WHY DO YOU LET YOUR CHARACTERS SERIES-HOP?

Short answer: Because they will not take no for an answer. They refuse to stay in their own worlds. An author has NO control. In Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen series) Evan and his two servants, Niall and Alanna, drop in on Chloe and Brendan’s wedding, the main characters from Branded Sanctuary (Nature of Desire series). My merangel from Mermaid’s Ransom (Daughters of Arianne series) and her half Dark Spawn boyfriend showed up at a vampire Christmas party (“You’re All Invited”, a free novella vignette). Hell, two of my earliest characters from a short story, a carpenter and a homeless woman who met during a fender bender (“Home Is Where the Heart Is”), later show up with truck and magical shotgun in the middle of the Nevada desert, when one of my angel heroes and mermaid heroines are under attack (A Mermaid’s Kiss).

On top of that, contemporary characters give a whole new meaning to seven degrees of separation, because somehow they always know one another, whether they’re from my non-series single titles, or from my Nature of Desire and Knights of the Board Room series. Matt Kensington and his wife Savannah (KBR) are good friends with Dale, a retired Navy SEAL from the single-title Unrestrained. Tyler Winterman (NOD) directs Peter (KBR) toward the submissive of his dreams, Dana. Etc. etc. etc.

Sometimes character guest appearances occur, in a sense, even before their book is written and perhaps even spawn the idea for their own series. In one of my earliest single title books, If Wishes Were Horses, Justin has a fountain statue of a mermaid and an angel intertwined in front of his erotica shop, For Her. That was a foreshadowing of the hero and heroine of A Mermaid’s Kiss, the first book in the Daughters of Arianne series.

Now seriously, as to why these series hops occur, I personally love what happens when these different cultures cross paths. For instance, one of my favorite scenes in this regard comes from that free vignette mentioned above, “You’re All Invited”. Let me give you a snippet of it. This is when Alexis, the visiting merangel from Mermaid’s Ransom, gives Kane, the young son of Lyssa, our vampire queen, a special gift:

* * * * *

As they assembled in the spacious indoor pool area, the indoor exotic plants lit with Christmas lights gave a dim glow to the room, a flicker of diamonds across the water. Lyssa knelt at Kane’s side. “Do you remember a few weeks ago, when we were decorating the tree and you said you wanted to meet an angel?”

Her son nodded, his blue eyes lighting up with anticipation. Lyssa put a hand on his shoulder and pointed toward the pool. “Then watch very closely.”

Across the pool from all of them, Alexis presented her back to Dante. He slid the zipper down on her dress, untied her sash, holding the cloth in place an extra moment to dip his head, kiss her throat, murmur to her before he let it whisper off her naked body. While nudity was not an issue for vampires or angels, there was a pristine beauty to her, to the moment, that made it more like unveiling a breathtaking creation than a sexual experience.

As she stepped gracefully into the water, golden patterns began to appear on her skin, an intricate tattoo scrolling over the flesh of her upper arms and back, her breasts and abdomen. They gleamed, reflecting the Christmas lights.

Her body shifted, shimmered. Kane drew in a breath—actually most of the adults did as well— as her wings emerged from her back. The feathers were a pale gold color, ruffling a little from the transition. As the wings arched over her shoulders, she extended them fully.

She was still moving into the water, had reached the bottom of the steps. When she made a lithe, twisting movement, it was obvious she was no longer being supported by her legs. A moment later, there were gasps as her tail, the red and gold scales gleaming, undulated in a graceful arc.

“She’s a merangel,” Lyssa said to her son, though of course in this echoing room, every vampire and servant heard her. “Half mermaid and half angel. She can soar in the sky or swim in the deepest part of the ocean.”

Kane was mesmerized, but again, Jacob couldn’t say the adults were much different. Alexis used the propulsion of her tail and the extension of her wings to lift her body out of the water, drops sluicing off her skin and scales in a glittering display. Kane clung to Jacob’s hand and Lyssa’s skirt.

As amazing a display as it was, it was Gideon who caught Jacob’s eye. Christmas held a lot of not-so-pleasant memories for Gideon. He’d spent plenty of them in places far from the Christmas spirit. As his brother watched the merangel swim, Jacob saw quiet pain war with amazement on his face. Perhaps how wonderful this moment was contrasted too sharply with the desolate past.

But his vampire master, Daegan, stood at his back, hand on his shoulder, body pressed up against Gideon’s, while Anwyn, his vampire mistress, stood in front. Her hands were clasped over Gideon’s on her waist, her head back against his shoulder. As Jacob watched, she turned her lips to his throat. Comforting him, reminding him he was here with them now, belonging to them. Daegan’s head bent, lips nuzzling the other side of Gideon’s neck while Anwyn reached up to caress their servant’s jaw, linking them.

* * * * *

Why do certain characters cross the lines and others want to stay in their own worlds? There are a variety of factors that can influence that. Perhaps a conflict occurs in a story where I think “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if Derek Stormwind, the sorcerer from Something About Witches, had to help one of my Vampire Queen series characters resolve this problem?” Or someone gets a tragic end in one story and I want to give him/her a happily-ever-after in another. Marguerite’s brother in Ice Queen, who dies tragically, becomes the angel hero of A Witch’s Beauty and helps save the world, for instance.

I really don’t remember the first time my characters series-hopped, but I hope they keep doing it. Guest appearances not only give me more resources to expand and enhance a series, but it’s just fun to imagine a reader going “Hey! I know him from the so-n-so series! That’s so cool!” Yeah, don’t believe all the crap we spout about marketing and promotion. For most of us it’s still about the fun, the cheering, fist-pump-in-the-theater moment when Han Solo shows up unexpectedly to help Luke save the day and destroy the Deathstar (grin).

Next week we’ll talk about how I do world-building, particularly between my magical and real worlds! If you have feedback or questions about this week’s topic, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Note: Special Thanks to Jaycee for suggesting today’s topic!

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