On Why Rocky Isn't a Bada**

I'm not exactly on the same page with John Green all the time but he did say one thing that I completely agree with, and I'm paraphrasing here, "You don't have to like my characters."
In the past, back when I dared to read reviews, some complained about Rocky. She's emotionally unstable. She doesn't know what she wants. She's this then she's that. She's annoying.
Yeah.
She's 17.
She's never traveled.
She doesn't hang out with the party crowd.
She's built this false exterior around herself to hide her pain and to protect herself from abuse.
She has serious, legitimate trust issues.
Take her away from her white trash, roaming-eyes pervert of a stepdad and throw her into a world with rich men who have potentially nefarious ulterior motives and yeah...that could make her a little bipolar in her actions. Mix together the danger, intensity,  and lies with some seriously emotionally damaged heartthrobs and the girl has some issues to work out while she's in the thick of it.
I believe in growth, that wisdom and strength come from passing through the fires and being refined. What teenage girl doesn't think she's all that but doesn't fall apart when cast out into the storm? We stumble and fall along the way before we learn to walk against the wind. We do stupid things and that is how we gain wisdom and humility.
Is Rocky a pain?
Absolutely.
But she and William and Peter are on a journey to become the people the family has needed all along.

#TeaserTuesday

In honor of Teaser Tuesday I will tease you, my dear von Strassenberg Saga readers...even though you know how much I hate to give things away and how difficult it can be to tease without spoiling for those who have not read either Filter or Bluestocking Girl!

This Valentine's Day Viktor and Katherine (and yes, William!) are back in A von Strassenberg Saga novella which picks up right where Bluestocking left off...as well as after the swoon-worthy balcony scene between Viktor and Katherine in Filter. 

"These were not the belongings of the past prisoner he had imagined. These were a lady’s things—hairpins and stockings and a glove. There were more clues waiting but William no longer felt certain he wanted to know the dark secrets of this cell. as he reached in to draw out the next clue he tried not to think about what could have happened to a woman in a place like this. Without seeing, he knew what it was his hand next closed around. He hoped he was wrong but no, in his hand he held human hair, plaited in a braid, and bound at either end with bits of torn cotton. It was hard to discern the color of the hair in the ghostly glow of the LED lantern, a shade of brown, not dark or light, somewhere in between, was the best he could tell. William knew hair that color but tried not to think about it being in a place like this. He thought of Rocky’s short spiky hair, of the portrait in her living room--the small young woman who bore such a strong resemblance to her great granddaughter five times removed. He looked at the hair in his hand again and a wave of revulsion swept over him.

The Demure’s two missing daughters." ©2013GwennWright

Need to get caught up? The von Strassenberg Saga is available for Nook and Kindle and in a lovely paperback. 

Find it here on Goodreads ----> http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11234679-filter 
Where fans harass me about meeting my deadline :) ---> https://www.facebook.com/ThevonStrassenbergSaga

Filter, One Customer Really Got it!

One customer review boiled my book down better than I ever could!
Maybe I should have her develop my pitch for me! Here's her review: 

Intertwining the past and the present, Ms. Wright expertly weaves a tale of romantic suspense that keeps you turning the pages. The struggle of the feisty Rocky (Raquel) and the moral William against corrupt and unjust relations in modern St. Louis, Missouri, is parallel to the struggle of the fragile Katherine and the courageous Viktor in a bygone era. In the unanticipated ending, the connection these people share is understood, and you will cry out for the next episode of this intriguing tale!