Post by anne on Oct 21, 2014 18:25:57 GMT -5
Dear Ximena,
Thank you so much for your reply! I was so glad to read your comments and explanations! I think I would have figured some of them out myself over the time but the thoughts I shared were raw and fresh after finishing the book. They were also the ones of "in the moment" without the hindsight!
As I'm not good at quoting single sentences, I'll just copy and paste some of your thoughts and add my comments to them.
- "But life is messy. As you probably already know from reading I/E, I don't shy away from messy."
I'm really glad that you don't shy away from "messy", this time in form of infidelity. I am totally aware that there are many women trapped in loveless marriages and it's great that you highlighted this issue. Maybe some - after reading your book - find courage to change something in their lives, to cut themselves free and find a new path. I'm also glad that you are bold enough to go to the tough journey with your characters because (like I should have highlighted in the previous comment) you are brilliant at describing their thoughts and feelings, for example, how confused Di actually feels about the whole situation.
- "And I wanted to tell a story that I felt was true to life. And I know that's not what normal romance does" - I believe that in terms of a romance you got everything right, even extraordinarily right (thinking about hot kissing etc. etc. scenes)!
- "As for Santiago... Yeah, he definitely comes off as "perfect" in a lot of ways, but that's again because we're seeing this through the "puppy-love," /.../ "It's also going to be about how they're out of that "puppy love" stage and into "reality" now--they're each now seeing each other as "real" people instead of these "perfect" archetypes, and facing "real" everyday problems" - these sentences explain a lot to me.
Having read your I/E stories, I probably had different expectations for this book. I think I was unconsciously expecting the similar style like you write in I/E but during the first two thirds of the book the characters seemed somehow "light" or more specifically "light-headed" to me. You're right - I have probably forgotten that love makes people light-headed...
According to what you said that the sequel will be about Di and Santiago confronting the reality, I think that I was expecting to get the sequel when buying the first part! Because I think that you excel at describing reality as it is, no matter what traditional romance readers say!
- "you plan to re-read it" - I will definitely do it. I'm sure that I missed many details in the rush to find out what happens next. I'll try to look for the hints! I actually know that you can place hints very well because after having read the first chapter, which you had online since last year, for the third time I suddenly discovered the hints about Santiago's disability.
Thank you, Ximena, for this exchange and I would definitely recommend the book to everyone!
Thank you so much for your reply! I was so glad to read your comments and explanations! I think I would have figured some of them out myself over the time but the thoughts I shared were raw and fresh after finishing the book. They were also the ones of "in the moment" without the hindsight!
As I'm not good at quoting single sentences, I'll just copy and paste some of your thoughts and add my comments to them.
- "But life is messy. As you probably already know from reading I/E, I don't shy away from messy."
I'm really glad that you don't shy away from "messy", this time in form of infidelity. I am totally aware that there are many women trapped in loveless marriages and it's great that you highlighted this issue. Maybe some - after reading your book - find courage to change something in their lives, to cut themselves free and find a new path. I'm also glad that you are bold enough to go to the tough journey with your characters because (like I should have highlighted in the previous comment) you are brilliant at describing their thoughts and feelings, for example, how confused Di actually feels about the whole situation.
- "And I wanted to tell a story that I felt was true to life. And I know that's not what normal romance does" - I believe that in terms of a romance you got everything right, even extraordinarily right (thinking about hot kissing etc. etc. scenes)!
- "As for Santiago... Yeah, he definitely comes off as "perfect" in a lot of ways, but that's again because we're seeing this through the "puppy-love," /.../ "It's also going to be about how they're out of that "puppy love" stage and into "reality" now--they're each now seeing each other as "real" people instead of these "perfect" archetypes, and facing "real" everyday problems" - these sentences explain a lot to me.
Having read your I/E stories, I probably had different expectations for this book. I think I was unconsciously expecting the similar style like you write in I/E but during the first two thirds of the book the characters seemed somehow "light" or more specifically "light-headed" to me. You're right - I have probably forgotten that love makes people light-headed...
According to what you said that the sequel will be about Di and Santiago confronting the reality, I think that I was expecting to get the sequel when buying the first part! Because I think that you excel at describing reality as it is, no matter what traditional romance readers say! - "you plan to re-read it" - I will definitely do it. I'm sure that I missed many details in the rush to find out what happens next. I'll try to look for the hints!
I actually know that you can place hints very well because after having read the first chapter, which you had online since last year, for the third time I suddenly discovered the hints about Santiago's disability.Thank you, Ximena, for this exchange and I would definitely recommend the book to everyone!
Hope you continue to enjoy it.
