Q&A with LeAnn Neal Reilly discussion

I probably shouldn't admit to a favorite character, but while I grew to love nearly all the characters (even wicked Ana), I'll always love Lucy the best (and it just occurs to me that that sounds like a sitcom, but I don't mean it to).

When I finished the first draft of the novel and gathered feedback from readers, I realized that I needed to start over. That was hard and I might have thrown in the towel, but I couldn't let Lucy go. Actually, it's more accurate to say that she wouldn't let me go.

Which character is your favorite? Why?

I wish I had the book so I could answer this question!

Same here.

GC: I wanted to make sure you're aware that The Mermaid's Pendant is an adult novel, not a YA novel. I'm hazarding a guess that you're under 18 from your profile photo and while it's really not my place to discourage you from reading it (and that would seem counterintuitive from someone who wants as many people to read her book as possible), I thought I'd tell you that I wouldn't let my own children read it yet. I'd prefer that they'd wait until they were at least 16 or so because many of the themes, events, and situations are pretty mature. If it were a movie, I'd probably rate it PG-13 with a few detailed descriptions for parents who monitor that sort of thing. I think some of the books posted in the Favorite Fairy Tales thread are totally awesome and appropriate for YA without being dumbed down. Robin McKinley won a Newbery Honor and a Newbery Award for two of her YA novels.

Definitely Lucy - the girl next door with a normal family and partially screwed up life. I can totally relate to her. :)

Amy,

I'm glad to hear that you can relate to her. She's not my alter ego, but one of my imagined (feared?) alternate life paths. Writing fiction is one way to deal with demons for me.

Hmm.. I see. Maybe I'll casually flip through it at the bookstore when I can. I think I could read it though. My parents are kind of strict on it, but I have become pretty good at picking out the parts to skip. I've read some rock bios that I'm thankful of skipping parts of.

I suspect that you're a very mature reader (I know that I was and so are my kids). I just wanted to give you a heads up so that you weren't shocked.

Stacy wrote: "I wish I had the book so I could answer this question!"

Dito!

Valerie wrote: "Stacy wrote: "I wish I had the book so I could answer this question!"

Dito!"

Good luck in the giveaways!

Thanks, though. That really helps me. There are books I'll check out of the library and wonder why I ever picked them up.

I can't answer this question right now either. :(

♥Eva♥ wrote: "I can't answer this question right now either. :("

GoodReads required me to set a date for discussing my book, but I'm an active GoodReads member and definitely want to discuss my own novel with other members so I'll be around to discuss it whenever you're ready. ;-)

You don't know how happy that makes me! I love, love, love picking other peoples brains about a book and it's not too often I get to do that with an author! Awesome!

My curiosity had gotten the better of me, and I just didn't want to wait for the end of the giveaways to read The Mermaid's Pendant. But now, I'll have to, or end up buying it myself. I just looked for the book on my library's website and they don't have it! Very disappointing!

Valerie wrote: "My curiosity had gotten the better of me, and I just didn't want to wait for the end of the giveaways to read The Mermaid's Pendant. But now, I'll have to, or end up buying it myself. I just look..."

Perhaps you could request that a copy be purchased? My local library has a request system.

LeAnn wrote: "Valerie wrote: "My curiosity had gotten the better of me, and I just didn't want to wait for the end of the giveaways to read The Mermaid's Pendant. But now, I'll have to, or end up buying it myse..."

Ooh- good idea! I'll do that! Thanks!

I really enjoyed so many characters in the The Mermaid's Pendant. I felt as though I could relate to each of them in different ways; Tamaraind and being in a world she didn't quite understand, John and being unsure of how to handle problems as they came his way, Valerie and having faith, Lucy and her strength even with all that family drama...all of them were so normal and yet so extraordinary.

And of course, a little shout out for Sarah. I really loved her.

Many of the characters changed a lot from the first draft, but none quite so much as Sarah. When I realized that she could play a key role, even if a minor one, I couldn't resist making a two year old so important. I'd guess there aren't too many other characters like Sarah in adult novels!