The Great Thaw (and the Bodies Under the Snow)
- Kalen Kory
- Mar 12
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 13
March in Canada is what I like to call The Great Thaw.
Technically, it’s spring. The calendar insists on it.
But outside? The snowbanks are still holding strong, the air has that lingering winter bite, and every once in a while the temperature climbs just enough to give us hope… before dropping again like winter remembered it left the stove on.
It’s messy.
Snow melts. Ice cracks. Sidewalks turn into questionable puddles you absolutely should not step in unless you enjoy mystery water soaking through your shoes.
But something interesting happens during the thaw.
All the things that were hidden under winter suddenly start to appear.
The grass.
The sidewalks.
The things people accidentally dropped in January.
And… occasionally… things that probably should have stayed buried.
Which brings me to a realization I had recently while staring out the window at a slowly collapsing snowbank.
Writing stories is a lot like the spring thaw.
Because eventually, everything underneath starts to surface.
Stories Have Their Own Timing
Right now I’m in that strange in-between stage with Shadows.
The book is finished. The edits are behind me. The characters have said everything they needed to say.
But the story hasn’t quite stepped out into the world yet.
It’s still in that “under the snow” stage.
Waiting.
Which, if you know anything about writers, is not our natural state.
Once a story is finished, our brains don’t politely sit back and relax. They immediately start wandering into the next one.
New ideas.
New conflicts.
New secrets hiding under the surface.
It’s a bit like watching the thaw happen in slow motion.
You know something is coming.
You just can’t see all of it yet.
Why Romance Stories Matter (Especially Right Now)
The world feels a little chaotic lately.
News cycles move fast. Everyone seems busy. And sometimes it feels like everything is happening at once.
That’s one of the reasons I believe romance stories matter more than people give them credit for.
They’re not just about candlelight dinners and dramatic declarations.
They’re about connection.
They’re about watching people navigate messy emotions, complicated pasts, stubborn personalities, and occasionally terrible decision-making… and still finding their way toward something real.
Romance reminds us that people can change.
That trust can be built.
That friendship, loyalty, attraction, and vulnerability can exist in the same space.
And maybe most importantly, that happy endings are still possible.
Not perfect endings.
Happy ones.
The kind that are earned after a little chaos and a lot of emotional honesty.
In a world that sometimes feels unpredictable, that kind of storytelling matters.
A Question for My Fellow Romance Readers
Now that I’ve spent the past few years deep inside the romance world—both reading it and writing it—I’ve noticed something.
Readers tend to fall into two very passionate camps.
Team Sweet
The slow burn.
The tension that builds for chapters.
The moment when their hands brush and suddenly the entire room feels charged.
Or…
Team Spicy
The chemistry that ignites faster.
Characters who clearly skipped the “let’s take this slow” conversation.
Scenes that may require a fan and possibly a cold (potentially alcoholic) beverage.
Personally, I think the best stories live somewhere in the middle.
A little tension.
A little heat.
And a lot of emotional payoff.
But now I’m curious.
Are you Team Sweet or Team Spicy? Let me know in the comments.
No judgment here. This is a safe space for all levels of fictional chaos.
Back to the Thaw
Outside, the snow is still melting in slow, stubborn patches.
Spring is coming.
It’s just taking its time.
And in the writing world, I suppose that’s where I am too.
Waiting for one story to step into the light… while the next one slowly starts pushing its way up through the snow.
Because stories, much like the Canadian spring, tend to reveal themselves piece by piece.
First a crack.
Then a shift.
Then suddenly the whole landscape looks different.
And occasionally… something unexpected shows up that you didn’t even realize was buried there.
Which, if I’m being honest, is usually where the most interesting stories begin.
Until next month,
— Kalen
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