Hi Faye!
First of, I just wanna tell you I LOVE The Missing and you did such an amazing job with this book! Absolutely chef's kiss 😽!
TM week deep dives has been a joy to read and I'm like, you know what, why don't I try Odette's route this time just to support women's wrongs?
Anyway! If you don't mind, can you tell us a bit more background about our BFFs Saga and Jannie (ft. Steen)? How did their friendship begin? I read in Alba's deep dive about Saga's potential as love interest, and if that did happen, how do you think the dynamics in their friend group would have changed? Aah the what-could-have-been with Saga, I CANT!
And I absolutely adore the ending where we get to confirm the future parents! Honestly getting some girldad vibes from Steen. The group would be wonderful parents and amazing godmothers 😻.
Thanks, Faye, and hope you get your well-deserved rest! Looking forward to reading more stories from you 💖 (P.S. may I ask what months does fall fall under? We don't have that season in my country 😅)
Hello!
I'm winding down my social media engagement to go touch some grass, but I wanted to answer this because this is something I know lol.
Jannie and Ghita knew each other from school, from probably around 13-14 years of age. Jannie has a sister and at some point in her late teens, her mom died from cancer - and no, this isn't written anywhere, but as previously mentioned, I give characters traits and motivations that don't revolve around the main character in order to feel that they're 'complete' people while I write. Jannie has long since processed her loss, but it makes her much more aware and protective of Ghita, because she of all people understand the grief and Ghita's missing closure.
Ghita and Saga met each other at university, maybe at one of those basic academic 101 classes, maybe at a social event. They would hit it off and always find the other in a crowd, bonding over their chaotic love lives probably. As Ghita went into policing and Saga into research, their friendship might've had its dips and curves, but Ghita would've introduced Saga to Jannie and they would also quickly have made friends, binding them all together. Saga and Jannie might've spent more time together during a period where Ghita was at the academy and when she came back, it would've been as if it was always the three of them.
The main reason why Saga isn't a love interest is that I never saw her as one and it's only in hindsight with knowing what I know now that I wondered if it would've been more appropriate. And by wonder, I truly just mean "wonder" - I think there's a bunch of other issues with Saga as a LI that means she wouldn't necessarily have been a better option. I don't think the friend group would've worked as well as it did, for a start.
Finally, "fall" is september-october-november :D