Lisa Pontini
August 20, 1999 As posted on the Simon & Schuster Bulletin Board

Post Number: 46192 of 46295
Subject: LISA PONTINI
On 08/20/99 at 2:13AM JUDITH McNAUGHT said...

Hi, everyone! Judy e-mailed me the following question, and the answer follows:

QUESTION: Lisa Pontini was so well- imagined, I really felt as though I KNEW her, or at least, had met someone like her before. Was there anyone specific you had in mind when creating Lisa, on whom you based the character? Did you know from the start that you were going to pair Parker and Lisa together??

ANSWER: Actually...my original plan for Lisa was very, very different than the "Lisa" we all came to love. In the early stages of the manuscript, when I planned to take PARADISE main-stream, Lisa started out as an adorable youngster—just as she was in the version you read. Meredith was still her benefactor and engaged to Parker, and Lisa was working for Bancroft & Co— Everything was the same to that point. But in the first draft of the manuscript, the adult Lisa had developed a grave and realistic case of envy and resentment toward Meredith—a love/hate relationship toward Meredith because Meredith was always in the position of Lisa's benefactor, and Lisa resented her for that as much as she took advantage of the opportunities Meredith offered her. I'm not certain I'm explaining that, but it's rather a common psychological event when one person is able to effortlessly and repeatedly bestow favors on another. Many of us would feel deep, undying gratitude in that situation, but there are other people who resent the "giver" even while they are taking, needing those very gifts. To put it succinctly they hate being the recipient of charity and, even though they need that charity, they resent the fact that someone else is able to hand it out.

Anyway, I ended up disliking Lisa so thoroughly when I wrote her that way, that I changed my mind and decided I preferred to portray a woman (Lisa in this case) at her best, not her worst. In that early version, Lisa kept her animosity mostly hidden, and she hated herself for being jealous of Meredith, so she wasn't a completely despicable character, but she wasn't all that likeable either. And, yes, in the early version of the book, as in the final version, Lisa was secretly in love with Parker. And since I knew that Matt and Meredith were going to end up together, I had pretty much assumed that Parker and Lisa would get together in the end.

It's good to see everyone here is having such a good time.

Regards--

JM

~~ Judith McNaught on Simon & Schuster's SimonSays Discussion Board