I love questions! I checked my email via the ipod way too late last night and found Nina’s comment with questions. How tough was it to not hop out of bed to answer? Very! So now I get to finally answer, now that animals are fed and the laundry is drying!
As an overall answer, oop. This sort of thing is what happens when a writer knows everything about the characters. It’s also why I’ve hired a fantastic editor from now on to catch the “I know YOU know, but how are we to know?” things.
1) David was so honest, why didn’t he tell Jane of Susan’s visits? Or her texts and e-mails? Did he cheat on Jane that’s why he didn’t tell her?
This one gave me something to think about in the telling people for their own good department. Susan’s behavior was predictable and ineffective despite her best efforts to seduce him. Ew, right? Outright telling Jane would have hurt her for no reason, and he really should have come clean, because when asked, he couldn’t just lie to her.
2) Why does her mom and sister hate her so much?
There is a clue in the dinner conversation and a deeper meaning I probably could have explored. Susan and Jane were twins, as you know, and at Easter we learn the twin part was very unexpected. Maybe their mom was thrilled with both girls, but the work of twins wore her down and she blamed Jane for everything. She made a handy scapegoat. Plus, with Jane trying to prove herself all her life gave them the idea that Jane thinks she’d better than us and the resentment turned to hate. It’s a funny thing, and the deeper meaning is when you like someone, you tend to think they can do no wrong. When you dislike someone, you tend to think they can do no right.
3) Why the heck was David with Susan at the coffee shop? Seems like they were too chummy to me. Didn’t he hate her???? She’s scum, married to his best friend and Pregnant! Hello!
Alan has a way of pushing off his responsibilities, and Susan is one of them. If I didn’t already have a story for The Very Worst Man, I’d totally use his behavior as the plot device. At any rate, Dave is a bit of a pushover at times, which Alan knows and uses to his own advantage. In the coffee shop scene, Dave had a “Fine. Let’s get this over with,” attitude on helping Susan, grabbing some coffee, and just being done. The problem is it’s in Jane’s point of view, so we can’t know his thoughts until later and by then he’s preoccupied with why Jane isn’t at the baby shower. That makes it handy for conflict, but doesn’t answer the question of “What the heck were you thinking!?” earlier.
Does that help? Fingers crossed that it does and by all means, ask me more questions if you have any! 😀
Laura Stapleton, Author 
Wow! I am so honored that you loved my questions and devoted a blog post just to answering them. I”m so flabbergasted. You rock!!! Reading your answers makes so much sense. Your right I also reread your book too and now I have a better understanding. Thank you again for clarifying. Both David and Jane are the same and that’s why they are so good for each other. But they do have to work on their issues. Just like you mention they can be pushovers . They are too loyal to people that don’t deserve it. And to make peace they do stupid things that put others first instead of themselves. And I forget what the saying is about having twins but you only expect to have 1 child but another comes as well. I have heard that some parents that aren ‘t expecting to have twins thinks the one twin is evil. By no means do I agree with that but Jane’s mom does. Evil witch just like Susan. Lol! I pray and hope that you make a book from David’s POV. I’d like to know why is he so loyal to Alan. He’s more stronger than Jane is but also vulnerable too. We know why Jane is the way she is since it has always been Susan’s way all her life and she doesn’t know any better. But it would be interesting to hear what’s in his mind. I will order that book in advance! Plus I want to hear about their wedding and their HEA. I love HEA’s and romance. But I just have one HUGE request. If her family and Alan try to come back in Jane and David’s life, please have a scene where Jane smacks her mom and Susan and David punches Alan. I’m not a violent person but if there was ever someone that needed it, it would be these people!
Sorry for the huge reply and thanks for taking the time to reply back to me. I know your busy but that meant a lot to me . I look forward to reading more from you. My expectations are really high. Best of luck and I can’t wait to read The Very Worst Man.
Take care,
Nina
Thank you, Nina! The book is written a little bit in Dave’s point of view and I LOVE the idea of a fighting family reunion. I read your suggestion and instantly thought “Everybody was kung fu fighting!” I’m not sure how soon I can get to writing them a fight scene, but will put it on the list of short stories to write just for fun.
If it’s some build up to a punch you’d like…here’s a secret. Undeniable, my historical romance, is going on sale for Black Friday. I know for sure there’s a bit of justifiable violence in it. Plus, in the next book, Undesirable, there’s the Shovel of Death, which was a great scene to write. I was hoping Undesirable would have a lot more steamy scenes, but it’s working out to have little sex and more violence than I’d had planned. As always, I love that you’re enjoying my work!!
Haha I love it! That song fits perfectly! Wow I can’t wait for all your new releases. I will definitely check out Undeniable. Sometimes it’s good to have action packed books than romance. It’s good to change things up sometimes. Either way it’s gonna be AWESOME!!!!!
Aw! Thank you! Who doesn’t love positive feedback and giving it is your talent. I appreciate your enthusiasm and yeah, I could totally think up something with action. Doesn’t everyone love the line “Come with me if you want to live.” It has action, excitement, mystery, and adventure. Not my line, but one of those a write wishes they’d invented. I’ll have to keep the sentence in mind when imagining a new romance to write.
Highly descriptive blog, I liked that a lot.
Will there be a part 2?
I can’t decide if you’re a real person or a spammer. Could you give me a little proof of life, please?