Same Beginning, Different Endings

One of the reasons I enjoy exploring relationships in my writing is the discovery of diverse endings to the same situation. In The Harper Twins series, both Karla and Aimee lost their innocence to boys who wanted in their pants, but not in their hearts. However, the girls responded in vastly different ways. For Karla, it was a lesson in the power she wielded between her legs, giving her the ability to be the manipulator, instead of the manipulated. It drove her outward, causing her to throw herself into risky, sexual encounters where men had to put up something for her to put out. She used her sex as a weapon and a tool, a commodity to be traded for more tangible, lasting possessions. She no longer looked for love—to be honest, her experience in high school made her believe that she did not deserve love—but rather searched out the adventures that came with her promiscuity and the things she could pry out of men’s hands and wallets for just a few moments of her time.

Aimee, on the other hand, after going through a slightly different, but similar experience, drew inward, yearning for love, but afraid to take the chance. Like Karla, she didn’t think she deserved the love that others experienced, thinking it was above her and out of her reach. However, unlike Karla, her thought process led her into herself instead of out. Instead of joining Karla in her wild behavior, Aimee turned the other way and adopted a more conservative viewpoint on life and sex. She threw herself into her own personal goals, striving to be the best at everything she did, even throwing herself into her family, protecting them from Karla’s antics, even protecting Karla herself. At one point, in Always Aimee, Karla even told Aimee that was her problem. “Stop thinking too much. Stop being you. You’re always Aimee, always doing what you think everyone else needs, always giving up what you want out of life to do what you think is the right thing. Well, stop it. Stop always being you. Don’t give up on your man. Until Clint tells you he wants to be back with Bonnie, don’t assume that he does.”

In The Harper Twins series, I explore two different paths from one trigger. Sibling Rivalry sets up the differences, showing us both sisters as they are, or rather, who they turned out to be and why. We discover the battles within each and how they are coping with their differences, but not their desires. They fight over Mitch Greenway, tossing out the rule they made in high school not to allow anyone to date both sisters and went about it the only way each of them had grown to know how to do. By the end of the book, they each get the man they not only deserve, but love, and who loves them.

Or, at least, we think they do. In Taming Karla, Karla still struggles in believing that anyone, even Mitch Greenway, can accept or even love her as she is. As Mitch tries to teach her that she’s wrong, together they also discover things about Karla she hasn’t even wanted to admit to herself. I chose the word taming because of the differences I wanted to make in Karla’s personality. She remained ramped up because of her disbelief in herself and other’s acceptance of her, expecting Mitch to disapprove of her actions. Yet, the opposite happened. Instead, of trying to get Karla to cease being who she was, he accepts her, allowing her the freedom to do whatever she desires with only a few rules in place to protect her. In that freedom, Karla discovers that everything she has done since that dreadful moment in high school has actually been what she wanted, and she used that experience as an excuse to do what she truly desired. Mitch gave her that freedom and safety net for her to explore and still know someone loved her for who she was.

The series continues with Always Aimee, and Clint now battles for his daughter against Bonnie, his daughter’s mother, who has returned after running out a year ago. Bonnie winds up being just like Karla, and Aimee believes since that is who Clint married, that is who he wants in his life right then. So, to give him what she thinks he wants, she breaks out of her shell, stops always being herself, and tries to become Karla. However, while Clint enjoys Aimee’s wildness when it happens, all he wants is for her to be who she’s always been; he wants her to always be Aimee Harper.

Both sisters struggle thinking that anyone can love them as they are, while the men who love them, love them for who they are. Karla thinks Mitch will want to change her, and Aimee feels she needs to change to please Clint, but both women are wrong, and luckily for them, the men they love adore them enough to stick it out and make them see it. That’s the theme in The Harper Twins, unconditional love and acceptance, stories of hope and family love. The series shows how you don’t have to be afraid of who you are and what you desire, and that there are people out there who will accept you for who you are without changing you. Never change who you are or deny who you are meant to be to please others or to fit into some mold.

So, are you a Karla or an Aimee? Either way, it’s okay. The world needs both.