Thoughts

Tonights blog is a little different in that I'm not announcing anything, I'm not giving an update on the screenplay or movie, but rather giving my thoughts on my books.

I was asked by someone to talk about Ultimate Betrayal I & II, and although I'd rather allow the reader to form their own opinons of those characters, I'll take a moment to discuss them from my vantage point.

It's always interesting to hear how my readers react to John, Emily and Mary, because they all have something to say about each of them. I love getting feedback and interacting with each one of you, so if you have any questions or topics that you'd like to see discussed, feel free to email me or chat with me on here.

First, let me say that writing the Ultimate Betrayal series has been an adventure. LOL. It has taken more than two years of my life and will take another several years because the third book will be started as soon as I'm finished with the screenplay. It has been a labor of love, sometimes pleasant, sometimes sad, but always a story that needed to be told.

Many people want to draw correlations between my fictional characters and real life people they may know, but I always say that these are made up people with fictional lives, like any other book on the shelf. With that being said, I'll tell you how I see the characters in the series. This is the "pitch" that I had to give to studio execs when I was brought before them in Hollywood. They were a scary bunch of people at first, but who turned out to be fascinated by the story and especially John.

John Alexander: He is a very Jim Jone-sy type character in that, he can use his charisma and charm to get anyone to do anything he desires. Not just Emily, but anyone, really. He possesses a magnetic personality that will put everyone at ease, and he can make you think you are the only person on the planet when he's with you. He has a real gift from God that he could have used for good, but instead he used it for his own benefit to gain wealth and status in the community. He is persuasive to the point that people will give him their last dollar and he forbids questions about where it's going. In life, it's his way or no way and most bend to his will, further inflating his ego. He is a true narcissist in every sense of the word. He is like a cat that always lands on its feet, but in the end of it all, he will not fool God. He loves no one except himself and money. He only cares about satifying his own wants and lusts.

Emily Richards: She WAS a young innocent, naive, woman who came from a troubled background and spent her life looking for Prince Charming. She married her first and only boyfriend right out of high school, but unfortunately, he was only interested in alcohol and sleep. He had no feelings whatsoever for his wife, which left her empty and seeking love again. She met John when she was very young, and like everyone else, she was taken with him. Not in a sexual manner, but just taken with his personality. He was sweet, caring, gentle and good to her. He served as her pastor, spiritual guide, marriage counselor and father figure, and she trusted him to always be those things for her. She found out many years into their friendship that he had loved her for more than two decades and although at times she felt he was attracted to her, she had no idea the depth of his love for her. He finally told her when her marriage was on the rocks, (just the right time for him to swoop in) and convinced her that she could have the life that she always dreamed of. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of becoming romantically involved with him, and subsequently leaving with him to start a new life. In the end, he left her and went back home to the wife that he'd had for more than forty years and he put his family back together, leaving Emily to fend for herself in a town where she'd been ridiculed and basically given a scarlet letter of her own to wear. John and Mary teamed up and created many lies about Emily that she couldn't fight, and eventually she left town to start over when she miscarried their baby. In the end, she became her own hero and saved herself, realizing there is no Prince Charming.

Mary Alexander: She was a sweet, loving, nurtuting, caring woman who was very good to Emily all of her life. She took her in as if she was her own daughter. She loved her and her family. She never asked to be betrayed by her husband and friend and was devastated when their affair came to light. Mary suffered greatly at the hands of narcissistic John. She had loved him all of her life, and had given him every ounce of herself for many years, only to be left for someone younger and more beautiful than she was. Mary fought with everything in her to get her husband back and eventually he left Emily and went back home because in his words "it's the right thing to do". Mary got him back, but she was a changed woman after that. She stopped loving him the way she once had. He had ripped the trust between them in two and tainted the pure love she felt for him for many years. No longer was she HIS wife, he was now HER husband. She would make him pay for the rest of his life for his sin of loving another woman. Mary is extremely intelligent, paitent, devious, methodical, able to create a persona of love and kindness to others, when underneath it all, lies the heart of a manipulator as skilled in the craft as her husband. Together they are unstoppable as a team, when they join forces to get what they want. She loves money, clothes and material possessions and would sell John like a painted whore to get what she wants now that she no longer has the heart she once had toward him. And he, in turn would do whatever she asks of him to keep the peace for his own personal reasons, which will be brought to light in the third book, The Alexanders: Rise to Glory, Fall from Grace.

I've had many people tell me they hate John and many say they hate Mary.

Me, LOL, I love them all. They've given me a great deal to work with and a whole new life. It if hadn't been for these three characters in my head, I wouldn't be headed to LA next week to live. So you see, I don't hate John or Emily or Mary, I just write them as if I do. I love them all. They are a part of me, always.

Remember to work hard and Dream Big!!

Much love,

Christy