Mansyur S - Benci

It is no secret in my general vicinity at home, at work or among family and friends what I really wanted for Christmas. Eventhough it wouldn’t have been the most original time of year to receive “the most romantic present of the season”, finally getting it would’ve been better than not. The gift I wanted above all others was…an engagement ring.

My vivid imagination had conjured some great ideas of how the proposal would go. I thought it would be so thoughtful if my bf would give me a ring in NJ when I was a finalist in the NJ Put Your Heart in A Book. Then after I sold, I thought—man, wouldn’t it be perfect if he and I snuck in lunch between sessions at Nationals. Then he’d get down on one knee and asked me to marry him in a cute café. (Yeah, I was dreaming. Remember how I said, he’s not too romantic?) But alas, none of the above came to pass.

We’ve been together seven years. Yep, you read right. The sheer number surprises a lot of people. Now even his mother is saying, “When are you going to get her a ring?” One of his co-workers even reminds him what a great girl he has and what he should rush right to do. Quite a few of them already call me his wife and sometimes we even catch ourselves thinking in man/wife terms.

So that brings us back to the ring. I’ve always wanted something different that no one else has, just like the lady in the Jarod’s commercial. So imagine my interest when I saw a header on MSN that said “Black Diamonds Come From Outer Space”.


Hooked by the first sentence— “If you’re looking for a space-age way to propose marriage, a black-diamond ring might be the way to go”—I kept reading. Supposedly black diamonds aren’t traditional diamonds at all. Real diamonds form in the Earth and are spouted up until they reach the surface where they can be mined. Carbonado diamonds are theorized to be parts of meteorites that reined down on Earth millions of years ago. Supposedly they were redeposited during the reformation of the continents to what is now Brazil and the Central African Republic. By analyzing the hydrogen contained inside, researchers determined that “the mineral” formed in a supernova explosion.

Which means no one would have bling like that! Then again, who could really afford a chip of the stone? Certainly not my guy who earns a working-man’s salary. Which leads me to wanting what I’ve got. A man who makes me laugh, who works hard for what he has, who is a whiz at fixing my computer problems, who laughs at my silliness (which gets way out there after a day of writing), and who’s learned exactly how to push my buttons both good and bad.

And there’s no way I can overlook one of the Christmas gifts he gave me. After a hint he tracked down Paperback Hero, one of the movies RWA clipped up for the Atlanta Awards Banquet montage where Hugh Jackman is a closet romance writer. But what makes this achievement even more special is that it wasn’t released in the US, so he had to go the extra mile. Who wouldn’t want a man like that?

So be happy with that you’ve got, no matter if it’s a finished manuscript, news of a contest final, a new book deal or even a brand-spanking new release. And don’t be jealous of what others have, eventually you’ll have what they have if you just believe.
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In TIES OF VALOR Zara gets her very own special ring set with lucimenna, a blue stone inspired by the moonstone ring that once belonged to my father, which my brother has safely tucked away.