Insta Love
Dear Maggie,
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Sincerely,
A Romantic in Rochester
Dear Romantic,
What a fun question, and honestly, my answer is… sort of. I believe attraction can be instant. I think we’ve all had a butterflies-in-the-stomach, tongue-tied moment when we meet someone and just feel a magnetic pull toward them. If that instant attraction grows as we get to know the person, like it did for Fiona and Jake in Sing for Me, how wonderful, and what a fun trope to write about. However, in real life, we can certainly feel attraction to people who are not otherwise a good match, and hopefully, we figure that out before we’re entangled in a relationship!
As far as love at first sight, beyond the initial jolt of attraction, I think we need more intel before truly calling it love. Having said that, with age and experience comes wisdom, and if we’re paying attention, I believe we’re able to recognize both red flags and green lights pretty quickly with a new person if we’re being honest with ourselves. The upcoming book in the TSI series, Blood Ties, is a second-chance romance, and A.J. Mathison, the male lead, certainly has enough experience to recognize a good thing when he sees it. His new relationship evolves quickly but authentically and believably, at least I hope it reads that way. You’ll have to let me know!
In general, I think the concept of insta-love is appealing to us romantic types because it feels, well, romantic. Running into a person who’ll turn out to be our soul-mate, recognizing them instantly, and feeling as if we’ve been struck by lightening has a definite romantic appeal. Who doesn’t want the man or woman of their dreams to see them across a crowded room and know, bam, this is my person? Reality, of course, is a little more complicated, but fiction gives us a good bit of leeway. In my stories, I try to find balance between the feel good, insta-love trope and presenting an authentic relationship on the page, and since this is romance after all, the happy ending always wins!
If you have a question for me, send it to maggie@msmaggieclare.com and I’ll answer it on this blog!
