Secret Shared: A Secret Novel

Amazon.com Review A Conversation with L. Marie Adeline Q. Secret Shared focuses on two characters: Cassie, who we know from S.E.C.R.E.T., and a new character, Dauphine. Can you tell us a bit about the experience of writing two characters throughout one novel? A. That was not really planned until I began the writing process. It seemed to me that Cassie's trip through the steps couldn't continue. And S.E.C.R.E.T. has a mandate to "pass it on." Naturally, I needed to find a new candidate equally compelling and vexed by her sex life, but in a different way than Cassie. She couldn't also be locked in sexually and reluctant. In fact, Dauphine is far more experienced than Cassie; she's just shoved sex on the back burner of her life. And so many people do it. Sex becomes a muscle we no longer flex. The trick with Dauphine is finding her Southern-ness, the parts that no longer work and the parts that served her well. The voice came from that. Switching voices between chapters took some getting used to. I would find myself putting Cassie's words in Dauphine's mouth. There's also a character, Mark Drury, who both women "know." I had to see him through two different eyes, by two women who felt differently about him. Once the characters became fully formed that was just a natural expression of who they were. But it was challenging, writing from two different perspectives. And fun! Q. Do you see parts of yourself in the women of S.E.C.R.E.T.? Is there a character you particularly identify with? A. I think a writer's DNA is in a little bit of each of their characters. I think I share Cassie's reticence, Will's simplicity, Tracina's survivor mentality, and some of Matilda's hard-earned wisdom (I like to think!). My new character, Dauphine, is a bit of a workaholic, and that's something I definitely share with her. I can really lose myself in my work, which I'm lucky to find so edifying. But still, work is no substitute for intimacy, as Dauphine happily discovers. Q. In addition to Cassie, readers will recognize many other chara