Thursday, May 09, 2013

Behind the Scenes: Twice Smitten and Mirror Sex


So, I knew going in I'd write Emma's, Abigail's and Sasha's stories. Now, I had no idea what they'd turn out to be, but I knew I wanted to see them all get their happily ever afters. I also knew I wanted to play with fairy tales. For Emma Cinderella was a no-brainer to choose. She was sweet and kind and she took care of others.

Abigail was harder to pin down. No fairy tale came to mind, but around the same time Adele's 21 had hit and I was listening to that sucker on repeat. In Double Dare there's a mention of an ex—the one that got away. And every time Someone Like You would play I just felt like that was the perfect song. Yet, every time I tried to imagine Abigail with Greg and how that romance would play out it just didn't feel right. Greg was a great guy. He was sweet, kind and all the things you'd want in a man. But...you gotta know Abigail to know that kind of man wouldn't make her fall and fall hard forever. She'd love him and he'd might be able to soften her sharp edges in time.

That's nice, but not the right amount of crunch. Abigail has a strong personality. She's a serial monogamist. She's a heartbreaker. She knows where she stands because she's standing their goddammit. Abigail needed a club to the head. She needed someone who would see behind her bluster and brave face. He needed to see the Abigail her friends knew and loved. She needed Drew Carter. Not the ex, but the ex's cousin. The guy who stood on the sidelines and watched everything that happened and knew exactly what Abigail needed. That alone couldn't be the reason why she'd keep him at arm's length. No. I made him a charmer, a man who loved women of all shapes and kinds. I made him someone on the surface you wouldn't trust to hold your pack of gum. And wouldn't it be interesting if the day she met Greg, she met Drew?

Come on, I was playing with the idea of fate and destiny. What would it mean to choose the guy who seemed perfect? Who, on paper, should be the guy you marry and ride off into the sunset with. What would it mean to choose the wrong One?

And that's when it all clicked. Abigail's story was Beauty and the Beast. The theme running up and down that story is about looking past the appearance and finding the person who accepts you just the way you are. Prickly attitude and all. (Abigail is so prickly.) (And Drew totally got his reputation in a hard-earned way.)

So...the book opens up at a wedding. (Thanks to Someone Like You influence.) The story is really questioning the whole idea of knowing, just knowing the One. There's also plenty of dirty jokes. Mirror sex. (This was based on Beauty and the Beast and I couldn't figure out how to put a mirror in...) Jargon about advertising. Emma, Sasha and Abigail chattering.

Of course, it's also a romance that ends happily ever after.

Ok. That's it for now. Maybe later I'll finally explain the trouble with Double Trouble.

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