(THIS IS A LONG ONE...Read the whole thing and I think you will earn a place in heaven.)
I am giggling as I type this one up.
I am in a dream world thinking about it all.
Donna Hatch. I wanna say," She's my new best friend!" but that wouldn't be an honest thing to say.
Oh well. I don't mind judging glares from my friends and family as I think it.
I want her to be my new friend because I adore her.
She wrote a few books that I have read, and LOVED.
And she emailed me, yesterday, wanting my opinion!
Yes, you read that right.
My opinion.
I will post her email here, but you might still think I just typed it up and that I am a pretty convincing fictional writer myself. If you think that, well, than I might judge you for thinking I would do such a thing. I would never do such a thing. So there. *insert my face with my tongue stickin' out at you*
This was in my in-box yesterday around lunch.
So I had to reply. I emailed her back right away, telling her I had indeed received her email, and that I wanted to think about it. Later that night, after mentally being back in her stories with Cole and Jared....I sat down and typed up this reply:
I am giggling as I type this one up.
I am in a dream world thinking about it all.
Donna Hatch. I wanna say," She's my new best friend!" but that wouldn't be an honest thing to say.
Oh well. I don't mind judging glares from my friends and family as I think it.
I want her to be my new friend because I adore her.
She wrote a few books that I have read, and LOVED.
And she emailed me, yesterday, wanting my opinion!
Yes, you read that right.
My opinion.
I will post her email here, but you might still think I just typed it up and that I am a pretty convincing fictional writer myself. If you think that, well, than I might judge you for thinking I would do such a thing. I would never do such a thing. So there. *insert my face with my tongue stickin' out at you*
This was in my in-box yesterday around lunch.
Hi!
I need your opinion. More books are planned for Grant and Christian but unfortunately I'm not as far along with them as I'd like to be.
So tell, me; after reading The Stranger She Married and The Guise of a Gentleman, do you want Grant's or Christian's story first? I'm further along with Christian's because I thought I should end the series with Grant's, but now I wonder if I need to give Christian more "stage time" in Grant's story before I release his. I'm getting to the part in the plot where I need to know the order so I know where their relationship should go and in whose story I should resolve their private war.
If you have any opinion on that, I'd love to hear it.
Warm wishes,
Donna
I need your opinion. More books are planned for Grant and Christian but unfortunately I'm not as far along with them as I'd like to be.
So tell, me; after reading The Stranger She Married and The Guise of a Gentleman, do you want Grant's or Christian's story first? I'm further along with Christian's because I thought I should end the series with Grant's, but now I wonder if I need to give Christian more "stage time" in Grant's story before I release his. I'm getting to the part in the plot where I need to know the order so I know where their relationship should go and in whose story I should resolve their private war.
If you have any opinion on that, I'd love to hear it.
Warm wishes,
Donna
So I had to reply. I emailed her back right away, telling her I had indeed received her email, and that I wanted to think about it. Later that night, after mentally being back in her stories with Cole and Jared....I sat down and typed up this reply:
Dear Donna,
First of all, I feel like you are a kindred spirit and that though we may never meet, you are a sister in the ranks of happy endings. I truly have been giddy all afternoon and evening as I have literally been captivated once again by your stories. I was driving down a busy street here in Idaho Falls, Idaho, where I live and I kept smiling to myself. Alone in the car, I even laughed out loud once. I can't seem to get a few memories of Cole out of my head... And then I would truly frown at the thought of Jared dying. I was reflecting on his tragic death, and recalling how I cried as they hanged him. I was remembering how the books made me feel.
Which then led me to remember how I felt about Grant and Christian. For you to want my opinion is humbling, as I am certainly not your only fan! I have felt guilty all afternoon, and I haven't bought your books. I have looked on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Wild Rose Press, and eBay for copies of your books. But then it hit me, what I really want is autographed copies now that we have "spoken" to each other! Hahahah! Anyway, I hope you know how incredible I am feeling as to offer my opinion to you.
First things first. Here are some questions I have asked myself about your situation:
Do you have to do two books?
Is it financially better for you to do two, instead of one fat one?
If Grant and Christian’s stories are so laced together, should it not be one book?
If Grant and Christian’s stories are so laced together, should it not be one book?
I know you believe in happy endings, but is there any chance that either character’s stories could end less than happy? ‘Cause that would be sad for me. I want them to be happy!
Whose story do you want to finish first?
Can you finish them both up, and release them within a few weeks of each other?
Do you have a deadline at all for either of them, or is it something you can just do when you want?
When you are writing, do you just type it all on a regular laptop in Word? Is that how authors do it?
Obviously, some of these questions have nothing to do with what you have asked me. I have just been thinking of you and what your life is like, and wondering what you want to do with Grant and Christian’s stories.
I think I know the answers to some of the questions as well. Yes, you want to do two books. Yes, you make more money off customers if you do two books instead of one. I don’t know how laced you have Grant and Christian, but I will assume, {correct me if I am wrong} that they aren’t so laced that you could do two books. And yes, they will each have their own happy endings.
I had wondered, at Jared and Elise’s wedding, when we get a really good feeling that there is some major going on between Grant and Christian (your private war as you called it) if they had both fallen in love with the same woman. And that the woman had died somehow, scarring and changing the brotherly relationship that once was into a trouble one.
Now that may not be the case at all, but something has happened that has altered their relationship. Which led me to wonder, can it be truly repaired? Sometimes relationships, to be true to the character in the book and to continue the feel that they could be real people, have to live with emotional, physical, spiritual changes that can’t be fixed by marrying the right person or finding a pot of gold at the rainbow’s end. Battle scars, if you will.
So, with all this thinking of mine, you want to know whose story do I want to read first, huh? May be I am going on and not getting to the point. But I have been reflecting on my true feelings, and this is what I have come up with:
- I thought perhaps it would be Grant’s story first for the simple fact that you started with the oldest, so why not work your way down to the youngest.
- Christian’s story could come first because perhaps you want to end on a more dramatic note, so to speak. Grant’s life seems more tortured, dramatic, and interesting thus far and seems way more complicated and traumatic. But since I am not privy to your intimate thoughts of their lives, I may be entirely wrong on that one. Could it be that Christian’s life is more like Grant’s than you have led me to believe as a reader? Could it be that Christian’s story is actually more passionate, dramatic, etc. as it has been entirely unforeseen to his brothers and us as readers?
- Grant’s story could come first, because perhaps Christian will never be truly happy until Grant is happy.
- However, Christian’s story could come first because of the same reason. Grant’s happiness may depend on some events happening in Christian’s life.
- However those reasons seem silly because we choose to be happy, no matter what life deals us. So is Grant so damaged, that he can’t feel happiness on his own? Is he in some way depressed and self loathing? How realistic is Grant life?
- Grant was present in both books, but we were only introduced to Christian in The Guise of a Gentleman. It feels like we have more on Grant thus far, so it seems natural to want to hear his story next.
Bottom line. I want to read the lesser traumatic story first, so that I can savor the drama and passion, adventure and possibly tragedy for the last. Which means, only you can really determine whose story is just that.
I thought it would be more cut and dry, but it’s not now. Honestly, I have you on this pedestal-- it’s entirely impossible for you to write something that isn’t completely engaging.
I actually had read Queen in Exile before the Amesbury boys came in to my life, and I was hanging on every word in that too. So, with that, all three books that I have read that you have written have been very well written in my opinion, keeping me up until the wee morning hours to finish. I could feel that passion of the characters, feel the anxiety they felt, and was kept in the dark in regards to solving the matter at hand. I loved that they made me feel that way, and weren’t easy to figure out. I don’t know how you do it! I know it’s possible, because you are human, to write something that you feel is minimal and lacking, but in my little world-- Donna Hatch can’t write anything less than incredible.
Your dearest friend,
Gina
Ps. You should see these links if you have time. Just so you know I am not lying to you. My little book blog doesn’t allow spoilers so I couldn’t put down how I truly felt as I read them, but you will see I LOVED them.
*Insert a wink and smile*
Now, seriously,
HOW COOL IS THAT???
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