the thread: Chasing August: When Hate Turns Into Something You Never Expected > Likes and Comments
Like
Hi! Thank you so much for having me. Excited to talk about all things Chasing August!
We're glad to have you here Lina!
Our readers will be dropping their question now and we hope you will be able to provide us with the answer.
Hi Lina, I’m David, and what I really liked about the book was how much history already existed between Caroline and Adam before the romance even had a chance to begin. Their first interactions felt very different from a typical first meeting.
Now my question is that, what made you choose to begin their story with that strong dislike between them? I do have other question but will like an answer for these before proceeding.
Thanks
Hi Lina,
I’m Chitra, and I really enjoyed caroline’s strong personality and the fact that she wasn’t immediately willing to forgive adam. Did you always know that caroline would have such a difficult time changing the way she saw him?
And more importantly, what was it about Greece that made you feel it was the right place for these two characters to finally see each other differently? Those that have something to do with you personally or not?
Hi Lina, I’m Boker, and Adam’s redemption was one of the things I found most interesting because we gradually get to understand the person behind Caroline’s original opinion of him. What part of Adam’s journey was the most important for you to show?
Dear Lina,
My name is Morgan, and I really enjoyed watching the tension between Caroline and Adam slowly change. Was there a particular moment when you knew their relationship had officially crossed from dislike into something neither of them could ignore?
Hi Lina, I’m Joel, and I appreciated how much Caroline’s relationship with Emma affected her choices. Do you think Caroline was more afraid of hurting Emma, or more afraid of admitting to herself that her feelings for Adam were real?
Hi David! First of all, thank you for your question. The thing of the trope enemies to lovers have always intrigued me, and as I was writing the prequel to Chasing August I started toying around with the idea of redeeming the character of Adam. This story simply couldn’t have started out in a more complicated setting than it did, with Caroline being the protective best friend and Adam finally wanting to turn his life around.
And also after reading Chasing August, I’m curious about what keeps you excited about writing after so many stories and so many readers. What is the one thing you still hope to explore or achieve as an author?
Hi Lina, I’m Goy, and I loved the idea that sometimes we create an image of someone before really knowing them. Do you think Caroline’s biggest change was falling in love with Adam, or finally allowing herself to see him as a human being rather than the person she believed he was?
Hi Lina, I’m Hexicah, and I liked that the characters weren’t able to simply forget everything that happened before Greece. How important was it for you to let their past continue affecting their relationship even after their feelings began to change?
Hi Chitra!
100% I knew this was going to be the worst pill to swallow for Caroline. She’s the character of a strong-willed, girls-girl with no interest in a serious relationship at all before this story takes off. So falling in love with her best friends ex definitely left a lot of room to explore the inner turmoil of which she goes through.
Greece felt like a way to take this characters out of their hometown, actually leaving the room for the two of them to start seeing beyond the initial hatred. I think without that, Caroline would never have given Adam the time of day. Personally, I also love the island of Kos, but that’s just a bonus!
Hi Lina, I’m Eileen, and I really connected with the idea that sometimes two people can find each other at a complicated time in their lives. Do you think Caroline and Adam could have fallen in love if they had met under completely different circumstances?
My name is Mike and I enjoyed how much of their conflict came from assumptions, past experiences, and things left unsaid Lina.
What is bothering me is that If Caroline and Adam had been completely honest with each other from the beginning, do you think their story would have been easier, or would it have lost something important?
Hi Lina, I’m Lisa Goll, and I loved how August became more than just a month in the story. What does “August” represent to you personally within Caroline and Adam’s relationship?
LET'S TAKE IT SLOW WITH THE QUESTIONS READERS.. ONE QUESTION AT A TIME SO AS NOT TO MAKE IT TOO MUCH ON LINA.
Thanks for your presence.
Hi Boker!
Adam was, without question, one of my hardest characters to take on with the hope of succeeding at convincing both you as a reader, but also myself, by creating a believable redemption arc for him.
I think to do this the chapters from his point of view were absolutely necessary, to let you get inside his head. Also showing a man’s side of how a toxic relationship can look like before you wake up and realize you want something different for yourself.
It was also important to get across that he doesn’t necessarily change for Caroline, but that the want to be better came before the want to be with her.
Hi Morgan!
I love hearing that you enjoyed the process of this kind of enemy to lovers slow burn. For me, I think the relationship had changed course while Caroline was very much still in denial about it all. Hatred definitely turned to pretending it was just a vacation fling before she admitted to any kind of love. But the boat scene was definitely a catalyst to everything that came after.
Hi Joel!
Caroline was definitely very mindful of Adam’s past with Emma, and very set on hating him til the day she died first and foremost.
I don’t think one of these things can exist without the other though? Because it’s when she feels herself veering off from the bad guy label she’s given Adam, realizing there might be a side to him she hasn’t paid attention to before, that she’s realizing what it could do to her relationship with her best friend.
Either way it boils down to the fact that Caroline desperately doesn’t want to like Adam, but ends up falling headfirst anyway.
Hello there Lina, My name is Elissa and i'm a great lover of your book. It was such a nice pleasure hearing that we will be featuring your book in our club cause i seriously can't wait to get this question bothering me out my head lol. And I loved knowing that the first scene of Chasing August came to you while you were actually in Kos. Do you remember what you felt when that scene first came to you, and did you immediately know it would become an important part of the story?
I want to know that feeling.
Morgan, I got to say, this is a fantastic question to get while being right in the middle of finishing up my third novel because I already have the gist planned for the fourth and fifth too. Writing has been part of my life since as far back as I can remember, it’s my way of having a creative outlet that allows me to build stories and worlds as far as my imagination allows. My writing career took on a new shape though when I started writing for an interactive app a decade ago, which means I know also get to share all these stories with amazing readers literally all over the world. It’s still a ’pinch me, I must be dreaming’ kind of thing.
Hi Goy!
Me too, this was actually one of my favorite things with writing Chasing August. We have, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally created labels for people we meet in life, and to sometimes question where they came from or why they exist in the first place is a generally eye opening thing to do.
In this particular case though, Adam did cheat on Emma. He led a questionable life in regards to his past relationships, so I would say Caroline had grounds to be wary of him. Which brings us to the next big thing of the story: giving a person the opportunity to change, and to question if such a thing is actually possible.
To follow up on Goy’s actual question at the end, I’d say Caroline’s big thing of the story was allowing Adam the chance to change and ultimately let go of the past. What do you guys think?
Hi Hexicah! It definitely felt really important to let their history play a part. Caroline is a character of clear opinions and a standpoint of being very protective of her loved ones. To hold Adam accountable for hurting her best friend doesn’t feel like anything I actively chose to do, it was more a given at the get-go.
Oh, that's actually thought of you Lina. I like that.
Hi Eileen!
Great question. I actually think taking these two out of Stockholm was the only way to go about it, at least at this point in time where not too much time had passed since the whole Emma/Adam drama. It gave them both time and forced proximity to change their relationship, outside their respective ties to Emma. The only other way I could see it happening is with more time passing before meeting again, Adam having been doing more work on himself before they’d run into each other and the past could have felt like more of a water under the bridge kind of thing.
I haven't get a reply yet Lina.
I think you might perhaps not noticed my question.
Did you catch Mike's question Lina? Or you want me to point it out?
Hi Mike!
Interesting take. Of course, some of the emotional turmoil could definitely have been avoided with less things left unsaid. Lacking communication is definitely the real big enemy of the story.
I think at times these struggles were caused by Caroline acting and speaking how she thought she should be treating Adam, and not in the way she actually felt about him at the time. Meanwhile Adam took a lot of these verbal hits from her because he somehow thought he deserved it, since he knew he did a lot of things wrong in the past.
So better communication could have changed things, but their characters held reasons for not always getting it right.
Hi Lisa!
August felt like the month of a new beginning the story throughout. After summer flings comes The One Big Love kind of thing. Of course it also held the theme of spending the entirety of it secluded from the outside world, and then end up chasing after that same feeling once it’s over. Do their lives still fit together back home?
Hi Elissa!
Thank you so much, it means the world to me that you enjoyed the book. The first scene for Chasing August that I scribbled down in my notebook while still on the island was the one of Caroline and Adam at the restaurant of the resort for The Red Silk Dress night. I intuitively started playing around with the idea of Caroline Jensen finding Adam Daniels to be the devil, only not in the worst way. To date this is still one of my favorite trips, so to have it live on through Chasing August is just a blessing.
We really appreciate your presence with us here Lina. We still have some readers who aren't online yet and will still want to ask their questions.
We will be taking a rest for today and fixing our next discussion after getting in touch with the author to know her schedule and her free time. I urge others readers who have questions to be sending down their questions ahead that time so our author Lina, can attend to when she's back here
Thanks for everyone present here today. See you in the next few days!
I hope I’m all caught up now? If I missed any, do let me know! And thank you to all of you who’s tuned in for this, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to talk Chasing August with you.
Lina wrote: "Special thank you to Sofya for hosting!"
You're welcome Lina🤗
We appreciate you more for being present even with your busy schedule. We do hope you will be available for the remaining reader's questions.
back to top
date
newest »
newest »
Hi! Thank you so much for having me. Excited to talk about all things Chasing August!
We're glad to have you here Lina!Our readers will be dropping their question now and we hope you will be able to provide us with the answer.
Hi Lina, I’m David, and what I really liked about the book was how much history already existed between Caroline and Adam before the romance even had a chance to begin. Their first interactions felt very different from a typical first meeting. Now my question is that, what made you choose to begin their story with that strong dislike between them? I do have other question but will like an answer for these before proceeding.
Thanks
Hi Lina, I’m Chitra, and I really enjoyed caroline’s strong personality and the fact that she wasn’t immediately willing to forgive adam. Did you always know that caroline would have such a difficult time changing the way she saw him?
And more importantly, what was it about Greece that made you feel it was the right place for these two characters to finally see each other differently? Those that have something to do with you personally or not?
Hi Lina, I’m Boker, and Adam’s redemption was one of the things I found most interesting because we gradually get to understand the person behind Caroline’s original opinion of him. What part of Adam’s journey was the most important for you to show?
Dear Lina, My name is Morgan, and I really enjoyed watching the tension between Caroline and Adam slowly change. Was there a particular moment when you knew their relationship had officially crossed from dislike into something neither of them could ignore?
Hi Lina, I’m Joel, and I appreciated how much Caroline’s relationship with Emma affected her choices. Do you think Caroline was more afraid of hurting Emma, or more afraid of admitting to herself that her feelings for Adam were real?
Hi David! First of all, thank you for your question. The thing of the trope enemies to lovers have always intrigued me, and as I was writing the prequel to Chasing August I started toying around with the idea of redeeming the character of Adam. This story simply couldn’t have started out in a more complicated setting than it did, with Caroline being the protective best friend and Adam finally wanting to turn his life around.
And also after reading Chasing August, I’m curious about what keeps you excited about writing after so many stories and so many readers. What is the one thing you still hope to explore or achieve as an author?
Hi Lina, I’m Goy, and I loved the idea that sometimes we create an image of someone before really knowing them. Do you think Caroline’s biggest change was falling in love with Adam, or finally allowing herself to see him as a human being rather than the person she believed he was?
Hi Lina, I’m Hexicah, and I liked that the characters weren’t able to simply forget everything that happened before Greece. How important was it for you to let their past continue affecting their relationship even after their feelings began to change?
Hi Chitra!100% I knew this was going to be the worst pill to swallow for Caroline. She’s the character of a strong-willed, girls-girl with no interest in a serious relationship at all before this story takes off. So falling in love with her best friends ex definitely left a lot of room to explore the inner turmoil of which she goes through.
Greece felt like a way to take this characters out of their hometown, actually leaving the room for the two of them to start seeing beyond the initial hatred. I think without that, Caroline would never have given Adam the time of day. Personally, I also love the island of Kos, but that’s just a bonus!
Hi Lina, I’m Eileen, and I really connected with the idea that sometimes two people can find each other at a complicated time in their lives. Do you think Caroline and Adam could have fallen in love if they had met under completely different circumstances?
My name is Mike and I enjoyed how much of their conflict came from assumptions, past experiences, and things left unsaid Lina.What is bothering me is that If Caroline and Adam had been completely honest with each other from the beginning, do you think their story would have been easier, or would it have lost something important?
Hi Lina, I’m Lisa Goll, and I loved how August became more than just a month in the story. What does “August” represent to you personally within Caroline and Adam’s relationship?
LET'S TAKE IT SLOW WITH THE QUESTIONS READERS.. ONE QUESTION AT A TIME SO AS NOT TO MAKE IT TOO MUCH ON LINA.Thanks for your presence.
Hi Boker!Adam was, without question, one of my hardest characters to take on with the hope of succeeding at convincing both you as a reader, but also myself, by creating a believable redemption arc for him.
I think to do this the chapters from his point of view were absolutely necessary, to let you get inside his head. Also showing a man’s side of how a toxic relationship can look like before you wake up and realize you want something different for yourself.
It was also important to get across that he doesn’t necessarily change for Caroline, but that the want to be better came before the want to be with her.
Hi Morgan!I love hearing that you enjoyed the process of this kind of enemy to lovers slow burn. For me, I think the relationship had changed course while Caroline was very much still in denial about it all. Hatred definitely turned to pretending it was just a vacation fling before she admitted to any kind of love. But the boat scene was definitely a catalyst to everything that came after.
Hi Joel!Caroline was definitely very mindful of Adam’s past with Emma, and very set on hating him til the day she died first and foremost.
I don’t think one of these things can exist without the other though? Because it’s when she feels herself veering off from the bad guy label she’s given Adam, realizing there might be a side to him she hasn’t paid attention to before, that she’s realizing what it could do to her relationship with her best friend.
Either way it boils down to the fact that Caroline desperately doesn’t want to like Adam, but ends up falling headfirst anyway.
Hello there Lina, My name is Elissa and i'm a great lover of your book. It was such a nice pleasure hearing that we will be featuring your book in our club cause i seriously can't wait to get this question bothering me out my head lol. And I loved knowing that the first scene of Chasing August came to you while you were actually in Kos. Do you remember what you felt when that scene first came to you, and did you immediately know it would become an important part of the story?I want to know that feeling.
Morgan, I got to say, this is a fantastic question to get while being right in the middle of finishing up my third novel because I already have the gist planned for the fourth and fifth too. Writing has been part of my life since as far back as I can remember, it’s my way of having a creative outlet that allows me to build stories and worlds as far as my imagination allows. My writing career took on a new shape though when I started writing for an interactive app a decade ago, which means I know also get to share all these stories with amazing readers literally all over the world. It’s still a ’pinch me, I must be dreaming’ kind of thing.
Hi Goy!Me too, this was actually one of my favorite things with writing Chasing August. We have, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally created labels for people we meet in life, and to sometimes question where they came from or why they exist in the first place is a generally eye opening thing to do.
In this particular case though, Adam did cheat on Emma. He led a questionable life in regards to his past relationships, so I would say Caroline had grounds to be wary of him. Which brings us to the next big thing of the story: giving a person the opportunity to change, and to question if such a thing is actually possible.
To follow up on Goy’s actual question at the end, I’d say Caroline’s big thing of the story was allowing Adam the chance to change and ultimately let go of the past. What do you guys think?
Hi Hexicah! It definitely felt really important to let their history play a part. Caroline is a character of clear opinions and a standpoint of being very protective of her loved ones. To hold Adam accountable for hurting her best friend doesn’t feel like anything I actively chose to do, it was more a given at the get-go.
Oh, that's actually thought of you Lina. I like that.
Hi Eileen!Great question. I actually think taking these two out of Stockholm was the only way to go about it, at least at this point in time where not too much time had passed since the whole Emma/Adam drama. It gave them both time and forced proximity to change their relationship, outside their respective ties to Emma. The only other way I could see it happening is with more time passing before meeting again, Adam having been doing more work on himself before they’d run into each other and the past could have felt like more of a water under the bridge kind of thing.
I haven't get a reply yet Lina.I think you might perhaps not noticed my question.
Did you catch Mike's question Lina? Or you want me to point it out?
Hi Mike!Interesting take. Of course, some of the emotional turmoil could definitely have been avoided with less things left unsaid. Lacking communication is definitely the real big enemy of the story.
I think at times these struggles were caused by Caroline acting and speaking how she thought she should be treating Adam, and not in the way she actually felt about him at the time. Meanwhile Adam took a lot of these verbal hits from her because he somehow thought he deserved it, since he knew he did a lot of things wrong in the past.
So better communication could have changed things, but their characters held reasons for not always getting it right.
Hi Lisa!August felt like the month of a new beginning the story throughout. After summer flings comes The One Big Love kind of thing. Of course it also held the theme of spending the entirety of it secluded from the outside world, and then end up chasing after that same feeling once it’s over. Do their lives still fit together back home?
Hi Elissa!Thank you so much, it means the world to me that you enjoyed the book. The first scene for Chasing August that I scribbled down in my notebook while still on the island was the one of Caroline and Adam at the restaurant of the resort for The Red Silk Dress night. I intuitively started playing around with the idea of Caroline Jensen finding Adam Daniels to be the devil, only not in the worst way. To date this is still one of my favorite trips, so to have it live on through Chasing August is just a blessing.
We really appreciate your presence with us here Lina. We still have some readers who aren't online yet and will still want to ask their questions. We will be taking a rest for today and fixing our next discussion after getting in touch with the author to know her schedule and her free time. I urge others readers who have questions to be sending down their questions ahead that time so our author Lina, can attend to when she's back here
Thanks for everyone present here today. See you in the next few days!
I hope I’m all caught up now? If I missed any, do let me know! And thank you to all of you who’s tuned in for this, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to talk Chasing August with you.
Lina wrote: "Special thank you to Sofya for hosting!"You're welcome Lina🤗
We appreciate you more for being present even with your busy schedule. We do hope you will be available for the remaining reader's questions.
We’re so happy to have you joining us today. Our readers have been looking forward to meeting you and talking about Caroline, Adam, Greece, the emotional journey between them, and everything that makes this story so much more than a simple enemies-to-lovers romance.
We’ll have our readers introduce themselves, share what they connected with in the book, and then ask you some questions about the story, your characters, and your journey as an author.
We’re delighted to have you here. Welcome to the discussion!