Some of you know that my daughter and I have entered a new
phase of our relationship—she is reading one of my books for the first time.
This has been equally fun and scary for me.
Scary? Yes! Here are just a few reasons. There are swear words in my books. But I’m not worried about that. She’s heard ‘em all, and used a few
herself. There’s a guy who gets his way
almost constantly with his charm and good looks. That doesn’t concern me though—she sees right
through that and finds him amusing.
There’s a girl who has a hard time being vulnerable. Now I’m all for my daughter being strong, independent
and confident, but she’s already all of these things times a thousand. There’s also a time for vulnerability and
trust with the right person—I hope she gets that.
If not, I’m going to be bummed as a mom and a
writer. Oh, and then there’s the fact
that she will now know all about blow jobs.
And she’ll know that I know all about blow jobs. Yeah.
A little awkward. Mostly though,
I’m a little worried because she’s a discerning, avid reader. She knows what she likes and what she doesn’t
like and why. She’ll be very honest with
me, not just about the story and character development, but also the actual
writing itself. Oy.
But there are good things too. One big one is that she keeps telling me the
parts she likes and finds funny and it always makes me smile. She thinks I’m funny! :) She also thinks I depicted
the teenage girls and guys pretty accurately.
I love that she’s finally dipping her toe into romantic fiction after years
of wanting to only read fantasy and science fiction (with romantic elements). I also think it’s good that she’s learning
what things make a man heroic (at least from her mother’s perspective).
So, she’s almost through chapter six (of twelve) and we’re
both surviving without blushing or stammering around each other and yes, she’s
through some sexy scenes. However, she
hasn’t read The Butter Scene. I asked
her if she’d gotten there yet and she said “No.
And I’m kind of scared to get there.”
LOL! The warning on the book
says, “… a whole new way to look at butter” and her comment to that was “I don’t
think I want to look at butter differently”.
For fun, though, I thought it would be interesting to interview
her about her experience in reading the first half of the book. By the way, she’s reading Just LikeThat. Yes, it’s the second in the
Bradford series, but she thought the heroine sounded the most interesting of
all my heroines :)
Me: Is it weird
reading a book written by your mom?
Finicky: I don’t think of it as a book written by my
mom, it’s just a book.
Me: (I like that answer :)) What one word would you use to describe the
hero, Sam?
Finicky: One word isn’t fair. To me or to your characters.
Me: Aw… that’s nice :). Now what word would you use?
Finicky: Caring.
Me: How about Danika
(the heroine)?
Finicky: *big sigh*
Careful. But smart about how she’s
careful.
Me: That’s more than
one word.
Finicky: So?
Me: Yeah, okay. What’s the most annoying thing about the
book? The story, the characters, or
anything.
Finicky: There’s
nothing really annoying about
it.
Me: So you’re not
missing all the supernatural powers or sci-fi stuff?
Finicky: Well, yeah,
that would make it better. But you don’t
really miss something if you know it’s not going to be there.
Me: Okay, so what do
you like best about the book?
Finicky: That Sam’s a
womanizer but he’s not an asshole. He’s
empowering for her, for women in general.
Like when he’s all about her feeling sexy—not being or looking sexy for him.
I also like that he’s taking care of her. And their relationship is really easy—they just
slip into it and it works.
Me: Who’s your
favorite character?
Finicky: I can’t pick
between them. I could say Sam, but that
would be overlooking all the great things about Dani. If I pick Dani, it’s overlooking all the
things I like about Sam. I like them
both.
Me: What’s your
favorite scene so far?
Finicky: I don’t do
favorites. I feel like it’s unfair to
pick just one.
Me: Were you
uncomfortable reading that first sex scene in the bathtub?
Finicky: No.
Me: Not even a
little?
Finicky: Nope.
Me: But you didn’t
know all that stuff, right? Right?
Finicky: *smiles*
Yes. One of the Sarah Dessen books
I read kind of had that in it.
Me: It did?
Finicky: But not like
this, that was a negative thing in that book.
In your book it was good. And it
makes sense that over the years and years humans have been around that someone
would figure out to do that.
Me: *not really sure
what to say I burst out laughing* Can I please include that in the
interview? Please.
Finicky: Yeah,
whatever.
Me: So what did you
think of the scene overall?
Finicky: I liked
it. It was interesting seeing her point
of view during that scene, because it made me realize that it’s not just about
being hot and sexy but that it’s also about being cared about and feeling
comfortable. Even though we don’t see
his point of view, we know that she feels like she can trust him. It was a little eye-opening, I guess, seeing
how it’s supposed to be.
Me: ooh, I really
like that. As a mom and a writer I love
that you got from that scene that it’s not just physical.
Me: So, anything else
you want to add?
Finicky: Are you done
asking questions?
Me: *smiles* I can be.
Finicky: Can I just
go read now?
So, I’m feeling even better about the whole thing now,
honestly. The fact that my as-of-yet
not-sexually-active daughter is seeing a healthy, caring physical relationship
and a strong, confident woman able to be herself but also let the right guy
close makes me happy! And to know that
she’s seeing the “right” things in Sam, the hero—the caring, the honesty, the
fact that he’s about Dani feeling good even more than about himself… that’s all
very, very good.
Wonder if I’ll be able to talk her into reading another
book? I think she’d really like Sabrina
and Marc. Or Brooke and Jack. Or Jaden
and Adam. Or…
3 comments:
I love this! Your daughter's awesome and I still owe her a letter. ;)
Very cool that your daughter is reading your book! Maybe she will follow in your footsteps and become an author too (but it sounds like she might be more likely to write Romantic sci-fi or PNR).
Don't have her read Jaden and Adam. She'll learn too much about sexual frustration and start yelling, "Mom, are they ever going to get out of that kitchen?!!". ;)
I think Jack and Brooke are a perfect choice.
Probably should hold off on Just My Type a little while longer (yes, I know she will read this and be intrigued) :p
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