I’ve never been an A+B=C kind of writer. Even
with the first book in my Interstellar
Rescue series, Unchained Memory, I
played with multiple timelines, points of view and subplots. In that book,
those tricks of the writer’s trade were necessary to keep the reader guessing about
the true nature of the heroine’s past and the future threat she and the hero faced
to reach their HEA.
Playing with the reader’s preconceptions and
making her question what was going on was something I’d learned from watching
television classics like The Twilight
Zone and The X-Files. But as I
continued with the IR series, I found those tricks became signature elements of
my style. Like I mentioned last
week, making my characters question the foundation of their cozy existence
is an essential part of what I do with my contemporary SFR.
Of course, as I added titles to my series, the
cast of characters got bigger, too. My universe expanded every time I wrote a
new book, and, since I have fans who follow the series, sometimes they want to
see old favorites make an appearance. Often, it’s not just for old times’ sake,
either. Older characters may have ongoing roles to play in the universe I’ve
created, so they keep showing up to do their jobs.
The challenge then becomes to limit these
characters’ POVs, then to integrate the subplots they generate with the main
external plot and the romantic arc between the hero and heroine in such a way
that it’s not an unwieldy hodgepodge. No easy task (just ask the writers of the
latest Avengers disaster, uh, movie).
Fun fact: characters change as they take on
new roles in different books. And maybe they aren’t as nice as you’d like them
to be. Rescue Agent Rayna Carver, the heroine of Fools Rush In, Interstellar Rescue Series Book 3, was never one to follow the rules. But in Not Fade Away, Interstellar Rescue Series Book 4, Rayna, has been promoted to Rescue's Chief of Field Operation. The stubborn hero of the book, "retired" Rescue Agent Rafe Gordon, finds out Rayna can be just as hard-headed in her new position as enforcer of the "regs.".
The look
on Charlie’s face—hurt, betrayal—sent an arrow of pain straight through Rafe’s
chest. Damn it, why couldn’t they have let him handle this his way?
He
started after her. “Charlie!”
“Let her
go.” Rayna grabbed his arm. “You know you’ve allowed that to get way out of
hand, right?”
He
snatched his arm out of her grip. “That
is my personal life—and it’s my business. I didn’t mean for Charlie to get
involved in it, but it’s not like I could predict when that assassin would show
up. She handled it like a pro—she deserves to know what’s going on.”
“I don’t
need to tell you why that’s a bad idea,” Rayna said, her expression grim.
“Especially if you care for her.”
Anger
flared in his chest. Anger—and guilt. He’d put Charlie in the crosshairs with
him and Del. The safest thing for her would be to stay far away from them. But
the thought of living without her stole the air from his lungs. He forced
himself to breathe.
“Why are
you here, Chief Murphy?” He had to resolve this once and for all. Rescue had
ruined his day for the last time. “I’ve told you Del is not gonna be a snack
for your Thrane brain eater.”
“You may
say different once you hear what we’re really up against.” Rayna’s stubborn
expression mirrored his own unwillingness to compromise.
“We’ve
got plenty of trouble right here,” he said.
Rayna
ignored that argument. “We think the Grays have tested their weapon—the one
that was maturing at the T7 labor camp. Two days ago, a nonaligned planet in
Sector Five was stripped of its power sources and working technology in a
matter of minutes. When the Grays swept in to occupy the panicked world, the
population had no defenses. People are being organized into slave labor
battalions as we speak, to work factories, crystal mines and industrial farms.”
Rafe’s
jaw clenched. “It’s not the first time the Grays have taken over an entire
planet.”
“No. But
it’s the first time they’ve done it without outside help,” Rayna countered. “No
Thrane mercenaries. No troops of any kind. Intel says just the usual Ninoctin
guards and mindwipe facilities.” She shook her head, and the face she turned up
to him now was horrified. Desperate. “A whole planet, Rafe. Without a shot
fired in resistance. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
“But if
the weapon has been unleashed, we’re too late,” he said, guilt warring with
relief in his chest. “The thing, whatever it is, is fully mature and on the
move. What good would it do to know where it was hatched?”
Rayna
exhaled. “The Grays lost at least one of their escort ships when the weapon was
used. Maybe as many as three of them. The Grays will have to go back home and
regroup before they try it again.”
“You
hope.” Rafe heard the weary sarcasm in his voice; he hated that sound of
defeat.
Rayna
met his gaze, fire in her dark eyes. “Yes. We all hope. Because if we don’t get
there to stomp this thing to death while it’s down, we might as well all line
up for the mindwipe. The Grays will have won not just the battle, but the whole
freaking war.”
Cheers, Donna
Fun post, Donna. Loved the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI've also found my universe expanding as I write new books--sometimes in unexpected ways. Those surprising twists are part of the fun for me as the author.