I'm Flattered (I Think)

When I mentioned Goodreads the other day, I didn't know that two characters from my novel A Kiss Before You Leave Me, Miranda Kincaid and Jack Emery, were being mentioned there as nominees for 'character you most want to sleep with' in Goodreads' Listopia section. When I heard the news, my first reaction was to feel flattered, and not just because the plot is premised in part on the predictable (mutual) desirability of these two lovers. Having your characters chosen feels a bit like being chosen yourself. It wasn't until the next day that I felt like asking the reader(s) in question, 'But what would your [spouse, ex, mother, mother-in-law, AA sponsor--there are too many choices, aren't there?, and that's just counting the ones that are 'suggested' by the novel]--what would they say? Do?' Or, better (or worse), 'Do you mean to tell me that, even knowing what you know now, you'd still...?'

Ah, the unexpected pleasures of authorship! If nothing else, this business at Goodreads will serve as a gentle reminder to me to return, as promised, to the question of bovarysme (identification)....