailing you today for your other info. Thanks for entering!
ReplyDelete