Hello Cheryl! Who has been the hardest character to write?

Cheryl Bolen Good question, Courtney. Hands down, Carlotta Ennis, who was introduced as a bit of vamp in my first Brides of Bath book, The Bride Wore Blue. I decided to make her the heroine of the fourth book, now titled The Bride's Secret but originally titled (in 2004) A Fallen Woman. People intensely disliked her from the earlier books, so I had my work cut out for me to make her sympathetic. Still, that book sold more poorly than the other books because a lot of readers didn't want to touch Carlotta! I glory in fan letters praising me for succeeding in making her sympathetic. Many readers even cite her story as their favorite for its emotional wrenching. To this day, when I read it, I cry.

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