Pantster, plotter or at the mercy of my characters?
I think I might be a bit of both panster and plotter. I like to plot out my stories a head of time. That usually means I have a Chapter heading and one or two sentences about what’s going to happen in that chapter. A very simple plot, but I do have one. The problem comes when I add characters.
Characters never read the plot outlines, and they like to develop a life of their own. I am definitely at their mercy. They have secrets that they let me in on as the story progresses. Sometimes it’s as simple as an allergy that’s going to complicate a romantic dinner, or an aversion to certain types of alcohol. Other times, though, it’s something major that they really should have mentioned before I started the story. Like a psychotic ex-lover. Or a secret baby. Or a bounty hunter with their name on his list. Or in the case of Terras Five, a whole new type of character that appeared in the third book in the series.
Battle Rats. Yup. I kid you not. In the third book, a fuzzy little critter showed up and wiggled his way into the heroine’s heart. It was little and cute and….. well….. not quite as harmless as it appeared. Turns out it was an escapee from a science experiment and when threatened it was more than capable of defending itself against multiple enemies at the same time. Try to picture a cross between an oversized long haired guinea pig and a Viking Berseker. Made for a very interesting plot twist that was definitely not in the original outline. Since then several Battle Rats have shown up and I’m starting to like the little creatures. Not exactly cuddly pets, but they do have interesting character traits. And they are very loyal which is nice. You always know whose side they are on. Just don’t try obedience training on them, though. The Cyborgs did not dub them Battle Rats for no reason.
While writing your books, are there ever any surprises?
Gosh, yes! I usually have at least the bare minimum outline of the story when I start, and then the characters go ahead and do something totally unexpected. Or another character shows up and completely changes the plotline. I’ve learned to just go with it, and let them have their say. A good example if the Battle Rat that showed up in Book 3 of the Terras Five series (A Deliciously Bothersome Cyborg) I had no idea such things existed when I plotted that book, and yet there it was being cute and deadly!
Her Cyborg Lover
Terras Five Book 1
by Anne Kane
Genre: SciFi Romance
Natalie's loved and lost, and she's not so sure she wants to risk her heart again. She's willing to settle for a challenging career as a space-pilot instructor and a succession of no-strings-attached lovers. But that's before her boss saddles her with the last thing she wants -- a new partner.
Jebediah recognizes his perfect match in Natalie from the moment she seduces him on a dare. Everything that makes her a top-notch pilot, from her fearlessness to her passion, make a night in her bed both challenging and unforgettable.
A dangerous confrontation with a brutal enemy, an exploding drive engine and a traitor close to home throw everything into perspective. Natalie is going to have to put the past behind her and risk it all, because when your partner is also your lover, failure is not an option.
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Taming the Cyborg
Terras Five Book 2
Although he doesn't understand why his brother chose to bond with a human female, Noah agrees to be the official cyborg witness at the birth of the cyborg/human couple's first son. When he arrives on the human space station, he finds himself face to face with a female pilot, an unheard of occupation for a female on the cyborg home world of Terras Five. Hailey's cute, she's sassy, she's sexy and she doesn't automatically defer to him just because he's male. Noah finds that combination irresistible.
After a night of amazing sex, Hailey heads off on a reconnaissance mission with her squadron, and Noah arranges to spend a little more time in the human world to get the sassy redhead out of his system. But when her ship goes missing, it's up to Noah to use all the tricks of his cyborg heritage to track her down and rescue her.
A Deliciously Bothersome Cyborg
Terras Five Book 3
Liam is the most deliciously bothersome cyborg Emma has ever met. Like most of his kind, he's arrogant, opinionated, and amazingly good in bed. When he rescues her from a kidnap attempt, he decides he needs more time to get to know her so he heads to the far side of the galaxy instead of taking her home.
Along the way they pick up a furry little creature who turns out to be quite capable of defending itself and are attacked by a ship full of pirates who want to get their hands on the little critter. Life is never dull when a cyborg has you in his sights!
Her Cyborg Champion
Terras Five Book 4
Zoe is five feet, six inches of green-eyed, red-haired militant activist. A deeply ingrained need to help those who can't help themselves -- human and otherwise -- motivates her every move. She snuck into the Mailon research facility to investigate rumors of experiments being conducted on a rare and highly intelligent species of sentient mammals. Now she finds herself in need of help to rescue one very sick little battle rat.
Greyson is six and a half feet of ruggedly muscular cyborg with a penchant for violence. He loves to fight, and he fights to win. What he hates is being sent to the Mailon research facility on a petty errand. When he catches a glimpse of a former lover flitting around the facility like an impossibly sexy cat burglar, he is intrigued. What is the saucy little wench up to, and why is she stalking him through the corridors of the alien laboratory?
Running From the Cyborg
Terras Five Book 5
Caitlyn: Gorgeous. Feisty. Human. A survivor in an unforgiving galaxy. Running from an enemy she can’t see for reasons she doesn’t understand. Whoever he is, he’s trying to kill her.
Jakob: Large. Mouthwateringly sexy. Loyal. Cyborg. Determined to find the female who seduced him, gave him a night he’d never forget, then disappeared before he woke. When he finally manages to catch up to her, he intends to do whatever it takes to keep her at his side.
Kidnapping the Cyborg
Terras Five Book 6
Plan: Seduce the Cyborg, kidnap him and force him to help her escape. What could possibly go wrong?
Life in the breeders enclave on Terras Five was comfortable. Safe. Boring! Abigail wanted more. She wanted to explore the galaxy, have a career, enjoy all the freedoms that a human female took for granted. In order to do that she needed to get off-planet, and in order to accomplish that, she needed help. Male help.
She had a plan.
Jackson was flattered that the young female chose him to sire her offspring, and he was more than willing to play his part and make sure she enjoyed the experience as much as he did. What he wasn’t prepared for was being kidnapped at weapons point and forced to help the young breeder escape. Of course, he could have disarmed her and foiled her plan, but where’s the fun in that?
Her Cyborg Captor
Terras Five Book 7
Keily: Human. Curvy. Independent. An intense, do-good activist who’s never without a cause to throw her limitless energy into. She likes her sex hot and impersonal. She doesn’t have time for silly romantic dalliances. She has a planet full of Battle Rats to save!
Ryker: Cyborg. Scarred. Cynical. Rejected by the females of Terras Five, he becomes one of the most sought-after mercenaries in the galaxy. But when he accepts a contract to capture a female activist he finds out not all females find his scars terrifying. One particular human female finds them incredibly sexy.
Engine failure, hastily terminated jumps, and a fluffy stowaway challenge the unlikely pair to work together to find their way home and into each other’s hearts.
Award winning author Anne Kane lives in the beautiful Okanagan Valley with a bouncy little rescue mutt(Merlin the Wonder Dog), a slightly larger rescue dog (Lexi the Bouncy) a cantankerous Himalayan cat, and too many fish to count. She has two handsome sons and seven adorable grandchildren. She's always been fascinated by science fiction and fantasy so of course when she writes, she lets her imagination take over. The one thing the reader can always count on is that the main characters will live happily ever after, even if they have to defeat a few nasty aliens first.
When she's not busy writing the next great novel, she likes to kayak, hike, ride motorcycles, swim, skate, practice karate, play her guitar, sing and of course, read.
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