Jealous of the Dresses

As I writer, I don't dress up a lot. Or really, ever. I work a lovely day job, but bank chic does not lend itself to the fun of a full-blown ball gown like the one you see below on Shana Galen's beautiful cover for I KISSED A ROGUE. Actually, in the world of banking, there are no hot rogues to kiss you on staircases either. Hmmmm....

I suppose as a writer I live a lot in my imagination. In my imagination, and later on the page, my characters get to be transformed from dowdy companions into silk-wearing sirens. And the silk gowns they get to wear are always to die for. But what is the point of writing unless we write about the things that bring us joy? And beautiful clothes bring me a lot of joy...at least vicariously.

Another favorite gown from my imagination is the dress Mary Elizabeth wears to the duchess' ball in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR HIGHLANDER. Of course, Mary Elizabeth never gets trained, and she goes to the dance wearing a courtesan's gown. Harry the duke doesn't mind. He's happy to follow her lead on the dance floor and off, until he decides it's time to take the lead himself, and win his Highlander's heart. But while Mary Elizabeth falls in love with Harry, she gets to wear gowns like this one, and I envy her.

As I write this, I am wearing yoga pants and my boyfriend's cast off Harley Davidson T Shirt. Not the stuff of dreams perhaps, but they make me happy. There may not be a ton of balls and gowns in real life, but there is plenty of joy to be found just the same. I wish joy for you and yours, and that you manage to stay warm until spring finally arrives.

Ever since Christy English picked up a fake sword in stage combat class at the age of fourteen, she has lived vicariously through the sword-wielding women of her imagination. Sometimes an actor, always a storyteller, Christy works happily with Sourcebooks Casablanca to bring the knife-throwing women of her novels to life. A banker by day and a writer by night, she loves to eat chocolate, drink too many soft drinks, and walk the mountain trails of her home in western North Carolina.