Erin asked Penelope Douglas:

With the spotlight growing on Bullying what boundries if any were you afraid to touch?

Penelope Douglas That's an interesting question. I think with this story there was a line I knew I couldn't cross. If the bullying was REALLY bad, then people never would've forgiven Jared. I also wanted this story to center around the romance and not become a Lifetime movie.

BULLY isn't about bullying. It's about a love-hate relationship and two people repairing broken bonds. I used bullying as the catalyst.

Now, I've gotten bad feedback for Tate and Jared not going to the police about the sex video, or not telling their parents, but I think once readers think about it, those actions would've detracted the focus from Jared and Tate. It would've turned the book into something else that I didn't want. It's a romance, and I didn't want to go certain places because it would've been a distraction from the H/h.

So yes, I could talk about Tate's public humiliation, but if I showed you everything she went through, it would've made it very hard to forgive Jared. I decided to concentrate more on how his behavior impacted and changed her.

Thanks for the question!

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