Author RaeAnne Thayne

Hi and welcome to the world of my tangled thoughts. I'm learning as I go, so please forgive any blog faux pas!

On one of the email loops I'm on, the subject of happiness has come up, specifically as it pertains to romance readers and writers, and I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Are we necessarily happier than those literary folks who can't seem to abide a satisfactory ending to a book? Those who worship novels of gloom and despair?

I have to think the answer is yes, as a whole (okay, I know some romance writers who drive me crazy with their negativism so this might be a sweeping generalization. But I'm sticking to it!). Romance novels are about hope, about joy, about affirmation of all the things that make life wonderful. Certainly our books have pain and suffering and angst in them. But they're ultimately about triumphing over those hardships (or sometimes just learning to accept them) in order to find joy. A belief in a happy ending is faith that we can wade through the muck we all must face to reach the prize.

I believe I'm a pretty happy person. Sure, I have moments of self-doubt, moments of grief, moments of worry and stress. But then I remind myself how incredibly blessed I am to be living a life I dreamed about for so long. I have three wondeful kids, a husband I adore, and a career I (mostly) enjoy.

One of my favorite country songs is Darryl Worley's song "Awful Beautiful Life" The refrain says it all. "I love this crazy, tragic. Sometimes almost magic. Awful, beautiful life."

That's what life is about. Pain and tragedy. Magic and beauty. It's all one crazy, jumbled package.

And I love it!