...a heart shaped box...

OK, this was supposed to be done in November ~:^/ for a 2011 release, but the holidays were a bit brutal for me this year.  Did the right thing in many ways, so I gave myself a pass and didn't lapse back into a hot dog binge.  But here t'is in its expensive glory (sorry, I can't really control the pricing - but the ebook will post soon after).

I dedicate this particular title, as Valentines is around the corner, to those few men and women throughout time who loved purely and completely.  The characters in this anthology only wanted what was best for those they fell for and nothing more.  Why would you ask anything of the person you love?  In love's strictest sense, there should be nothing in return.

There was an idea planted in my heart as a young child - that of the 'champion'.  Much like chivalry in the age of the knighthood, the champion seeks only to dedicate themselves in constancy to a single woman.  It is unrequited and takes on a thousand pains, but, in the end, it affords the objet d'affection the honor of being loved for who they are, not what pacifies the ego.  It has to be the highest form of romantic love I can think of - the person who sacrifices themselves for their love, wanting nothing but for that person to truly be fulfilled.

HEART SHAPED BOX on LULU

[Interestingly, St. Valentine was a martyr that was possibly killed on February 14th (either a priest, bishop or African layperson).  It is unknown how he earned his martyr's iris, with a more than likely story that he refused to deny Christ (as many early Church martyrs were known for).  But attention came quickly for the deed and he was provided a feast day in the late 400s.  It evolved in the high court times of the Chaucer age as a call for those in love to openly show their affection.  Leave it to the greeting card companies to make it a mandate.]