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Yasmine Galenorn Guest Post & Giveaway: Do you believe in Happily Ever After?

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Night's End by Yasmine GalenornNote from Chelsea/VBC: We’re very excited to have Yasmine Galenorn on the blog today. Her new Indigo Court novel Night’s End releases today, and we’re pretty excited about it. She’s here to talk about happily ever after and what that could mean. We also have a giveaway of the first Indigo Court book Night Myst at the end of the post as well as a super deluxe giveaway that includes a chance at a new Kindle Paperwhite. With that tease, I’m turning it over to Yasmine:

When I was a little girl, I believed in the Cinderella story—I believed in Prince Charming, and happily ever after (HEA). I wanted so desperately for a prince to find me and sweep me away into a life of never-ending joy and safety. I think I believed in it so desperately because of the abuse I experienced. HEA promised an escape to a life I never had as a child.

But after a very painful experience (literally) with an abusive, nine-year long relationship, reality sunk in, and I realized…happily ever after doesn’t exist. Perfection isn’t possible—nothing is perfect, and that’s okay. If you talk about happy-for-now (HFN)? Yes, most definitely I believe in it—I’m living it. But there’s always an “after”…and life intervenes in so many ways. I think that’s why I can write HFNs, but I can’t write an HEA.

In the Indigo Court Series, relationships are complicated. The love between Cicely and Grieve is passionate, they are soul-bound together through time, and yet…and yet…there are other factors. Lannan and the bond he and Cicely have are one of those factors.

I do believe you can love more than one person at once, though it’s problematic if you choose to follow through on those feelings. And given her position as Queen in the Court of Snow and Rivers, Cicely cannot afford to ever trust anybody 100%. Too much rides on her shoulders. She must keep a part of herself in observational mode. So her love for Grieve cannot be all-encompassing/ask-no-questions. She must be aware of his faults, even as she’s aware of her own shortcomings.

I think that’s one of the consistent factors about my writing. You’ll never find a perfect hero, or a perfect heroine in my books. Everyone has flaws and faults. I’ll always choose to write about an honest antihero over a charmingly perfect hero. Too often that charming smile hides an ulterior motive or hidden ugliness.

Grieve is wounded—he’s representative of the Wounded King in the mythological cycle, in my world. He’s not the all-powerful hero. And Lannan—he knows he’s a freak, but he’s also honest enough to know when he has to come through and do the right thing.

I may not write about ‘real’ situations—paranormal is my first love—but I like to think my characters are real enough to touch my readers. My characters are flawed, they get angry and jealous, they make the wrong decision at times, they bicker and squabble…but in the end, my characters do what they’re called to do.

They do what they have to do—because for me, a main character must be able to overcome their obstacles and work through their problems. They must face down whatever trouble is aimed in their direction. And afterward? They make a life as best as they can out of what the aftermath leaves for them. Sometimes, it’s a very happy life. Sometimes, not so much for some of the characters. To me, that’s a reality my readers can identify with. The important thing, is how they cope and how the adversities in their lives make them stronger.

So, do you believe in happily-ever-after, or is happy-for-now more your cup of tea?

Yasmine

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8 Responses to “Yasmine Galenorn Guest Post & Giveaway: Do you believe in Happily Ever After?”

  1. Amy says:

    I am ok with HFN while reading a series, but when it comes to the end of a series, I’m definitely looking for the HEA. I just feel like a lot of series put the characters (and readers!) through so much that by the end I just want everyone to be where they’re supposed to be and no questions left hanging in the air.

    Great post! Really makes me want to pick up the Indigo Court series.

  2. Jennifer Daniels says:

    Yes I do believe in happily ever after. I’m a hopeless romantic and I’m living it. It took a long time to find it but I believe the characters will find it too.

  3. Jill says:

    I struggled with this all my life. Divorced parents, seeing married couples cheating blah blah etc. I didn’t believe in soul mates, but I hoped. But then I met my hubby, and he changed all that for me. Are we always happy with one another? absolutely not! Do I think this will last forever? I certainly hope so. It honestly took me a very long time to stop waiting for “the other shoe to drop.” A crazy ex showing up with a kid, he’s secretly a psychopath terrorist, one of us die in a crazy freak accident; something to ruin it. Since meeting him, I want to believe that no matter how long we have together, we were supposed to end up together, and we are so happy NOW. And I want to believe that everyone can have this at least once in their life. Just something to make them happy and feel secure.

    All that being said, I want my books to end happy. I know that it’s not “real life” but that’s why I read. I don’t WANT to think about how life isn’t fair. I want the bad guys to get whooped and the love to last forever riding off into the sunset. You know the drill.

  4. Joyce says:

    I want to believe in HEA, I think everyone wants that but I think that people search so much for that HEA that they forget to be happy in the here and now.

  5. Keira says:

    Wow, this post has me very interested in the series! I’m definitely going to have to look into this!

    As for the question…

    I’m inclined to believe in the HFN. I read a lot of historical romance novels along with my PNR and UF and they never cease to bother me when they end with the characters happily married and finding out that a baby’s on the way and all that. I think any book that ends in domesticity like that is mildly horrifying. Don’t these characters want to grow as a true couple first? Why does a child have to be involved? It all seems very limited to me, like their HEAs are empty and unfulfilled if unknotted by matrimony and parenthood. Having grown up in a divorced household, the stigmas that a relationship is only good if it fits a certain checklist or that a person can’t be happy with his/her love interest without involving marriage bother me. I prefer stories that aren’t photoshopped to perfection.

    Now, this being said, at heart I am a romantic cynic. I would love for soulmates to truly exist; the thought that everyone does and that not everyone is fortunate enough to meet theirs saddens me deeply. I spend a decent amount of time daydreaming about meeting mine. So I wish and hope–but I don’t fully vest myself in the idea. I’m just a tad too disenchanted to think of these fantasies as much more than my mind entertaining itself on a dreary day.

  6. Pamela Reyes says:

    I can’t figure out how to purchase anything

  7. Happily Never After would be more like it. The first few years were great… it’s been downhill ever since.

  8. Dawn Roberto says:

    Thanks for being here and I love the Indigo Court series and am sad to see it end. I love HEA’s and can tolerate HFNs as long as I know that the main characters will finally be together in the end.

    Thanks for a really great post.

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