Hi everyone! This is the discussion and questions post for A Lily Among Thorns. Tell me what you thought! If there’s anything you want to know (about the book, about writing the book, about characters in the book, about what happens next, anything really), this is the place to ask! And thanks so much to everyone who’s already e-mailed me about the book, you guys bring the light into my life.
WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS.
I was totally in love with Solomon by the end of the book. He’s such a good, steady guy, who knows what he wants, loves deeply, and yet is a bit naive.
Thank you! I love him pretty madly myself. I mean, I love all my heroes, but Solomon is one of my favorites. He’s just such a sweetheart.
I was in love with Solomon by his second scene. 😉 Serena took a little longer, but I adore her too. And Elijah and Rene and everyone else! (I really enjoyed the book greatly if you couldn’t tell!)
Thank you! Solomon’s a charmer, isn’t he?
Oh, I just remembered I have a question. How much of the spy storyline was in the plan/first draft. Did it change much?
Well, all of it was in the first draft, but I’m a pantser, so not all of it was in the plan. I knew Rene was a spy from the beginning, and I knew the book climaxed with Waterloo, but I didn’t realize that the middle of the book would be them bringing in the members of his network one at a time until I got there–I had had the beginning part of the book very clear in my mind, but once Elijah was back, I had no idea what happened next. I was actually stuck for a couple of weeks until the spy thing occurred to me. Plotting doesn’t come as easily to me as characterization, so I tend to choose plots that provide a clear structure on which I can hang the characters’ interactions–in this case, a series of social events for them to attend, the scene where they arrest Jenny Pursleigh, etc.
(In the initial initial brainstorming stages, I didn’t even know Elijah was coming back from the dead–he was just angsty backstory for Solomon–but by the time I actually started writing I’d realized I needed a love interest for Rene and he was the natural choice.)
I’m always amazed at how somethings just come together, the realization that the piece you need is already in the book, you just need to put it in play. 🙂
It was very interesting to watch how both Rene and Elijah dealt with being lovers and spies. How Rene’s major concern was his people, and Elijah was determined to do his duty, though it obviously hurt him to have to, and wasn’t at all an easy decision.
The subconscious is a marvelous thing, isn’t it?
My favorite kind of conflict is one where both parties are in the right, so I always love “on opposite sides of a war”-type romances. You can’t root for either to be a traitor, so where can you go from there? At least, I can’t root for it—you do see women (it’s almost always women) sheltering enemy spies in movies/TV occasionally, and it always drives me nuts. “He’s going to get your fellow countrymen killed!” I yell at the screen. “I don’t care how cute he is, turn him in!”
Yay! It’s so exciting to see this come out. I love that Solomon is one of those heroes who may not seem stereotypical heroic material at first glance (he sews? really?), but he says with you so much more and he’s so comforting to Serena, who has to stay so strong for so long. Congrats, Rose!
Thanks, Leah! And thanks for all your help making the book the best it could be!
Super, super book, I couldn’t put it down. He was probably the best written Beta male I have ever read. I really wanted him for myself! And I loved how they each helped each other with the huge amount of baggage that they had both been lugging around. Serena had been carrying hers around so long that she felt like she would tip over if she allowed someone to relieve her of it. What’s next for you? I would love a novella about Elijah and Rene’s HEA. 🙂
Wow, thank you! And lol, yes, I think “a burden shared is a burden halved” is the informal motto of the romance genre. Serena, at LEAST get a cart with wheels for all that baggage!
I don’t know exactly what’s next at the moment. Hopefully I’ll have news about that in the next few months–and believe me, when I do, it will be all over the website! Right now I’m finishing my first draft of a Regency set during the 1812 Parliamentary general election, so maybe that, or maybe a novella, or maybe something entirely different.
I’m not planning anything for Elijah and Rene at the moment just because in my mind, their story is concluded–I’m not in any doubt they’re going to live happily ever after running that bakery in Paris. But I never say never! My muse has a way of taking that as a challenge. I’ll probably write Sophy’s story at some point, but I don’t know what it is yet.
For my last book, In for a Penny, I wrote a story set in the world of the book based on my favorite fan suggestion and posted it on my website. I’ll definitely do something similar for LILY in a couple of months. So if you really want to see something for Elijah and Rene, be thinking about what kind of story you’d like and keep an eye out for that announcement. You may very well spark something in my creative brain sectors! As you can see the PENNY story was indeed about the happily resolved secondary romance. 🙂 (If you don’t think you’ll be keeping up with my blog or social media stuff, you can always sign up for my newsletter. It’s low traffic–usually less than once a month.)
Yay for Betas! Sol was simply charming in a sweet, sweet i’ll-never-be-a-rake way. And more power to Elijah and René, who are so much like a couple I know. By the way, loved the way aristocracy wasn’t perceived as the godlike, perfect class. I’m simply sick of that perception in romance…
Thank you! I’ve madly loved plenty of books with two aristocratic protagonists and I do have a couple of plot bunnies for books like that, but I feel like I’ve seen lots of cross-class books published recently and it makes me very happy. It’s just nice to have different things available–I love alphas, for example, I just wish there were more betas out there too!