Host: Sandy James Nov.23
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Silence: Sword and Shield
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Hi Sandy! I’ve been following the incredible success of your books and am glad to be here today to chat with you. They are still on my TBR list. Following this tour, I think December will get to be heavy reading month. ;-)
So far, I’ve been focusing largely on Ryan, my mc/hero. I want to turn things around today and start delving into Kaitlyn’s story.
As I mentioned at my last stop with Maryann, Kaitlyn has had a very traumatic life for still being so young. She’s a teen, which is a boundary push for romance, while Ryan is in his mid-twenties. I may have just lost readers, but I should say that I do not write graphic scenes and Ryan does nothing illegal, if that pulls anyone back.
We all deal with different types of trauma by different means. I know one of Sandy’s books deals with the Iraq war and a hero recovering from that experience. Kaitlyn is dealing with the effects of a different kind of war and is very much in the post-traumatic stage when Ryan meets her. She’s had incredible loss in several parts of her life and feels she has nothing left. Ryan’s job throughout the story is to convince her she’s wrong.
The way she deals with trauma is to become nearly silent, pulling into herself as a means of protection. Ryan is a talker. In fact, he rambles just to ramble. This opposite way of dealing with his own issues makes for an interesting comparison and pulls Kaitlyn in immediately. Even though she doesn’t have any POV during the story, we clearly see her study him as he rambles, picking out what he’s actually saying, or not saying, in between the nonsense. Ryan, in turn, has to figure out what Kaitlyn is thinking by what she doesn’t say.
At first appearance, she seems opposite of most romance heroines. Strong, independent, in control women dominate the current romance scene. And why not? Women are indeed taking their places on stage now instead of being controlled and background as they were in the past. However, not all strong, independent women need to be outspoken and aggressive. Strength and control have many faces. One of them is silence.
Refusing to talk is Kaitlyn’s shield. It protects her from anyone seeing too far inside. It is also a very sharp sword. As a fairly silent person myself, I’ve seen how it can frustrate someone talkative who needs that constant communication. It also frustrates Ryan. The more frustrated he becomes, the more silent she is – her only way of controlling him and the situation.
As it turns out, Kaitlyn is actually a very strong heroine who does take control as she needs. In fact, she’s so far my strongest heroine. She knows what she wants and is willing to risk everything to get it. There is a much larger point made in this novel: don’t underestimate the quiet people in your life. Most often, there is a lot more strength behind it than can be imagined.
Take that as a warning. ;-)
1 comment:
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