Being a writer is the coolest job in the world. You probably think I’m going to talk about going to work in my P.J’s, right? Nope, not this time. (Though the P.J.’s are awesome.) No, the coolest thing about being a romance writer is that I get to hang with other romance writers. Personally (and I could be biased here), I think romance writers are the best people on earth (with the possible exception of romance readers). Romance writers are funny and loyal and generally decent human beings. We care about other people and we take care of our friends. Basically, we fans of romance totally rock.

The problem is sometimes we have to go out in the cold, cruel world and deal with other people. Mean people. Sometimes, even mean girls … oops, I mean women. Because, yes, sometimes grown women aren’t nice. There. I said it. This week, in my normal life, out there in the world not populated by romance fans, I had to deal with a mean girl all grown up. Tough stuff, man. Tough stuff.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m a big girl. I can take it. I can totally hold my own against the mean girls of the world. But I still felt bruised, hurt and generally harassed by the experience.

In that regard, I’m spoiled by the wonderful world of romance fans. Spoiled by my friends, who are fabulous.

Getting published was a life-long goal of mine. (I’ve known I wanted to be a writer  since I was seven.) Getting to hold my books in my hands … wow. I can’t describe how great that is. But the real gift that writing has given me is the best friends of my life.