Why Kasie's Choices Aren't As Smart As She Is

Okay, before we get into this I have a quick announcement to make. Many of you have been asking when the audiobook of the Just One Night series will be available. We're currently looking at the first week of June and all three novellas will be on one audiobook. If you're going to listen to it in the car be sure your kids aren't in the backseat.

Now, about those Just One Night books. I know there are a handful of readers who have expressed frustration, even confusion about how Kasie, a highly educated, intelligent, accomplished woman could make so many stupid decisions in her personal life, frequently showing weakness and confusion.

When I first saw that comment I was a little surprised. Anyone who thinks individuals of high academic intelligence will automatically know how to handle themselves socially has never visited the M.I.T campus. From Cleopatra to Einstein, the list of smart people making bad personal choices is as long as recorded history.

But truthfully, Kasie's problems have less to do with her intelligence and more to do with her environment. Yes, watching her sister self-destruct was traumatic but what really messed her up was the way her parents turned that into a sort of sick teaching-moment. They actually used her sister's death to bring home a point, one that society tries to teach us all the time: women, good women, must color inside the lines. And when they don't they not only fall apart but they're not respected by those around them and eventually they're ostracized. But when you play the role you're supposed to play, marry the right guy, dress modestly, be likable without being pushy or daring, intelligent without challenging your partner, then you can get ahead.

And Kasie did everything right. She went to the right school, got the right job, found a respectable guy and she got ahead...but she didn't quite get the control or power she craved...especially not at her firm.  She worked hard for it. She was one of the best consultants on staff, but she knew she wasn't going to be able to leapfrog over anyone to get to a position of any real authority. She would have to wait her turn. For six years she had been waiting for her turn. At work, in her relationship, Kasie had mastered the art of waiting patiently like a "good woman" should.

And then Robert shows up. This man who doesn't play by the rules at all. This man who is her lover. And he hands her that power she's been working for. He just snaps his fingers and she's a project manager. She gets her coveted authority...and it doesn't come from her six years of hard work, or her Ivy League education, it comes from her lover who elevates her because he enjoys their sexual chemistry. She has authority because of an illicit affair.

For Kasie that sends everything into a tailspin. She sees that she could lose the respect she craves from her co-workers and family. She feels that this isn't the right path for her.  She wants to cling to the rules she's been playing by even if that game is blowing up in her face (and we can see how dramatically it blows up in Exposed). She's never been the woman who wanted to sleep her way to the top. The very thought horrifies her...except it works so much better than the method she was taught...and in a world where rule breakers are rewarded, what does it mean to be respected? How do you define that?

For Kasie these kinds of questions are crazy making. She's in a tailspin and she makes some stupid decisions. She's off balance and she keeps grasping at the wrong things for support.

Harvard Business School didn't prepare her for this. Her upbringing certainly didn't prepare her for this.   This was not on the GMAT. Kasie has an extremely analytical mind and nothing about her situation can be solved by using analytical thinking.

That's how you can get a highly educated, intelligent, accomplished woman to make stupid decisions in her personal life. You just tell her that everything she's been studying and learning is beside the point...

...and then just sit back and watch her unravel.