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Dark, edgy, passionate, fast-paced
It's a little bit of both—but I definitely don't begin to really move forward with a story until I know the characters inside and out. It’s their personalities and individual motivations that often define the direction a story takes.
For this book, I did know that I wanted the opening to involve the heroine trapped in a prison and the hero rescuing her—much to my heroine’s displeasure. That’s right, she doesn’t WANT to be rescued. So I had the basic premise. I also knew I wanted the hero to belong to a group of sexy alpha mercenaries and the heroine to be a ruthless assassin, so I had the basic character sketches too.
After that, it was all a matter of brainstorming and creating fun, complex characters, and dark, suspenseful situations.
It’s what I love to write. I’m drawn to stories with an edge or with an element of danger. I enjoy creating emotional situations within all that danger and watching my characters fall in love de-spite all the chaos around them. And it’s also a lot of fun writing outrageous action scenes, be-cause in real life I’m very much a “play-it-safe” kind of gal—no risk taking for me!
Lots. Everything from combat techniques to geology. If I’m unsure about something, I’ll usually research it—or phone a friend.
I think Abby, my heroine, was the hardest to write. Figuring out her background and how that influenced the decisions she’d ultimately make was difficult. She’s found herself in a position where she desperately wants to rescue others before they wind up in the same horrible situation she did, and this affects the cold, detached front she’s put up all these years. It was also a challenge to find that balance between her being an assassin—someone who can be cold and emotionless—and being a woman falling in love—someone who opens up and lets herself be vulnerable.
Luke was definitely the easiest to write. He’s a secondary character in this book but will be the hero of book two, “Midnight Alias”. His ladies man personality, conflicts and motivations came really naturally for me.
Hands down, young adult. I fell in love with reading when I was young and some of my favorite books are ones that I read way back then. Stories really stick with you when you’re that age. I also think it’s a really important genre—getting kids excited about books at a young age can play a pivotal role in their lives. Plus, it’s just plain fun.
