To Be or Not to Be HEA

Nowadays you can get a happily ever after (HEA) or a happy for now (HFN) ending. Personally as a writer and reader I prefer a happily ever after or HEA.
Growing up I dreamed about being Cinderella and Snow White. I didn’t want seven dwarfs, but hey seven men looking after my every need – not too shabby. Seriously though, I dreamed about growing up and finding my ONE knight in shining armor.
Let me tell you something about fairy tales, their exactly that. During high school I dated someone for three years who was emotionally abusive. After getting out of the relationship I eventually met my first husband. He swept me off my feet. Wooed me until he had me, and then surprised me one day when he hit me. It didn’t stop there. I stayed in that marriage for almost fifteen years.
During my first marriage I wrote to escape the reality of my life. I created heroines who I wanted to be, with a HEA ending. My heroines endured many difficult situations, but always came out victorious. And if they could get away with murder…well, that’s another book.
I also read. Reading was my other escape from reality. Books took me away to exotic places. Places I could only dream about.
Three years after my marriage ended I met someone who seemed too good to be true. Believe me; I had all kinds of walls surrounding me. I wasn’t going to be abused by another man in my life. Turned out he wasn’t too good to be true. He was and still is, my knight in shining armor.
Six years later we’re still happy as when we first started dating.
Writing HEA’s is easier today than it was back then, because now I’m living them. Not just wishing for them.
I don’t want my heroine to be happy for now. I want her to be happy forever. I want her to bask in the glow of that one and only true love. It IS fiction after all.