THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
The Entangled Past Series
Synopsis:
Mason
I told her to stay away.
I'm not supposed to fall in love with someone so young. So sweet, so… innocent.
If only I'd followed my own advice.
There is just something about Olivia that I can't get enough of. Something I can't stay away from.
I want to protect her from every hurt in this world, protect that innocence in those deep, brown eyes. But can I protect her from myself? What happens when you're the reason the girl you love is hurting? What happens when you are the villain in her fairy tale? Can she ever forgive me for my past sins? And more importantly, would she want to when all of my hideous secrets come to light?
Olivia
He told me to stay away.
I didn't listen.
I should have.
I know better than to build my hopes and dreams on a fairy tale.
Naively, I thought he would be my happily ever after.
That's my mistake.
There are four books in the series. The other books are about the friends and brother of the main male lead in this book.
What is the sub-genre and trope? Did your characters lead you to this genre or was that decided before the story began?
The genre is contemporary romance. It was already decided before I wrote this book.
Are you more character or plot driven?
This book is more character-driven. Both main leads have been through some pretty traumatic events in their life, and the story is about how they cope with it, individually and as a couple.
Although there is a plot in this book that revolves around a secret the male lead character keeps from the female lead.
With many main and secondary characters, how do you keep them separated in your mind? Do you have a story/vision board above your workspace?
When I wrote this book, I always knew the secondary characters would have a story of their own, and I already had their story mapped out beforehand. It helps me keep them separated.
I know from previous interviews that characters take on a life of their own. Were any of the characters in this series determined to take their own direction instead of where you initially wanted them to go?
This book is the third version of another book I have written and finished six years before. When I had finished the first version of the book, I always knew it wasn't ready to be published, that it wasn't a story I was satisfied with. I ended up writing another version, not liking that one, to finally, this version. So, I wouldn't say this story had gone where I wanted it to go.
Are any of the male/female POVs based on anyone you know?
Oh, no, I don't base my characters on real-life people. It makes it easier for me to see them as their own "people" rather than as someone else.
Was there any one character/scene that was harder to write about than the other?
I wouldn't say there were any hard scenes to write. Sometimes, I find myself in a writing lull and have difficulty finding inspiration, but I find it's best to always forge on when that happens.
What is your favorite book in the series? (if applicable)
Oh, no, I can't pick. You're asking me to choose between my children. I just can't.
I know that we aren't supposed to have "favorites" as far as our children, but seriously, who's your favorite character and why?
Since we're talking about the first book, I would have to say, Mason Kade, the male lead.
He's always been an enigma to me. His character didn't come as easy as the female lead did, and I spent a lot of my time trying to figure out just who I needed him to be... who my female lead would need him to be. And once I figure that out, I've come to really enjoy writing about him.
Series question - Who is your favorite couple and why did you decide on their dynamics?
I don't have a favorite couple in the series, but I wrote each couple pretty differently, based on their personality and life experience.
I mainly focused on my female leads, and I tailored my male leads to be the kind of men the female lead would need in their lives. I'm hoping I succeeded there, but sometimes, it's hard to look at your work objectively.
How do you get inside these characters' heads to find their perfect HEA?
When I write a book, I will be focused on that book for weeks on end. I'm thinking about them and their story even when I'm not writing, so it feels like I'm always inside their head.
Usually, I already know how they're going to find their perfect HEA. The problem is always how I would get them there. I guess this is a lot like building Lego pieces, just putting one on top of the other and hoping that by the time you're done or by the time you've run out of Lego pieces, you've come to the results you have been envisioning in the first place.
What scene in this book/series sticks out the most for you? Why?
The scene they first got together. I didn't set out for this book to be a slow-burn romance, but that's what happened, and when the characters finally got together, I was just pretty relieved because now, I get to write about them being together.
Series - Were any of the books harder to write than others?
The last book in the series, The Ruthless and the Strong, was the hardest for me to write, only because there were so many expectations made for it already.
My male lead in the fourth book was introduced to the readers in this first book, and though I hadn't set out to write him in a way that would be memorable, a lot of the readers who read and enjoyed the first book were also looking forward to his book, and even now, I hope I have done him and his story justice.
How long did it take you to write this book/series?
Including the first two versions of the first book? About seven years. Excluding it, it took me a little over a year to write all four books. I started writing the first book in October 2020, and I finished the fourth book around November 2021.
How did you come up with the title for your book and (if applicable) series?
I actually forgot how I came up with the title. I remember there have been several title changes until I came up with 'The Young & the Sinner,' and I also knew I wanted the titles in the series to be somewhat similar to each other.
If you met these characters in real life would you get along?
I would like to think so. My characters are pretty different from me, but they're also a version of me as well if that makes sense. I would like to think we would all get along.
Series question – Did you know in advance that you were going to write this as a series or did one of the characters in book one demand their own story?
Oh, I already knew that when I set out to write the first book, there would be a series.
Some of what I wrote in the first book set the grounds for the other characters in the series to have their own story. I already knew how their stories would unfold before I had finished the first book.
If your book/series were made into a movie, which actors do you see as playing your characters?
I have never given this much thought, and I try not to, mostly because I like imagining how my characters would look in my head, not as someone I know or have seen on TV. I also like that my reader can do that as well.
I might give you a character description, but how you imagine that character would be totally different from how I imagine that character, and I feel that always makes our reading experience so unique.
Can you give us a hint as to what we can expect next? Whether a new book and series or a sequel to an existing series? Can you share a small tease?
Right now, I have the second book in my Stolen series planned for release, then it'll be the third book in the series, and after that, I hope to publish a brand new series.
It'll be completely different from anything I have ever written before. It's a dark romance, and I'm quite excited to get started on it.
V.T. Do is the author of angsty contemporary romance books.
She currently lives in Colorado. When she's not spending time working on her upcoming books, you can find her talking to herself, arguing with imaginary characters (hence the talking to herself part), daydreaming, hunting magical creatures, in search of her next caffeine fix, and reading obsessively over dirty-mouth, bad boys from steamy, smutty romance books.
Connect with VT:
Email: v.tdo26@gmail.com
Some things are inevitable.
Opening my fiercely guarded heart to Logan is one of them.
He came into my life unexpectedly, radiantly.
I had no choice but to let him in.
With him, I started to believe in a future I never thought I could have.
I started to believe in happily ever after.
Maybe I shouldn't have.
Logan
For years, I’ve looked for her.
For that little girl we’d lost in the aftermath of my own mistakes.
Then fate took pity on me, and now that I found her, I can’t let her go.
Not when all I wanted to do was lose myself to her.
But when all the hideous secrets from our past come out, will she let me?
Or will she walk away, leaving behind all the destruction and hurt I would inevitably cause?
Kiera Hasting isn’t supposed to mean anything to me.
She's supposed to be nothing more than a blip on my radar. Forgettable. Insignificant.
Only she’s not.
She gets under my skin in the worst way possible.
But I shouldn’t want to keep her.
I’m the reason her father is in prison.
I’m the reason she has nothing and no one left in this world.
She should hate me.
Only, the more time I spent with her, the more I realized I don’t want her to hate me.
I don’t want to let her go.
Kiera
Gage Walker is my obsession.
My muse. My savior.
All my problems disappear whenever I’m in his arms.
I should let him go.
He’s not good for me.
He’s not good for anyone. Not with all the baggage he carries, not with his scowling face and not with his grumpy disposition.
Yet, when I look into those green eyes of his, none of those things mattered. Not even the fact that he is the man responsible for everything that I’ve lost.
I can’t let him go. I don’t know how, so I won’t.
Gage Walker will be mine.
Six years ago, I watched the woman I love marry another man.
Lizzie O’Connor has always been nothing more than my ward’s best friend.
Until she wasn't. And I pushed her away and into the arms of another man.
I tried to move on, but I couldn’t forget her.
Six years later, she comes back home with her five-year-old son after her divorce.
This is my second chance to make things right.
To make her mine.
Only, I’m not the kind of man she should fall for.
I’m someone she should stay far away from.
And if I were a better man, I would let her go.
If only I knew how.
Lizzie
Maxwell Kade has always represented everything good and perfect in this world.
He’s steady and solid.
Strong and secure.
He is someone every little girl dreams of marrying when they grow up.
Their very own Prince Charming.
And for so long, he has been that man for me.
Until he wasn’t.
Six years of pain and distance have passed between us.
I changed. I am no longer that fanciful little girl with stars in her eyes.
And even still, I want him.
I crave him.
I have never stopped loving him.
I shouldn’t fall for him again.
I should stay away from him.
If only I knew how.
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