Almost Like Being in Love (45 page)

2. 
“. . . You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part you will make me know wisdom”
(Psalm 51:6, NASB). Everyone has secrets. The question is: When do we keep secrets and when do we need to reveal a secret for our ultimate healing? How do you determine when keeping a secret is destructive to you emotionally? If God is calling you to “truth in the innermost being,” how do you wisely move past secrets to honesty that leads to hope and new life? If you've ever helped someone cope with a secret that has been hurting them, how have you done so? What scriptural truths did you share with them?

3. One of the main themes in
Almost Like Being in Love
is the idea of two people being “perfect” for each other. If you were talking to two young people in love, what would you encourage them to be for each other? Perfect . . . or something else?

As readers, we love to know what inspires an author's ideas in creating their books. What was the catalyst for
Almost Like Being in Love
?

Every story I write starts with a “What if?” For this novel, the “What if?” was based on the idea of parents “betrothing”
their young children to their friends' kids. You know, the harmless idea that starts when the kiddos are toddlers:
Oh, I hope my daughter marries your son when they grow up!
I admit I did my own bit of harmless “betrothing” with my own kiddos—not that any of it ever happened. I mean, children grow up and have their own ideas about who they want to marry, right? But
what if
two twentysomethings buy into their parents' pressure that they are perfect for each other? Can that be the basis of a lifelong relationship? My musing turned into a Story Question, which is something else I have for every book I write:
Just because you're perfect for each other, does that mean you should get married?

Almost Like Being in Love
is connected to your first destination wedding novel,
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
. Caron Hollister, the main character in
Almost Like Being in Love
, is the little sister of Logan Hollister, the main character in
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
. What was it like to tell Caron's story?

There was only a glimpse of Caron in
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
, so it was exciting to fully develop her in this book. I'd already created the story idea and I just built the story around Caron. From the first novel I knew she was dating Alex, but I had to go back and discover the rest of the story: what were her hopes and dreams, what was the history of her broken romance with Kade, what did she want out of life. It was fun, too, because telling her story allowed me to revisit Logan and Vanessa. I don't always get to revisit my characters.

Caron struggles with being her own person because she wants to please her father so much. Why did you make that part of her story line?

Andy Stanley, the senior pastor of North Point Church, once said, “All of us are using someone or something as a mirror.”
When we look in a mirror, we are checking ourselves out, asking, “How do I look? Am I good to go?” We're looking for approval. Caron's father was her “mirror”—the person she allowed to determine her value. And while Caron is a fictional character, many people use others as their “mirrors,” allowing someone else to have power over their self-esteem and worth. Writing Caron's story allowed me to examine something we all struggle with.

Kade, Caron's ex-boyfriend, who becomes her boss, is a Realtor. He also runs “Mudders” with his friend and fellow Realtor, Mitch, who is a double amputee. Why did you bring those angles into the story?

Kade and Mitch are both ex-Army Rangers, too—and I've woven military angles into my other novels, such as
Catch a Falling Star
and
Somebody Like You
, because my husband was in the military. My son Josh runs Mudders and Spartan races—obstacle courses you can run solo or with a team—and my husband, Rob, and son-in-love, Nate, have joined him once. I'm purely a spectator. At one Mudder Josh ran in Aspen, there was a Wounded Warrior in a wheelchair—a double amputee. Rob and Josh told me how the team helped the Wounded Warrior conquer the course when the terrain was too rough, including one person carrying him on his back while another person carried his wheelchair. I also mention the Emerald Coast MudRun for Orphans in the book—this annual race is sponsored by Heart of the Bride, a ministry begun by my close friends, Tony and Faith Gibson.

Caron's boyfriend, Alex, is dealing with a huge family secret: alcoholism. What prompted that aspect of the story?

Alex was a complete stranger to me when I started writing
Almost Like Being in Love
. I can remember talking about him
with my mentor, Rachel Hauck, trying to discover who he was. The one thing I knew was Alex wasn't as perfect as he first appeared—that there was something he was hiding. Most of us have secrets. Family secrets. Personal secrets. So often we think of keeping a secret as protection. The questions become:
Is it really best to keep a secret? How does it affect us? When and how do we bring the secret to light?
So Alex was a multilayered character for me: the “perfect” guy who actually wasn't so perfect and needed to face the harsh realities of his life.

What comes next for you?

I'm always looking forward to new, fun ways to connect with my readers—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. I might dive into Periscope. And I'm mulling over a new story that involves a trio of sisters. They're starting to talk to me . . . It's going to be interesting.

•  •  •

Beth would love to connect with book clubs that have read
Almost Like Being in Love
. You can contact her through her website at
bethvogt.com
, or via
Facebook
,
Twitter
, or email at
[email protected]
.

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