Life’s Not a Movie...And That’s Okay!
By
Romi Moondi
Hello readers,
I’m the author of the rom-com series YEAR OF THE CHICK, and Tracie was nice enough to let me post here today (thank
you!) I will use this time to talk about something I think about A LOT when
I’m writing my books:
-Those
cute Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks rom-com moments, and why they never make it into my
books:
I guess it all goes downhill when I end up
writing fiction “inspired by real life.” It’s the funniest thing, that as soon
as you dip your writing toes into the inky waters of awkward real life (and
yes, I churn out word count with my toes), those precious rom-com moments
rarely appear.
I’m not saying I’ve never experienced the
“beginnings” of rom-com moments; I mean trust me, there are numerous moments
filled with “oh my god, could this be the
one?!” potential. But just as I start to hold my breath, widen my eyes, and
envision my romantic and totally-not-arranged-marriage happy ending...the
entire scenario explodes into a symphony of farts.
Not literally of course (though that CAN be
the case sometimes---I mean come on, it’s real life!), but more like the
nervous anticipation that quickly falls flat on its face. This lack of
execution manifests itself into all kinds of everyday scenarios. Here are some
recent real-life examples:
-The train has arrived downtown, I rise
from my seat, but still groggy from my drooly train nap (I know, sexy), my
lunch bag falls to the floor. In a seemingly perfect act of serendipity, my
apple rolls along the ground towards the feet of a polished-shoe-wearing
business man. Eyes focused on the apple, we both reach for it at the same
time...just like that our fingertips touch. “This is it,” I think, “my
introduction to a handsome well-off suitor”. I raise my eyes, and with my
face mere inches from his, I get a waft of his putrid breath with a view of his
jagged-toothed smile.
-This one happens to me often. It’s when
some “soulmatey” love song comes on the radio when I’m driving. My car slowly rolls
to a stop at a traffic light, just as the song reaches its crescendo. It’s the
perfect moment to turn to my left or right, to find a Daniel-Craig-like lover
boy staring at me seductively, with his heavily-veined forearm on display as he
grips the steering wheel. In real life, first I look to my right. I see an
angry soccer mom in a minivan screaming at her kids in the back. Then I look to
my left, and see a guy who looks like any one of my creepy Indian uncles...like
the hardcore ones from India
-This third one happened on June 14th,
and I posted about it on my Facebook Author Page, in case you think I’m making
it up. Okay...at Starbucks they take your name for your latte, and they call
out "Romi" so I confidently approach, only for another hand to also
reach out for my cup. Again, I start to think “this is it.” When I turn I see a portly Indian man, who smiles and
says "Your name's Romi too?” First of all...WTF
I have a guy's name?! Secondly, all the "Kellys" and
"Johns" around us laugh, like it was fate that the Romis had this
special thing in common. If this was a rom-com, the guy with my name would be
“Romi Gosling,” but because it’s real life, of course it’s the portly Indian
man. Yeah.
Now before I
depress all the single-women readers into thinking that life’s not as good as
a movie, there’s a flip side to all of this. It’s the part where when you least
expect it, and when you don’t even think you want it, you meet an interesting
guy that you just can’t forget. This guy turns out to be someone who reads books
for fun, who has a great job, who you can talk to for hours, and who is an
amazingly talented musician. So talented he is...that he makes you a love song
in French. Something like this is SO hard to believe, that it wouldn’t even
make it into a movie, because what perfect guy would need a borderline nut-job
like me? The viewers (if it was a movie) and the readers (if it was my book)
would scoff, and so, when I actually wrote a fictionalized version inspired by
events from my life...I made my intelligent, addictive, and talented musician
guy more flawed. This way, at least it
could be believable enough for an “escape from reality” book.
Now is that
crazy, or is that CRAZY?
Both real life
and the book were not without their complications and romantic doom...but I’ll
leave that to you if you decide to pick up LAST-MINUTE LOVE . . . :-)
So remember:
real life can actually lead to twists and turns that are a whole lot better
than those “Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks' utterly perfect attempts at imperfection.”
So embrace real
life, enjoy each day, and you’ll probably end up pleasantly surprised...
Sincerely,
Romi Moondi
Romi has generously offered to give a copy of both her e-books, YEAR OF THE CHICK and LAST-MINUTE LOVE, to one lucky winner! To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below telling me about your own real-life rom com moment - Did it work out well? Or was it a disaster? Don't forget to leave your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win! Drawing will take place on Monday, June 25th, so get your comments in by midnight on Sunday, June 24th.
Book blurb (YEAR OF THE CHICK):
An awkward family homecoming at Christmas.
A humiliating public weigh-in, with two judging parents as the audience.
The announcement of a deadline for arranged marriage doom.
And that's just the first two chapters.
In YEAR OF THE CHICK, Romi Narindra must find love before her parents find her a husband.
But this is North America, not Calcutta! Who lets their parents choose their husbands?!
Easy to say, less easy to live through, as this book takes you deep inside "awkward Indian living in the West."
To escape her fate, Romi wades through the waters of secret-dating, where self-consciousness is at an all-time high, and experience at an all-time low. It's the sort of thing that would turn almost anyone into a man-crazy freak with romance tunnel-vision, and that's exactly what happens to her. All the while, a lack of inspiration in her corporate job leads Romi to her love of writing, in what quickly becomes a man-quest play-by-play.
From whiskey-breath scum bags to uni-brow creeps and everything in between, Romi and her wingmen come up empty time after time.
And that's when she meets a fellow writer.
On the Internet.
So will it be arranged marriage doom, or an Internet affair that's not as creepy as "To Catch a Predator"?
Time will tell in the YEAR OF THE CHICK, a twelve-month quest to find love.
Tick-tock.
LAST-MINUTE LOVE is a sequel to YEAR OF THE CHICK, so I'm not going to post a book blurb as it would be spoilery!
Romi has generously offered to give a copy of both her e-books, YEAR OF THE CHICK and LAST-MINUTE LOVE, to one lucky winner! To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below telling me about your own real-life rom com moment - Did it work out well? Or was it a disaster? Don't forget to leave your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win! Drawing will take place on Monday, June 25th, so get your comments in by midnight on Sunday, June 24th.
Book blurb (YEAR OF THE CHICK):
An awkward family homecoming at Christmas.
A humiliating public weigh-in, with two judging parents as the audience.
The announcement of a deadline for arranged marriage doom.
And that's just the first two chapters.
In YEAR OF THE CHICK, Romi Narindra must find love before her parents find her a husband.
But this is North America, not Calcutta! Who lets their parents choose their husbands?!
Easy to say, less easy to live through, as this book takes you deep inside "awkward Indian living in the West."
To escape her fate, Romi wades through the waters of secret-dating, where self-consciousness is at an all-time high, and experience at an all-time low. It's the sort of thing that would turn almost anyone into a man-crazy freak with romance tunnel-vision, and that's exactly what happens to her. All the while, a lack of inspiration in her corporate job leads Romi to her love of writing, in what quickly becomes a man-quest play-by-play.
From whiskey-breath scum bags to uni-brow creeps and everything in between, Romi and her wingmen come up empty time after time.
And that's when she meets a fellow writer.
On the Internet.
So will it be arranged marriage doom, or an Internet affair that's not as creepy as "To Catch a Predator"?
Time will tell in the YEAR OF THE CHICK, a twelve-month quest to find love.
Tick-tock.
LAST-MINUTE LOVE is a sequel to YEAR OF THE CHICK, so I'm not going to post a book blurb as it would be spoilery!
Romi Moondi's books are available exclusively at Amazon:
Year of the Chick
Last-Minute Love
Visit Romi Moondi at:
Blog
I was at a friend's volleyball game, and the volleyball was hit out of bounds near me. I picked it up, and looked at the server on his team. We locked eyes, and I thought he was pretty cute. I threw the ball to him (luckily not hitting him in the face or anywhere else), and long story short, we celebrated our 12th anniversary in September :)
ReplyDeletebjoneill@hotmail.com
Romi, you have a great voice. Completely entertaining, causing me to laugh, laugh, and laugh some more (with the 'I can SO relate!' moments in there). More summer reads on my list now! :)
ReplyDelete-Savannah Page (info[at]savannahpage.com)
My real life RomCom moment was when my friend and neighbor professed his love for me on my doorstep. Just like it was right out of a movie. Unfortunately, 2 months later, we were kaput.
ReplyDeleteI have a copy of Year of the Chick, but would love the sequel!
Lalucie at sbcglobal dot net
The book sounds good. I don't have any of these moments.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Hi Tracie, thanks so much for letting me guest post!
ReplyDeleteAnd Bridget, Lucie, Savannah, I loved reading your rom-com moments that turned out better! Haha ;-)