Straight From The Heart (16 page)

There was a major problem: I was still very timid and naive. How could I boldly chase a man, a stranger? How could I attract and interest such a rare creature when he could have his pick of females? How could I make any progress even if I found the courage and wit, since I was to see him only once a month? He had money and social status; I was a working girl from “Podunk.” When compared to the females of his world, I lacked all confidence in my looks and appeal. Did I have the daring to chase a dream? Was it too late to develop sex appeal and social sophistication? Was this dream beyond my reach and green abilities? But, I had at least a year and a half for him to realize I was alive and available. Whenever I see those nurses today, they still remind me of those strident and confident words: “That’s the man I’m going to marry.” But I did!

When my boss entered the office the following morning, I received a stunning and thrilling shock. Just before opening the office, we girls were in the lab making final preparations. The doctor entered, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Slowly and humorously, he revealed a curious phone call he’d received the night before from a new patient. As he playfully went over the conversation, my face grew redder, and my surprise and pleasure increased. Michael had actually called him, giving him my description in minute detail, and asking for my name and phone number! Everyone agreed, there was no mistaking who the new patient had been describing: me! Needless to say, I took a lot of teasing for quite some time. Since the attraction was mutual, surely the other nurses would respect my fierce claim.

But I didn’t hear from him or see him for several weeks. I later learned, while I was agonizing over his obvious change of heart, that he was also shy and was finding it difficult to summon the courage to call me, actually fearing I would rebuff him. I would also later learn that he had been smitten at first sight. Just as the heroes in the romance novels I would come to write, he was battling that “loss of freedom” disease. As we’ve talked over the years since meeting, it constantly amazes me how closely our thoughts and feelings matched, and still match.

We dated off and on for a year, each fearing that love at first sight was too good to be true or to last. He was caught up with college studies and his family’s business in another town, which caused him to be away for many weekends, most holidays, and all summer. We each dated a few others, perhaps testing our depth of feeling and need for each other. When he returned to Athens for his senior year, we dated frequently. But because he made no commitment to me, I wondered if I was waiting for a dream that would never materialize. By then, I was deeply in love with him, and I feared being hurt by losing him. While dating others, I was forced to admit to myself that he was the only man for me. But how did I convince him that I was the only woman for him? Unbeknownst to me, it wasn’t necessary. Shortly before Christmas, he asked me not to date anyone else. My heart soared. Surely that could only mean
 . . .

College closed for the holiday season, and I was invited to his home to meet his family and spend two days of Christmas there. Since he had been home for several weeks, I rode the bus to Augusta to meet him. Upon arrival at the terminal, no Michael. Worse, his family acted strangely when I called for him to pick me up! I was frantic. Had he invited me without his parents’ permission or knowledge?

Finally, he arrived, smiling and apologizing. He said he had been doing some last minute shopping and lost track of time. I was slightly miffed and confused. I was to stay with his married brother and sister-in-law. It was Christmas Eve, and everyone was rushing around. Suddenly I felt uncomfortable and nervous. Everyone was acting weird.

After dinner, Michael took me out to a quaint English-style pub, called the King’s Inn, for privacy and a glass of champagne. The place was most romantic: soft music, dim lighting, quiet booths. We talked for a long time. As we were sliding out of the plush booth, he absently tossed a velvet box in my lap with a “Merry Christmas.” Naturally, I expected to find either a birthstone ring or dinner ring. To my disbelief, it was a solitaire engagement ring. I was so stunned, my first thought was, “it isn’t real”! He removed it from the box and placed it on my finger, only to remove it for a larger diamond on our eighteenth wedding anniversary. When we returned to his brother’s home, I learned why everyone had behaved so oddly. He had only decided that afternoon to buy the ring; he was purchasing it when I arrived! Naturally they couldn’t tell me where he was or why he was late.

We’ve been married for decades, but the love and romance between us increase with time. Michael realizes how special romance is and goes out of his way to do or say special things. He understands me and accepts me as
I am.
We
work together and play together; we’re best friends. It’s so important to “like” as well as “love” each other. We’ve come to know, respect, and understand each other. We never fight, and rarely disagree. No two people could be more perfectly suited to each other, or be so happy and lucky. Romance is a wild and wonderful emotion, one that must be kept alive and green. Love is a rich blessing and a growing experience, especially when it comes at first sight.

(Continue reading for more about the author.)

Janelle’s first book,
Savage Ecstasy,
was sold to Zebra Books in 1981 when she was thirty-seven. That volume launched her enormously successful five-book
Ecstasy Saga Series.
It was the first romantic novel to break new ground by allowing a white girl to have an Indian lover. Janelle, recognizing an ongoing bias against American Indians, wanted to tell the other side of the story. Her series won countless readers, and she received many favorable and appreciative letters from men, women, whites, and Indians nationwide. So overwhelming was the response, in fact, that Janelle has recently been contracted to extend the sagas by five more volumes, to bring the total in the series to ten.

Janelle Taylor was born and raised in Athens, Georgia, where she considered herself a typical run-of-the-mill country tomboy. She loved hunting, fishing, and hiking just as much as her two brothers did. As a child, she remembers that she was something of a loner; a very shy child whose favorite pastimes were to write poetry and short stories and daydream. Of course, another favorite diversion was reading. Janelle was intrigued by American and British history up to the 1900s, especially the period between 1700 and 1800. She was also unusually fascinated by Westerns and by famous Indians, particularly Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and Crazy Horse. She devoured books about their lives and read their historical writings. The lives of Chief Joseph, Geronimo, and Cochise intrigued her.

Surprisingly, it was not Janelle’s lifelong ambition to become a writer. Her background was in science, chemistry, animal surgery, and medical research. Janelle happened to be watching the “Today” show one morning and saw an interview with the legendary Kathleen Woodiwiss. Janelle had read many of her books and already considered her to be one of the all-time best writers. As she watched the interview, Janelle was overcome by inspiration. She felt that she and Woodiwiss had similar personalities: they were both shy, reserved, and both had been so-called “mental writers” since childhood. It was then that Janelle decided to write the book that she knew by heart from all her years of reading Indian history.

Her first book required more than a year of research and writing. Her belief that an Indian book should be as authentic as
possible led her to the decision to translate all the Indian dialogue in
Savage Ecstasy
into Sioux. Thanks to the assistance of Hiram Owen, Director of Education for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux tribes, Janelle’s translation was a success. This was the start of a warm friendship with the Sioux Indians of North Dakota. Recently, Janelle received a personal invitation to the Sioux “Wacipi,” a yearly celebration in Sisseton, South Dakota. There she was presented with a number of wonderful gifts and allowed to view a video tape of several ancient ceremonies: The Sun Dance, The Vision Quest, and The Sweat Lodge and other rituals.

As a new writer, Janelle recalls that she had to learn everything as she went along. Sometimes the going was hard and painful. After first writing her novel in long-hand, and then proceeding with several typings, a publisher told her that her manuscript was typed in the wrong form and that she would have to do it again. Having already given the project her all, not to mention the fact that she was an extremely poor typist at the time, Janelle nearly ended her writing career before it began. In a flood of tears, she refused to type even one more word! Finally, however, she did manage to put her manuscript into proper form, and was soon overjoyed to learn that it had been accepted. Today she prefers the convenience of using a word processor, what she calls the writer’s answer to a dream.

Consistency and realism are two basic staples of a Janelle Taylor novel. The period, climate, clothing, landscape, wildlife, inventions, and occupations of a particular time and place are meticulously researched. When Janelle sits down to write, her work space is decorated with photographs and posters from her extensive collection, depicting historical events, people, and locations. This helps her keep a particular scene or character firmly in mind and also helps her avoid any variation in setting or personality. In fleshing out her heroes and heroines, Janelle begins with a physical and psychological profile of each character to get to know the individual thoroughly. She uses charts and lists to keep detailed descriptions of flora and fauna, climate, and any other pertinent facts on selected locales. Janelle prefers keeping charts, instead of drawing up detailed outlines, because she feels outlines can stunt the spontaneity and freshness of a story.

Janelle lives with her romantic husband, Michael, in Georgia, on a twelve-acre tract of woods and pasture. They have two grown daughters. She boasts that after all their years of marriage, Michael not only leaves romantic love notes in the morning but still sends her roses on impulse. Their ranch-style home, surrounded by dogwoods and redbuds, provides her with the perfect atmosphere for writing. The Taylors have had many pets: dogs, fourteen ducks, twenty chickens, ten rabbits, four turtles, two canaries, twenty hermit crabs, eight goats, six geese, and a green snake.