The LAC books will give you more Holly and Laura but in a much different way.

I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts—and for reading my stuff to begin with. Take care.

I finished Secrets & Sins a few days ago, and even though I liked it, Woman Justice is still my favorite. (I like Laura more in the second, though. Holly, too.) There was something about that book that got me. The first time I got to the end, I simply did a big WHOA, and tried to figure out all the things I missed. The second time I read it, I saw better what you did. Or maybe more what I did to myself. I watched Millicent seduce Emily, but I think I’m the one who got seduced. I shouldn’t have wanted her to go off the deep end, but I did. Like being so relieved when Millicent showed up at the door after Emily freaked out that I didn’t even pay attention to the guy at the door.

Or the ring! If you read mysteries you should know enough to keep everything that’s in the first chapter foremost in your mind until the very end. But I didn’t. I got side swiped like Emily got side swiped.

The third time I read it, I read all three story lines separate. The investigation. Then the Emily Millicent stuff. Then the stories. Things are easier to see that way but it doesn’t make for the same wild ride. I think it is one of the most convoluted stories I’ve ever read, and I really mean that as a compliment. Even on the second read, when I knew the ending, I still liked it. I liked it (alot, can you tell?), I liked the second one, and I’m figuring I’ll like the new one. Keep writing, please. I will try the adventure clubs books until then.

Thanks!

To be honest, when I wrote Scavengers, I did not know I was beginning a series. It was actually in the hands of my publisher when I realized I liked the group of them enough to want to find out what happens next. They held off on publishing while I wrote Ledge Walkers, simply a sequel, still not a series. Savages finally cemented it in my head that I was writing a series. That being said… I had rather elaborate character sketches/histories of them all for Scavengers, because I had to make sure each of the ten was distinct. So, a lot of what unravels I knew from the beginning. Some of it, though, I learn about them as I go.

Yes, there was a big piece of Kate in Book 8, and, yes, I knew that from the beginning. I don’t think you missed anything, though. The military father reference was in Scavengers, but there weren’t clues to big piece that I planted along the way. Kate referred to it as a sore that only bleeds around Christmas time, which is why it came up in the last book, as it should have. She also said it was a “secret a few of them kept,” and she is rather trustworthy with secrets, including her own. You didn’t miss anything; she kept her own secret. The effects of it were there all along, but certainly not clues to what it actually was.

The Nerd and the Cheerleader… I’ve wondered about that story myself, and this new piece of info does put a heftier spin on it. At this point, I honestly don’t know if/when it will come up, but I do know it’s there. And now I know you’re curiosity is there, as well.