Ask the Author: Penelope Peters
Answered Questions (6)
Penelope Peters
The short answer? Carefully!
The long answer isn’t too complicated. Book “Three” will probably not have Jake or Ned/Veronica involved in the plot. After all, Jake does have that cabin in the mountains and a growing family to manage, and Becca has already informed me that she has no intention of going to the city like her older brothers. We’ll probably see or at least hear from Jake – but I’m going to handle the two different versions of his story by basically ignoring it, since I don’t want to write two versions of Becca’s book! And as everyone ended up in the same place at the end of both books (more or less), I don’t anticipate too many logistical problems.
Not sending Becca to the city is a pretty major break from the books as they stand, I know – but then again, Becca’s a pretty major break since she’s female. I can also tell you that one of the other major breaks is that unlike with Ethan or Jake, who really only had one love interest per story (still true for Jake!), Becca will have to decide between two possible mates.
And of course, we’ll finally see Ethan and Antonio get their HEA. I like them too much to deny it to them forever! The real question for them is whether or not they decide that they want children - or if they decide to remain child-free.
Thanks for the question! Have a great New Year!
The long answer isn’t too complicated. Book “Three” will probably not have Jake or Ned/Veronica involved in the plot. After all, Jake does have that cabin in the mountains and a growing family to manage, and Becca has already informed me that she has no intention of going to the city like her older brothers. We’ll probably see or at least hear from Jake – but I’m going to handle the two different versions of his story by basically ignoring it, since I don’t want to write two versions of Becca’s book! And as everyone ended up in the same place at the end of both books (more or less), I don’t anticipate too many logistical problems.
Not sending Becca to the city is a pretty major break from the books as they stand, I know – but then again, Becca’s a pretty major break since she’s female. I can also tell you that one of the other major breaks is that unlike with Ethan or Jake, who really only had one love interest per story (still true for Jake!), Becca will have to decide between two possible mates.
And of course, we’ll finally see Ethan and Antonio get their HEA. I like them too much to deny it to them forever! The real question for them is whether or not they decide that they want children - or if they decide to remain child-free.
Thanks for the question! Have a great New Year!
Penelope Peters
Hi, Sharon, thanks for your question (and your review, I'm glad you enjoyed the story overall and hope you enjoy the rest of the series).
The choice to have male omegas use the term "mother" (and female alphas use the term "father") isn't one I've seen often in A/B/O stories, but it's one I've enjoyed playing with here. My thought is that "mother" refers to whichever birth parent carries the unborn baby, while "father" refers to the birth parent who sires that baby, regardless of whether or not the parent is male or female. In my stories, male omegas give birth - and therefore, they're the child's mother. Likewise, female alphas sire a baby - and it's that act that makes them the child's father.
Obviously, this is different from the real world, where mother and father are purely gender-specific. Thing is, in a world where some men can give birth and some women can impregnate someone else... gender roles get a little bit murky. My aim in referring to male omegas as "mom" and female alphas as "father" was to remind the reader that gender roles aren't exactly the same in this world as they are in ours. Whether or not I was successful is a whole other question, and probably not one I can answer!
Your other questions, about the consequences Alan Clark might have faced if Ethan's parents had tried to bring his abusive behavior to light... that's harder to answer. The world they live in is a lot like ours - but it's also a lot different. It's not too unlike our own society even as little as a hundred years ago, when the laws surrounding rape were more sympathetic not to the woman, but to the man on trial. Even now, a lot of times rape victims have to deal with the overall idea that what happened was their fault. ("What were you wearing? How much did you drink? How often do you drink? Did you know him? How many men have you dated before?" And so on.) Is it such a stretch to think that Ethan, who allowed Alan to engage in ongoing physical contact for several years, wouldn't be faced with the same scrutiny when he claimed - years after the fact, and when he was well past the age of consent in his world - that he'd been seduced by an older man?
In retrospect, I probably put too much social commentary into what I suspect a lot of readers expect in a romance. But then, I've never been very good at splitting up my genres. I do apologize if you got more than you bargained for - but I have to thank you for the chance to answer the questions, and I hope I answered them to your satisfaction. Thank you again for reading!
The choice to have male omegas use the term "mother" (and female alphas use the term "father") isn't one I've seen often in A/B/O stories, but it's one I've enjoyed playing with here. My thought is that "mother" refers to whichever birth parent carries the unborn baby, while "father" refers to the birth parent who sires that baby, regardless of whether or not the parent is male or female. In my stories, male omegas give birth - and therefore, they're the child's mother. Likewise, female alphas sire a baby - and it's that act that makes them the child's father.
Obviously, this is different from the real world, where mother and father are purely gender-specific. Thing is, in a world where some men can give birth and some women can impregnate someone else... gender roles get a little bit murky. My aim in referring to male omegas as "mom" and female alphas as "father" was to remind the reader that gender roles aren't exactly the same in this world as they are in ours. Whether or not I was successful is a whole other question, and probably not one I can answer!
Your other questions, about the consequences Alan Clark might have faced if Ethan's parents had tried to bring his abusive behavior to light... that's harder to answer. The world they live in is a lot like ours - but it's also a lot different. It's not too unlike our own society even as little as a hundred years ago, when the laws surrounding rape were more sympathetic not to the woman, but to the man on trial. Even now, a lot of times rape victims have to deal with the overall idea that what happened was their fault. ("What were you wearing? How much did you drink? How often do you drink? Did you know him? How many men have you dated before?" And so on.) Is it such a stretch to think that Ethan, who allowed Alan to engage in ongoing physical contact for several years, wouldn't be faced with the same scrutiny when he claimed - years after the fact, and when he was well past the age of consent in his world - that he'd been seduced by an older man?
In retrospect, I probably put too much social commentary into what I suspect a lot of readers expect in a romance. But then, I've never been very good at splitting up my genres. I do apologize if you got more than you bargained for - but I have to thank you for the chance to answer the questions, and I hope I answered them to your satisfaction. Thank you again for reading!
Penelope Peters
Never heard of either it or the author, but it sounds intriguing, so I've downloaded a sample from Amazon and I'll give it a go. Thanks for the rec!
Penelope Peters
Yes, The Country Omega is my first published book (and I actually finished the first draft of a second book - not the sequel - last night). I've been writing so long, it seems a bit strange to call it my "debut", though I know that's the correct terminology. :)
Penelope Peters
Thank you! You will absolutely get an update about both Ethan and Antonio in the next part of the Downing Cycle. I always intended to have them reappear, but Ethan's carving himself a larger piece of the story the more I write, and Antonio's not much better. I think you're all going to really enjoy where I go with them next!
Penelope Peters
I'm working on the second book in The Downing Cycle - THE COUNTRY ALPHA. I'm about halfway through the first draft - it's a bit slower going, what with the holidays and putting out The Country Omega. We rejoin Ethan and Antonio six years after their bonding, and follow Ethan's younger brother Jake as well as Antonio's not-quite-paramour Veronica as they get to know each other. It's a lot of fun!
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