Blog Tour: 9 Things to Love About All These Lives: Thing #6: Dani's Parents

Welcome to the next stop for All These Lives blog tour hosted by Books Complete Me. All These Lives is written by Sarah Wylie. Today's theme on the stop is Dani's Parents. 

Sarah Wylie Links: Website / Blog / Goodreads / Twitter

Make sure to check out Sarah's blog post. Sarah is hosting a great giveaway that include: 

• 1 SIGNED copy of ALL THESE LIVES;
• 3 ALL THESE LIVES bookmarks; and
• Your choice of ANY 3 Apocalypsies books!

1. Describe your daughters in 3 words each.

DANI

Dani/Jena’s dad: She’s really quite sensitive.

Dani/Jena’s mom: Talented. She’s caught the acting bug, much like myself.

Dad: She’s a lot like you.

Mom: Maybe too much.

Dad: I’d also go with funny.

Mom: Funny?

Dad: A little.

Mom: whispers I guess I shouldn’t say ‘troublemaker’?

JENA

Mom: Stubborn.

Dad: Because she doesn’t always agree with you?

Mom: Because she’s stubborn. Just this afternoon…well, I’ll tell you later.

Dad: Hmm. I’d say ‘tough’. I think she’s one tough cookie. I also…I think she’s wiser than we maybe give her credit for.

Mom: I agree.


2. What difference have you noticed the most in Dani's behavior since her sister was diagnosed with cancer?

Mom: Dani’s alone a lot more now than she used to be. It used to be that Jena and Dani were a team; them against me in every matter from what type of apples we should get to where to go on vacation. I miss them being together like, even if it always made me the odd man out.

Dad: I think Dani’s tongue has gotten a little sharper since the…you know. The situation with her sister. It’s funny, Dani’s so quick with the comments but I don’t feel like I ever know exactly what she’s thinking, you know?

3. What is the most challenging part of having twins?

Dad: Telling them apart! Ha ha. chuckles

Mom: It’s hilarious, except when it’s true.

Dad: Well, I mean, by the third month we pretty much got the hang of it, right?

Mom: Dani was much fussier. And they really didn’t look all that much alike. We were just sleep-deprived.

Dad: Yes, in case they read this: we were severely sleep-deprived.

Mom: On a serious note, for me, it’s the fact that there’s two of them and only one of me. Initially it was – if I can’t get them both on my hip and they’re both crying, who do I leave to pick up the other? Who do I curl up with and rock to sleep when they’re both crying during an electric storm? And now, who do I hold onto when they’re both hurting, drifting further away from me, and I only have so much strength? I think maybe I prayed harder for one of them and not the other? I don’t know.

Dad: I was just going to say it was more expensive having two of everything.

4. Despite how hard she tries not to succeed, Dani is still a very bright and talented girl. Which of you do you think she gets that from the most?

Mom: Obviously, the acting comes from me. A few people know about my background in theater, but you may not. I was once the longest-running Eliza Doolittle in a very popular production of My Fair Lady, until I tore my ACL.

Dad: We met while she was still on crutches. Anyway, I think Dani’s sense of humor is my contribution, but her book smarts are from both of us.

5. If you could tell Dani one thing that will stick with her for the rest of her life, what would it be?

Mom: This is a hard question. There are so many things I want to tell her! If I had to narrow it down to one, though, I think I’d say, “Myths and miracles and everything else aside, I believe in you, most of all.” It sounds a little strange, I know, but she’d understand. We think alot alike.

Dad: Just “I love you.”

All These Lives

Author: Sarah Wylie

Reading Level: YA

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Release Date: June 5th 2012

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Summary: (from goodreads) Sixteen-year-old Dani is convinced she has nine lives. As a child she twice walked away from situations where she should have died. But Dani’s twin, Jena, isn’t so lucky. She has cancer and might not even be able to keep her one life. Dani’s father is in denial. Her mother is trying to hold it together and prove everything’s normal. And Jena is wasting away. To cope, Dani sets out to rid herself of all her extra lives. Maybe they’ll be released into the universe and someone who wants to live more than she does will get one. Someone like Jena. But just when Dani finds herself at the breaking point, she’s faced with a startling realization. Maybe she doesn’t have nine lives after all. Maybe she really only ever had one.