By Betsy St. Amant, @betsystamant

Hi, my name is Betsy St. Amant Haddox and I’m addicted to rom-coms. Preferably the ones from the 90’s, most of which starred either Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts. I feel like this is coming across as a confession, but please know I’m entirely okay with it! 

I’m hoping you’ve seen My Best Friend’s Wedding, which is in my top three favorite rom-coms ever created. It stars (surprise surprise) Julia Roberts who plays Julianne, and Cameron Diaz, who plays Kimmy. (and of course, Mr. McDreamy himself—Dermot Mulroney as Michael.) 

If you’re not familiar, the premise is that Julianne and Michael have been best friends for most of their lives—flirty friends who were always each other’s “what if”. Michael throws a wrench into Julianne’s romantic nostalgia by announcing he’s gotten himself engaged to Kimmy. Of course Julianne comes to serve in the wedding as Best Man, while secretly trying to sabotage their relationship. It’s a great movie, with a surprise ending. 

But there’s one exchange in the film that really stuck with me, and I think it might help you as well in this whole chaotic writing gig we authors find ourselves in. In one pivotal scene, Kimmy and Julianne are talking about Kimmy’s relationship with Michael, which is now on the rocks thanks to Julianne’s meddling. Julianne, who is a food critic, attempts to try to explain to Kimmy Michael’s change of heart toward her by labeling herself and Kimmy as different desserts.

Julianne: You’re Michael. You’re in a fancy French restaurant, and you order crème brulee for dessert. It’s beautiful, it’s sweet, it’s irritatingly perfect. Suddenly, Michael realizes he doesn’t want crème brulee, he wants something else. 

Kimmy: What does he want?

Julianne: Jello.

Kimmy: Jello?! Why does he want jello? 

Julianne: Because he’s comfortable with jello. Jello makes him…comfortable. I realize, compared to crème brulee it’s jello, but maybe that’s what he needs. 

Kimmy: I could be jello. 

Julianne: No! Crème brulee can never be jello. You could never be jello. 

Kimmy: I have to be jello. 

Juliane: You’re never gonna be jello.

Now, let’s leave the 90s for a minute. Think about your writing. Maybe you’re stumbling after a fad, trying to hurry and write the next popular thing to try to grab that publishing spot before the door slams shut in your face once again. Or maybe you’ve gotten yet another rejection, and that niche book of your heart reeks of failure. You’re tempted to throw in the towel and write something more mainstream to get attention. Or maybe an editor at a publishing house was interested in your project, but only if you steam it up outside of your convictions. Or maybe you’ve indie-pubbed something you love and believe in, but you’ve not found many readers and figure it’s best to go ahead and pump out something half-hearted and mainstream to get some sales. 

May I tell you—you’re never going to be jello? You’re crème brulee, baby! Act like it. 

One of the worst things an aspiring author can do is try to fad-hop, sell-out, or sell themselves short. Stay true to who you are and what your book is. Sure, each book is an opportunity to learn and grow in your craft and get closer to your dreams. Not every book we write is ready to be published or will be. But you know the difference. Deep down, you know if what you’re considering doing next is your calling or a short cut. And trust me, short cuts never work. Short cuts are jello. 

As discouraging and frustrating as this journey can be, I beg you—stay fancy. Stay true to yourself and your story. Don’t let the Julia Roberts or the Cameron Diaz’s of the world talk you out of your identity as a writer. You’re the only one who can write this story the way you do. That’s important. That matters. You, your voice, and your story are all unique and have something to offer readers that no one else can imitate.  

It’s one thing to take constructive criticism from fellow authors, or editors and agents in the industry and work to improve your craft—we should always strive to do that. But it’s entirely another to compromise out of desperation. Your book deserves better—so stop trying to be jello and keep your chin up. Your book’s very own Mr. McDreamy perfect match could be right around the corner.

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Tacos For Two

Rory Perez, a food truck owner who can’t cook, is struggling to keep the business she inherited from her aunt out of the red–and an upcoming contest during Modest’s annual food truck festival seems the best way to do it. The prize money could finally give her a solid financial footing and keep her cousin with special needs paid up at her beloved assisted living home. Then maybe Rory will have enough time to meet the man she’s been talking to via an anonymous online dating site.

Jude Strong is tired of being a puppet at his manipulative father’s law firm, and the food truck festival seems like the perfect opportunity to dive into his passion for cooking and finally call his life his own. But if he loses the contest, he’s back at the law firm for good. Failure is not an option.

Complications arise when Rory’s chef gets mono and she realizes she has to cook after all. Then Jude discovers that his stiffest competition is the same woman he’s been falling for online the past month.

Will these unlikely chefs sacrifice it all for the sake of love? Or will there only ever be tacos for one?

Betsy St. Amant Haddox is the author of over twenty romance novels and novellas. She resides in north Louisiana with her hubby, two daughters, an impressive stash of coffee mugs, and one furry Schnauzer-toddler. Betsy has a B.A. in Communications and a deep-rooted passion for seeing women restored to truth. When she’s not composing her next book or trying to prove unicorns are real, Betsy can be found somewhere in the vicinity of an iced coffee. She writes frequently for www.ibelieve.com, a devotional site for women.