When I wrote Blood Feud for The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2, I just had enough information to tell Isobel and Seere’s story, and while I could see the potential for this world, I didn’t really feel any driving desire to write more for this couple or any other couple. Things are different for the short story I’m writing for The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance.
The biggest thing is that I keep getting information on how to make Lia and Troll’s story a full-length novel and it’s hard for me to shorthand it. I feel as if I’m skipping stuff I’d really like to take time to explore. I can’t. I only have 6,500 to 12,000 words and I just can’t do it. I also had to jettison the suspense/action part of the story because there isn’t enough space, and while I could add a little in, it would be at the end which would make it feel tacked on. I reluctantly released that string.
I think my problem stems from the fact that Lia and Troll are part of my Jarved Nine world (Ravyn’s Flight, Eternal Nights) and I’ve been in love with Troll since I met him. Troll, BTW, is a member of Wyatt’s team from EN. He’s a reformed player and just sexy as all get out. I don’t know if I can do him justice in the length and I sure can’t convey the sincerity of his conversation.
Another issue is that Troll and Lia just met in this story. With Blood Feud, my hero and heroine had a past together and it was merely a matter of rekindling their feelings. Much easier than establishing a relationship between a h/h who didn’t hook up until 10 pages into a story that will be less than 50 pages. If I was doing a full-length story, I’d have it take place over a few weeks, I’d give them time to fall in love and then Lia’s decision to stay in the future would make sense. This is much more difficult to convey in a short where the h/h have been together the grand total of maybe ten hours. Love is out and I have to go for staying to see where the relationship might lead and the potential for a happy ending down the road.
And then there’s the other characters from the first two J9 books. Several of them have put in an appearance and I want to spend more time with them, too. That’s not all. Troll and Lia’s story takes place after Flare’s story, and Gravedigger’s, and Z Man’s and their heroines are there as well.
Despite all this, I’m somehow managing to get where I need to go with the short story. It’s just hard to remember the “short” part sometimes.
