The other day I got a letter from a reader that said, “I loved your book. But I wish the boyfriend would have stayed longer!”
I tend to agree with her. The boyfriend in THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY is a total sweetheart, based loosely on my high school boyfriend, who was also a really nice guy. But (spoiler alert) the relationship runs into trouble and, I’m sorry to say, a lot of it is the main character’s fault. She’s needy and so focused on her own troubles she’s not being a particularly good girlfriend.
We like love and we want for it to triumph (no one more so than me, one of the most irrationally hopeful romantics you will ever meet). So why throw this obstacle in the road for this nice couple?
The answer I gave the reader was this:
I remember reading once that you have to BE the kind of person you want to date in order to find that person. So even though at the end of the book M.T. is in a better place in her life to be a good girlfriend, she still probably has some more work to do in learning how to give and feel secure in a relationship.
I never noticed but I guess I find myself writing a lot about love and relationships. The next book I’m finishing up now is Quinn’s story (remember Quinn, the redhead in The Secret Side of Empty)? There’s a boy she has a crush on but who she isn’t sure feels the same way. They even get to go on a roadtrip together… and then some stuff happens. I guess love is a thing that we all think a lot about!
