The Power of Comments

I received the best comment from a reader!

During my review tour for my latest book, The Seduction of Esther, one of the people who stopped at the review site, left the following comment:

“That's interesting. Do you think that there will be a whole "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" series? I think matchmakers are cool!”

First, let me explain. In The Seduction of Esther, there is a character named Joyce who is a bit of a busybody and decides that my hero, Nathaniel, and heroine, Samara, would make a great couple, so she throws a party to introduce the two of them. Of course, they’ve already met—she dropped potatoes all over him, and then spilled wine down his shirt, and then...—but this party is the first time he gets to see her when she’s not being a klutz and for once, she helps him out when he’s a bit uncomfortable with all the attention. Throughout the book, Joyce pops up occasionally to redirect them, and while she’s not officially a “matchmaker,” she is essential to their happily ever after.

While The Seduction of Esther is supposed to be the first book in a series, I had not intended to make Joyce a major catalyst in book two. In fact, book two’s hero and heroine already know each other from book one. The heroine, Miriam, is Samara’s sister; the hero, Josh, was the villain from book one who has since redeemed himself. The impetus for their getting together is a professional project they work on—he’s the architect and she is his daily contact at the job site. While previously they didn’t like each other—he did cause a lot of trouble for her sister, after all—working together shows a different side of Josh and Miriam begins to fall for him. I don’t really need a matchmaker.

But my reader’s comment got me thinking. What if I play around with that idea a bit? I might not need Joyce to actually set them up, but maybe I can use her to plant an earworm or two at key points during the story. The books have a Jewish theme to them and there are scenes in the temple and scenes that portray Jewish life and culture. As is true anywhere, any type of community has a certain amount of gossip. So far, I have Joyce trying to get information about their relationship out of Miriam and later on, wondering how their relationship will affect Miriam’s and Samara’s relationship—after all, Josh was first attracted to Samara and is now attracted to Miriam. That could create a bit of sibling tension.

The more I think about this idea, the more I like it. It’s still too early in the story to determine if it works. I have a lot of pieces to fit together and I won’t know for certain until I tie up all the loose ends. But if you’ve ever commented about a writer’s book, whether it’s one you’ve already read or one the writer is still working on, and wondered if your voice is heard? It is!