I Did NOT Fall in Love With This Character, But...

I already said I fell in love with Thomas Evans way back in “The Politician’s Pawn.”

Tall, broad shoulders, stands up for the little guy (or gal), military background... What else was there for a red-blooded American author to do but start sighing and swooning over him?

But Rodney Andiluigi was another story altogether. Sure, he’s tall, but I don’t normally go for the bad boys. And I definitely don’t usually fall in love with Italians. They’re too emotional for my taste. I have enough of that to deal with in my father and brother. I don’t need it in a romantic partner too.

So nope, I never fell in love with Rod. In fact, I had great fun torturing him in this book. Not physically (I’m not THAT awful a human being) but psychologically, throwing twists at him from Page 1 that have him completely out of his comfort zone.

In fact, I was such a jerk that I irritated and offended my editor; she still hasn’t forgiven me.

My take on the whole matter though? What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Sure enough, that’s exactly what happens to Rod in “Amateurs Play Elsewhere.” And as he grew in maturity and confidence, he also grew on his author.

Please don’t get me wrong. I never fell in love with him. Again: Italian. Enough said.

But I did genuinely start caring about him, even in the process of making him feel about as low as I could, scaring him half to death and then throwing romantic entanglements on top of all his other trauma. Despite his exceptionally rocky start, I’m happy to say that Rodney Andiliuigi turned into a stand-up kind of guy.

Just goes to show you that Kayla was right from the beginning. Anyone really is redeemable.

At least in fiction.