I will admit that I am one of those "the universe will provide," "visualize your dream," "whatever you believe in will come to pass" kind of people. I trade off my BCBG stilettos for Birkenstocks, I pluck my eyebrows but may not style my hair, I try to wear make-up that’s mineral-based, unless I’m in need of serious coverage and break out the MAC. So, do I believe in soul mates? Well, seeing how I write women’s contemporary romance, I think the answer is pretty obvious.

Still, I just read an article on Yahoo! Personals about how, if you’re single, you should probe your date’s soul before things get out of control (i.e. you get married). Well, okay. It makes good sense and everything but it just sounds so, I don’t know, cheesy and premeditated. What happened to spontaneity? What happened to going with your gut? I know the divorce rate is terrible, something like 50% of all marriages, so these questions probably serve a good purpose, but like many of you, I write romance because, well, I love a happy ending.

Let’s put some of those soul date questions to the test:

• What would it take to make you happy?
• If you only had 6 months to live, what would you do?
• Where did the human race come from?
• What is the meaning of life?

The author of the article recommends not firing off the questions in rapid succession. Good idea. There are about ten more questions if you’re having a great time and want more: just click here.

So, Berkley Babes, let’s do a little soul-sharing. Pick a question from above and bare your soul … 

Calling all Berkley Babes! (Yes, that means you!) - and this time, the pic should be there (thanks, Cleo!)!!

As I mentioned, I’m hitting a creative bump in the road — no inspiration to get my publicity plan together or finish my latest novel (so close, and yet, so far …). At least I’ve started reading again (going through Nora Roberts’ backlist - I’m getting to know the royal family of Cordina!). And remembering to feed my children. So I guess not all is lost. But I thought starting off the day with a little creative freewrite might just get the blood pumping.

Take a look at this picture. Intriguing, no? Seemingly sweet and innocent? Hmmm … maybe, maybe not. Things are not always as they seem, are they? Or do we make things more complicated than they need to be?

Tell me what’s going on with these two … their names, their details, the good, the bad, and the ugly (or beautiful). Hint: one of them has a secret … Let’s get those creative juices flowing!

That’s supposed to be me, if you haven’t figured it out yet. Oh, you haven’t? Well, I guess that makes sense, because I haven’t figured it out yet either!

How do other writers do it? I’d like to know. REALLY. The other night I had a major deadline and I thought I was going to make it, no sweat. I got up early that morning and cranked. But one thing led to another (I’m visiting my inlaws and at the mercy of dial-up and WordPerfect - I didn’t know either still existed) and before you could say "faster-than-a-speeding-bullet," it was midnight and I had a sleeping baby in my lap as I stared bleary-eyed at the computer screen. I actually considered getting out my checkbook and sending back my advance to Berkley because it seemed like a near-certainty that they would ask for it back.

The funny thing is, as I sat there despondent with my 7-month old son (my 5 1/2 year old was sleeping peacefully in the other room, thank God), I thought of an email one of my sister-in-laws sent me when I first announced that GOOD THINGS was going to be published. It went along the lines of, "You see? You can have it all." She was referring to family, marriage, career, writing. My first response was pure annoyance, probably because at that particular moment I had piles of laundry and hadn’t taken a shower in a week (okay, three days). Then I was suspicious - was she being sarcastic? (Typical sister-in-law drama.) I finally relaxed a bit and decided that she was sincere and kind to have even sent me a note at all. Then, as I re-read her email, I concluded that she must be a near genius. As she signed off, she added, "It just takes longer, that’s all." 

In my case, ten years longer. Writers often lament about their prolonged first sale - it took me ten years (TEN YEARS, in case anyone missed that), to get my act together. So, yes, I suppose we can have it all … eventually. And if you saw me this morning at the UPS store as I finagled my final copyedited manuscript (5 pounds of gobbley gook), a stroller, a car seat, and two bags of back-to-school clothing (okay, there was some new make-up in one of the bags - I’m going to give the Bare Minerals line a try), you’d have been impressed. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? I’m all over it.

Mia King, author of GOOD THINGS: A Novel, available February 2007 by Berkley Trade. $14.00 ISBN: 0425213714

Ah, young love. Come on, you remember … those single and early double digit years, before we got older and life started showing up in mortgage payments, grocery lists, and — God help us — $4.65 Frappucinos. Those were the innocent years, filled with wishes and endless possibilties ("When I grow up, I want to be a famous writer!") and, first kisses.

My first kiss - not the kind delivered by exuberant parents and grandparents, by the way - was much anticipated and came in the fourth grade. It was towards the end of the school year in Houston, Texas, and I had a crush on Jason Harris. Jason lived on the next street and had a clubhouse in his backyard. One hot afternoon after school, we huddled together in the clubhouse and I knew that this was it. Jason Harris was going to kiss me. OMG, Jason Harris was going to kiss me!

We faced each other and, well, nothing happened. I started giggling. Jason’s smile was frozen on his face (translated = he was just as terrified as me). After a few more seconds of this, he finally made the move, leaned forward, and pressed his lips against mine. And there it was. My first kiss. Then the ice cream truck came down the street and the moment was lost as we scrambled to find change for Fudgcicles. That or a Rainbow Push-Up Pop. Decisions, decisions (you see, life was just preparing us for Starbucks after all). 

As fate would have it, my family moved a few short months later. Jason and I wrote a few letters but then fifth grade came and then sixth grade … you get the picture. We were literally an ocean apart and a reunion was unlikely (that sort of thing only happens in romance novels).

There’s nothing like a little anticipation to keep you going - wondering what might have been (with Jason and other, ahem, "firsts") was certainly fuel for lots of great stories, all waiting to be written. But maybe some things are left better as memories. Take a trip down memory lane - do you remember your first kiss?

A hui ho!

Mia King, author of GOOD THINGS: A Novel, available February 2007 by Berkley Trade. $14.00 ISBN: 0425213714