Michelle Styles: Good Intentions Gone Wrong

My great grandmother used to say if the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, then I am the contractor in chief.  It is a  sentiment which really resonates with me.  I do have very good intentions but sometimes things go wrong and there are unintended consequences. These can prove problematic  like the time I ordered rock (a type of peppermint candy found at the British seaside) with the school’s name emblazoned on it for the school fair only for it to arrive six hours late. In the end, it turned out fine  as it did get sold and we had enough left over to give to the school leavers as a present. Or when I sent my apologies for my high school reunion and asked to hear about what other people were doing.  I was very interested and helped to get a loop started.  One or two took it the wrong way and I did have to suffer flack for admitting to writing historical romances. What is it about some people and the romance genre?  But my actions encouraged one man to attend the reunion where he re-encountered a fellow classmate. He was a successful businessman and she a single mother. Nine months later, the couple married and are very happy. They recently had their own child. You see romance isn't just confined to the pages of a novel.

 When I came to write my latest release To Marry A Matchmaker, at first my heroine gave me problems. I just could not get her right. Something was missing. Then I happened to see an email that perhaps I shouldn’t have done but someone mentioned me being a bit of a busybody and I knew that I had my heroine.  That was what she was a bit of busybody but with a lot of heart. The phrase  about good intentions and a phrase off a mug that we bought  my daughter – I’m not bossy, I just have better ideas seemed encapsulate my heroine Henri.  Henri ended up being very close to my heart – someone who sees a problem and takes action rather than sitting back. She is someone who is one of life’s givers rather than takers. Some people might see her as a meddling busybody but she does what she does from the heart and ultimately she does make life a better and richer place. In her case, she firmly believes in love and romance (as long as it is for other people). However, a local landowner sees her passion for matchmaking as interference and bets her that she can’t stop for a month.  Henri believes she is more than equal to the challenge. After all, she can stop any time she wants...or can she?

Does anyone else have trouble with good intentions gone wrong? Please don't let me be the only one!

Contest:

Update:

The winner of the Contest is Tia Knox. She has been contacted. Many thanks to everyone else who entered.

RWA Nationals:
If anyone is going or going to the literacy signing, I hope to see you there. I have the intention of having an edible treat for anyone who stops by at the literacy signing to say hello.