SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers about
Someone to Watch Over Me by J C Bodden!!
- WHAT made you come up with the idea for this book?
- ANYONE you see in your mind when you think of Joe or any of the main characters? (You know how I love to "see" it in my mind!)
- WHY did Wagner smell like cigarettes and alcohol when he walked by Joe after he stabbed Amy? Was he out getting schnockered at the local gin mill just prior? Or was it done to throw the reader? This made me think the killer wasn't Wags. Brills on your part!
- WHAT ever happened to Joe’s father? I hope it was something bad. (Does that shower me with bad karma if these are fictional characters?)
- WHAT is the new book about? Assuming another mystery that revolves around Jennie's dad??
- WILL we see more Joe?!?! (Lordddddddd...need to see more Joe!)
I actually came up for the idea for this book long ago when I was a Resident Advisor in college at Auburn University - although there were more of us (one RA per hall) then than just the 'Jennie' character. There was a 'urban myth' about our particular dorm that a maintenance man actually did have a little hidey-hole up in the attic and drilled holes through the ceiling so he could spy on the girls below. I lived on the top floor of the dorm, so it was like our own personal ghost story that we would tell just to scare the bejeebers out of each other. One time some of the other girls on the hall drew a picture of a blood shot eyeball with the words 'He's watching you!' and taped it on the ceiling right above my top bunk pillow so I didn't notice it until I laid down that night to go to sleep! Some of the other stuff mentioned - the water heaters going out, the fire alarm set off in the middle of the night - really did happen. But no one was ever murdered or kidnapped while I was there. And I don't know for sure if there was ever a creepy attic guy. :)
When I first started writing the story, in keeping with that original myth, the bad guy was Joe, the maintenance guy... but as I wrote his character more and more I couldn't help but first of all, feel sorry for the little kid and then, later, fall in love with the adult. So, of course, he couldn't be the bad guy! And then, when I went back and read what I had wrote, I realized that Joe Haliday was basically my own dear husband - Jay! Well, now, let me back up. Jay is not deaf. Nor did he have a neglected childhood living with an alcoholic mother and then an indifferent father. And his eyes are green, not shockingly blue. But otherwise, yeah... Joe = Jay. Hell, they even have the same initials! I'll send you a picture of Jay in college so you can see what I mean.
 |
| HOT, party of THIS guy! |
Wagner is a combination of two people I actually know also - looks-wise and personality-wise. Looks - one of my son's baseball coaches and personality - one of my former boyfriends. And I'm not saying anything more on that! (Although, once again, no one was ever killed or kidnapped or whatever. Plus, no animals were harmed in the making of this movie...)
As to Wagner's state when he walked by Joe after stabbing Amy... yeah, he was out getting a little lit up just before the attack - probably as a way to bolster his courage, the little shit. And also, he was good at pulling the wool over everyone's eyes, wasn't he? We thought he was one way when, really, he was something else all together. As far as trying to throw the reader, yeah, that's certainly part of it. I tired to do that repeatedly. I mean, I wanted you to love Joe and yet also wonder. I will say this, when Jay was reading it at one point he came to me and said, "If the bad guy is Joe then just go ahead and tell me now because I'm not going to read the rest of it." To which I replied, "Come on, baby. You know me. Do you think I would write a book I wouldn't like to read?"
As to Joe's father... I think we might see him in a later story line, but I don't know. Either that or he lived out the rest of his miserable existence in a state-supported nursing home, drooling onto his bathrobe, waiting for someone to come and visit him. I haven't really decided yet. (And the only karma it showers you with is fictional karma. Plus it's Joe's dad's karma, not yours. So you're safe. Double. I promise.)
The new book centers around Jennie's dad but Jennie and Joe are in it as well... And yes, it's a mystery.
YAY! Congratulations, I downloaded it while I was in India and happened to have an internet connection. Almost done (though I have read it before and there are some tweaks since the version I read.) But YAY!
ReplyDelete