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| By Boston |
Romance authors spend their time dreaming up ways of bringing fictional people together, despite all the odds. Considering the twists and turns in the original Valentine's story, today really ought to be a celebration of romance writers, too. Since Pope Galasius declared February 14th 496AD the first official Valentine's Day, there have been arguments over which of three possible candidates called Valentine he was honouring. As one of them was executed for performing marriages and fell in love with his jailer's daughter, the other two have been forgotten. As "our" Valentine sent his girl a final love letter signed "from your Valentine", he became a posthumous winner in the romance stakes (not that it did the poor guy any good at the time).
I can still remember how it felt when a girl at school showed off the fist-full of cards she'd received. Later, we found out she'd sent them all to herself. That made the rest of us feel a bit better but the fact is, not everyone who wants a card will get one. That doesn't bother the retailers, who make vast profits from it. Around a billion Valentine's Day cards are sent each year. That makes it the second biggest annual card-sending occasion, behind Christmas.
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| Coming soon... |
How will you be spoiling yourself, or one you love, today? I'm offering a signed book from my backlist for your ideas. The winner will be a comment drawn at random on Tuesday, 18th February 2014.
Christina Hollis writes both contemporary and historical fiction - when she isn't cooking, gardening or beekeeping. You can catch up with her at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com, on Twitter and Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at http://www.christinahollis.com
8 comments:
As it's been such a bitterly cold winter here in Wisconsin, we're going to have a roaring fire in the fireplace and our traditional dinner of crabmeat stuffed lobster. Can't wait!
I had some wine with dinner and will have a bit of Talenti Double-Chocolate Gelato - gotta have some chocolate on Valentines' Day!
Thanks for commenting, Laurie. The photos of winter weather in the US have been frightening - snuggling up with a dinner like that sounds so romantic (and practical, too!).
I had to look up your gelato, Di, as I've never seen it for sale over here. As they sell it at Whole Foods Market I'm *definitely* going to check there next time - double chocolate=twice the enjoyment. Thanks for commenting, and if you could drop me a line to christinahollis(at)hotmail.co.uk, we can catch up about last month's comment!
I'm a tad late; sorry.
My family celebrated Valentine's Day a week ago by going out for supper (and to also celebrate the start of my new job outside the home - although I still have my typing business inside the home too, so I'm doubly busy these days). It was a relaxing time and I didn't eat "too much". We had barely gotten in the door when my daughter and her fiance joined us (after they too had gone out to celebrate Valentine's Day at a different restaurant), so we played Canasta for awhile before I hit the sack early.
On the actual Valentine's Day, we all had to work (hence the celebration a week earlier). I made a nice supper and again hit the sack early.
Today I started taking Vitamin B12 in the hope that it would improve my stamina level, as I have been flippin' exhausted from working an 8-hr shift, making nice suppers, and playing badminton for a few hours each weekday evening too....
Thanks for commenting, Laney - you must be exhausted. I'm glad you had a good time, and hope the vitamins kick in soon, but take care. It's sounds like you're doing enough to fill TWO working lives!
I've just picked the winner - congratulations, Laney! Drop me a line to christinahollis(at) hotmail.co.uk with your snail mail address and I'll put your signed book in the post. Thanks again to everyone who commented!
Just sent my email. Thanks so much, Christina!
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