His Abducted Bride is the third book in the Across the Stars Series.  The first two books (Suddenly a Bride and Runaway Bride) involve an alien from Pandoran who has come to Earth in search of his life mate.  I could do another book with the same idea, but I’d rather do something different.  I figure the Across the Stars Series is one in which I can step outside the box.  I can add a sci-fi or fantasy element to it instead of making it a strictly contemporary romance.

So for book 3, I decided to go with an idea I’ve had since 1998.  The original idea was for an author to be working on a book when a computer virus invades the story and traps her friend into the computer.  While the virus is running amok through the story, the author finds a way to get into the story to try to rescue her friend.  Along the way, the author falls in love with one of her characters who is helping her find her friend.  It’s the character and author falling in love idea that intrigued me.  However, the story was a fantasy, and while I enjoy fantasy, I would rather write a romance.

So while I was thinking of what to do with Sandy, I worked out a way I could give her the plot I had thought of back in 1998.  Instead of a virus, I decided the abductor should be a character in her book, and instead of her searching for her friend, she would be the one kidnapped and the one who had to find a way to escape.  Since it’s a romance, she’ll end up falling in love with the character, of course, but there will be some adventure (aka conflict) along the way.  Like Sandy said, no story is worth telling without conflict.  😀  In this case, the conflict will be her (in the beginning) and an unexpected character who won’t be happy (this is another king in the story).

As a writer, I’ve learned that characters will take on a life of their own.  The story isn’t something I control; they do.  If I try to work the story opposed to what they want, the story either ends up needing to be rewritten (because it sucks) or I get stuck and can’t write anything else.  I know it sounds weird, but characters become “real” as the story is being written.  And sometimes it’s the ones that are the most difficult that end up being the most fun to write.  I’ve thought it would be awesome to be able to go into one of my stories and talk to my characters (be a part of their world).  Sandy will get to live the adventure I would love to live but never will because getting stuck inside of one of my stories is impossible.  But the fun with fiction is that anything is possible, especially when you can throw in a little fantasy.  😀