I’m really happy with how The Big Surprise turned out. I think this book is definitely different from some of the other Peterson books because there’s a lot more emotion in it, but it still has a lot of funny Peterson moments too.

I really loved adding Vicky and Sam to the family and seeing how all of the characters act around the babies. I also loved giving Lana such a big story in this book. A lot changes for her, and I think this is probably one of the

most important books for her character.

I also really liked how much Lina, John, Zoe, and Nellie got to do. John and Sam together were really fun to write, and Zoe is always really funny. I think the ending was one of my favorite parts because you really get to see how much the Peterson family has changed since the beginning of the book.

I still think The Not-So-Merry Christmas is my favorite because it’s probably the funniest Peterson book I’ve written, but I really love The Big Surprise too. I think this one has some of the best emotional moments and biggest changes in the whole series.

I definitely think Lana changed the most in The Big Surprise. At the beginning, she’s still Lina’s best friend who is always around the Peterson family, but by the end, her whole life is completely different.

Losing her parents, Sabrina and Ryan, was obviously the biggest change for her. I wanted Lana to still feel like Lana even after something so sad happened to her. She can still joke around, get annoyed with everyone, argue with John, hang out with Lina, and be obsessed with Vicky, while also missing her parents.

By the end, Lana isn’t just Lina’s best friend who comes

over all the time anymore. She actually lives with the Petersons and becomes part of their family. But I think something really important is that she doesn’t stop being a Smith just because she becomes part of the Peterson family. She can be both.

I wanted to add Vicky and Sam because I thought having babies in the Peterson family would make everything even more fun and chaotic. Before The Big Surprise, we already had a lot of different ages and personalities in the family, but we had never really gotten to see everyone dealing with babies.

I also really wanted the twins to have completely different personalities and relationships with everyone. Vicky is especially close with Lana and becomes a huge part of her story, while Sam has a really cute relationship with John. I think John finally having another boy in the

family was really fun too because he is surrounded by girls most of the time.

The twins also give the other characters new sides to their personalities. You get to see who is good with babies, who gets jealous, who is protective, and who probably should not be trusted to babysit.

I definitely think Vicky and Sam are going to keep becoming bigger characters as they grow up throughout the series.