The Same but Different

When I walk, I spend a lot of time thinking.  So here's today's thought process...

When I wrote Just One Thing, my editor and I were discussing what I should write next and she said she wanted books that were the same, but different.  And thus my Romance + series, Words of the Heart (Carry Her Heart, These Three Words and Hold Her Heart) was born.  The stories were all centered on a woman's journey.  A journey that included romance but romance wasn't the reason for her journey, nor was it her ultimate destination.

So I was thinking about my current Romance + story...more on that sometime soon.  And that phrase same but different stuck in my head.

From there my mind jumped.  I've been updating my iPod with some new CD's and had just loaded Simba La La, a lovely CD that the Erie Art Museum put out.  And so that was on my mind as I walked.  A CD of songs from around the world...songs countless mothers have sung to their children.

I'd just been singing Grey Squirrel with one of my favorite one-year-olds the other day.  And as I walked, I felt a connection to all these other mothers from around the world.

And my circular thoughts led me back to that phrase, same but different.

I realized that I loved this little CD that was so very global because it emphasizes the sameness in all of us.  Mothers around the world love their children.  They sing to them.  They want to give them opportunities, peace and joy.  We're all the same but different.

I'd been talking to readers about the fact I write romantic comedies (Not Precisely Pregnant's out next month), Romance + stories (Words of the Heart), and cozy mysteries (Can't Find NoBODY) now.  It seems like a wide range of styles, but to be honest, every book I write is the same at its core...it's about love and family and the need we all have to belong.  They're all the same but different.

That need for love is universal, but if every love was the same, the romance genre would have one book.  She met him.  He met her.  They fell in love and lived happily ever after.  No, every relationship comes together differently.  So despite the fact love is universal, every love is different.  And that's why the romance genre is one of the most popular and enduring.  That's why my books have gone to more than twenty-five countries...where despite different cultures, readers can embrace the stories.  Because love is universal.

It's the same...but different.

And that was how my morning's walk went.  To be honest, it's how most of my walks go. One thought chases another.  Thinking about my work-in-progress intertwines with other things that are happening in my life.

So every walk, in essence is...the same but different!  LOL

Holly

PS. I'm still counting steps on my FitBit...today's thoughts were on a 5,000 step walk!  I'm halfway to the day's goal!