romancing the non-romancer

once upon a time there was a girl who loved to read. she devoured everything that was put in her path, especially books on death and murder. comedy was allowed, as was science fiction. she would give any and all books a chance, if she liked the summary. romance - or any books with a hint of it - were out of the question.

deviating from her usual routine, was out of the question. 

until today.

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I don't follow trends. It isn't me. It took me almost two years, before I even thought about touching a Harry Potter book. (why on Earth I don't know).  And to this day I am so thankful I did.

I hate the feeling that I am part of a crowd. That my decisions are being made for me. That I am not independent. I try and stay unique in my own little ways.

I don't abhor romance. Honestly I don't. It just isn't my cup of tea. I would much rather read about bisected bodies, and serial killers.

I enjoy a chick flick every once in a while. Ex: I very much love While You Were Sleeping. Very cute Sandra Bullock film. 

Although, in the end, I do much prefer action, suspense, and horror. It is just me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Growing up, I wasn't the typical teenager. Boys were not my fascination, until late into my teen years. I was focused primarily on school, acting, and sports. And of course, reading. I watched some television, but I usually was never watching the current teen show on The WB or other major network. I didn't care who Dawson was with, or who kissed Joey. Whatever. Alas, this changed. When the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired, I was hooked. I never stopped watching. I had done what hundreds of thousands of other teenagers did. I had followed a trend. I then started to care! I was a Buffy-ite. I had posters, cards, whatever, you name it. I wrote to the cast, I even had autographs from Sarah Michelle Gellar, and David Boreanaz. I was obsessed. And did I mention, I was in total love with vampires????

I had deviated. I watched the show, for the puns, the action, the laughs. The hot vampire? Oh yes the hot vampire, who I was going to marry. Marry? Oh yes, I had fallen victim, to the one thing that I had detested - romance. Alas, my oh so happy vision of me marrying Angel, had come to end. When Angel left the show to have his own, I felt betrayed. And when I read the article that said David Boreanaz to wed,  I was crushed.  My young teen dream smashed to pieces. I had allowed myself to be hurt, by something that didn't even exist!

~*~*~*~

Flash forward to today. I am still one of the biggest Buffy fans you would ever meet. T-shirt, cross necklace, board game... =) With the ending of the show, I was left with one thing that I kept with me. The "Joss Whedon" Vampire. I had always been a fan of vampires, Dracula, Nosferatu, Interview with the Vampire, the list goes on. I even read Bunnicula when I was a child.

But the vampires from Buffy were the one's that stuck with me. For me, there were no other. Vampires couldn't be in sunlight, stakes could kill them, as could beheading. Holy water, crosses, invitations to come inside...etc.

When I first heard about Twilight, I didn't give it much thought. I didn't care. Then it spread like wildfire.  All I heard was Team Edward, oh Edward. Or Team Jacob, oh Jacob. I tried to ignore it, but it was everywhere I went. It was the last straw for me when I was told that vampires sparkle. WTH???

Sparkling vampires??? I just didn't understand. I didn't want to. I buried my head in the sand and thought, "NO! They DO NOT SPARKLE!!! They burst in to flames, then burst into dust in sunlight....arrggggh! *Face Palm." 

I had become an anti-Twilightian.

 I wanted Buffy to Stake Edward.

 I wanted Angel and Spike to make him see stars.

I was absolutely frustrated.

~*~*~*~*~*~

When they started making the films, I ignored it. I figured that it would go away soon like most trends do. I had people at work telling me I should read the books, even customers were saying I should read them. Just like during the Harry Potter craze, I ignored them. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This morning I read this blog post by the amazing Allie Burke (author of Violet Midnight, and Emerald Destiny).  I just have to say thank you Allie.

In this post Allie talks about her pre-Twilight days. And she talks about when she gave Twilight a chance. I was moved. I was moved so much, I was frustrated. *Facepalm!

Dare I say it.....after reading her post...I....the anti-Twilightian, the Buffy maniac....wanted to give Edward a chance???? Oy Vey! Had she, by her blog post, just romanced me - the non-romancer - into wanting to read Twilight???

~*~*~*~*~

I'd like to share the segment of her blog that moved me - 

"Cuddled up on the couch in my apartment, three-hundred and fifty pages into it without a break in existence, I was floored. I was angry. Pissed off. I was crying.
Before that  moment, I'd never read a book that had the power to steal tears from my eyes."

I thought - Damn! The power to steal tears from my eyes? Wow...am I really missing out on something here? Am I being that pig headed?

So alas, today I did the unthinkable. I walked into a Borders.....I walked around the young adult section.....I almost had a panic attack. (No seriously. I felt light-headed. I felt that if I picked up that book, if I bought it, I would betray myself, I would be giving in to what I hated.) I walked to the horror section. I breathed. I walked back to the young adult section. There on the table. The black cover, with the ghostly looking hands with the apple.

I bought it.

I bought a copy of Twilight.

I breathed. 

And now as I sit here finishing this post. I am excited. I am actually excited. Twilight sits next to me - waiting to be devoured. I guess the next question would be....

Who am I?

or

* thank you again to Allie Burke. This is for you.