Lois Lane: Fallout Read-Along discussion

Hi everyone! If there's anything you want to see more of here, let me know. And without further ado, the thread for chapters 10-14.

I had a lot of fun writing these, and some of my favorite bits in the book are in here. (I hope it's doesn't sound like I'm some crazy egomaniac to say that kind of thing! Trust me, I am always struggling to improve and have no illusions any of my stuff is perfect, but I'm really proud of both this book and Double Down. So I'm saying it anyway.) Among my favorites: The moment when Lois misunderstands Anavi's question about not naming her and thinks Anavi doesn't trust her, before Anavi clarifies -- so many feelings -- and then, of course, Lois's trip to Butler's office and eavesdropping on the Warheads. It's so funny that principals get such a hard time in my books, because my dad was my elementary school principal and my mom my high schools and they were both pretty great. But I suppose I judged all the other ones I ever heard about against them. (For those keeping track, yes, this also explains my authority issues...and why I relate to Lois so much. ;-) )

We also get the first hint that Lois is stumbling onto Maddy's band shirt secret (I love coming up with the band puns, sue me), and escalation on the Anavi and Warhead front. And then! In Chapter 12, Lois writes her first news story, which was a special scene for me to write. And I love the tentative sheepishness of neither Lois nor SmallvilleGuy knowing if they're quite okay, after the way they left things, in their chat here. This is one of my favorite of all their conversations. The "You and me. We're the same." moments and then Nellie Bly AND Shelby the dog (whose gender I got wrong in the first draft and ARCs, by the way). I swear, I almost can't believe I wrote this, because it truly makes even me swoony.

On another fun note, I'm pretty sure this was one of the places my editor at Warner Bros. drew a heart in the margin of the first draft when he sent back his notes. :-)

I also really enjoyed the fringe science research set-up in this section, which I did some legitimate reading for.

Another fun fact: In the first version of chapter 13, I didn't include an excerpt of the story itself, but my editor Beth prodded me to; a good call, as always. I like that things are going great here, with the reaction to the story...until they aren't. Because of course, this is Lois and she has bad luck, as we know. For Devin fans, there's that little flirtatious moment (I think my editor totally ships Devin and Lois a little too, btw!) with Lois in the hall, where she realizes she's not into him the same way she's into her long-distance friend. But I also love his geeky secret-keeping. I know someone mentioned that already, and I wanted a character that reflected the self-consciousness so many of us had/have even though nerdy things are cool now!

And of course, chapter 14 ends with the phone calls about detention (Maddy's Pixies ringtone!) and Perry's ultimatum to Lois. DUM DUM DUM.

One of the things I love about both this book and Double Down are the layers: Lois not only has the problem of her story, but she also has to juggle relationships with her family, her new friends, her principal, Perry, and of course SmallvilleGuy, something she's not always confident in (though actually does very well). The great examples in this section you've already mentioned, especially Maddy's confession at a particularly difficult time for Lois to listen. Those sorts of momentous confessions do land in awkward moments in real life, and Lois's handling of it is perfect and true to her heroic character. She's my hero.

Also, I love Maddy and her awesome shirts. She only gets better and more layered in Double Down, and I can't wait to be able to discuss it.

Actually, I just love all the characters. Every single one.

Timothy wrote: "Actually, I just love all the characters. Every single one."

*beams* Me too -- there's not a single one I don't enjoy writing.

I really enjoyed Lois' initial evaluation of The Third and slowly realizing there's more than his surface appearance there. While she's not entirely wrong, most of her assumptions are, illustrating that though she has great instincts and a big heart, she isn't infallible.

Yes! I love that James is multidimensional and surprising! And that Lois pegs him wrong, but learns to trust him.

The Third! I hope people like him even more after book two -- and understand him better.

One of the things I love about Lois is that she *isn't* perfect. She can be judgmental; sometimes her instincts are right, but sometimes they aren't. James is one of the cases where her initial take isn't quite fair, and haven't we all been in that situation?

Gwenda wrote : "One of the things I love about Lois is that she *isn't* perfect. She can be judgmental; sometimes her instincts are right, but sometimes they aren't. James is one of the cases where her initial take isn't quite fair, and haven't we all been in that situation? "

Not me. Ever. ;)

Seriously though, yes, I agree, I love that she makes mistakes but picks herself up and moves forward.

To expand on my comment? These imperfections were why I was drawn to the character in the first place. Especially since they mirror my own. I am *slightly* (okay okay maybe more than slightly) judgmental. I have low tolerance. I also see myself in her lack of filters. We all bond with fictional characters for our own reasons. Sometimes because they are so different, they are what we wish we were. With Lois it was because I saw in her somebody I understood because I could relate.

Her instincts are usually spot on but with James she wasn't. However, what I liked was seeing him through the group dynamics and her lens, it is easy, for me at least, to see why she felt the way she did. I really liked the slow awareness that maybe there is more to this guy than meets the eye.
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This is part of the growth process too. To be able to course correct, which she does do, It is important. She doesn't cling to her misconceptions and is able to step back. As she grows to be the woman we all know she becomes, these types of experiences teach her to look deeper.