The original idea I had, all those years ago, centered on a pioneering world with Good Guys and some Thugs – simple – It was one book, one story, Ms Sweet Young Thing trying to escape the evil intentions of Mr Villain, lots of good fun and sexual tension – Then I grew up out of adolescence and wondered if I could… you know… put a plot in it.

I gave Mr Villain a brain. That might have been a mistake, but it also gave him wider appeal because there’s only so much you can do with sexual lust. I also took his sexual lust OFF Ms Sweet Young Thing and planted it… well, just about everywhere else.

Meanwhile back at the ranch Mr Villain had to have a reason for keeping and controlling Miss Sweet Young Thing. She needed a reason to want to get away, right? And no Good Guy/Bad Guy clash happens over a pay dispute – it had to be something against the will, so slavery it became.

I also needed to give Mr Villain brute force power and a reason for wanting a talented seer in his life.

That’s right, Ms Sweet Young Thing is an untrained, undisciplined psychic – And don’t start with the “But she didn’t see it coming” bit, just about everyone she meets says that. And don’t tell me it doesn’t belong in science fiction, either! What about Star Wars? What about “Use the Force, Luke”? Then there’s Star Trek and Mr Spock and his mind-meld. If Star Wars and Star Trek count as science fiction, mine most certainly does. Yes – complete with spaceships and Relay stations (teleport), and fancy weaponry and aliens and newly colonized worlds. It’s sci-fi, got it?

My take on the psychic side of things is that spirituality, psychic experiences and the practice of magic in many forms has been part of human history right from the start. It is still with us today and will be with us tomorrow. It flows in and out of popular appeal, so there’s no reason to assume it will stop dead in its tracks anytime soon.

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So, yes, I made Ms Sweet Young Thing an untrained psychic, but now you try thinking of a reason why a fully mature male would want to keep a 17 year-old girl, if it isn’t for sex. Not easy, is it. She’s too young to have a brain experience that’s useful to him, but psychic talent, yes, that’d do it.

What, no sex? Don’t be silly, of course there’s sex! There’s plenty of sex in the series, even of the brute force variety. Ms Sweet Young Thing just has different problems with Mr Villain that fell outside of relationships.

This is NOT a Young Adults story, okay? This is not about lovey Ms Sweet Young Thing finding true romance. That she might hook up with someone further down the track has nothing to do with it – this is not a romance series, although, yes, romance does play a part and does have its place (book 2, The King’s Sacrifice is the place you want to go to for a heart story and tissue-time, although that said, you’ll get more out of the series if you read them in order).

Royalty! Right, I forgot. Once Mr Villain and Ms Sweet Young Thing worked out that their relationship was one of ownership – or not – I needed to give Mr Villain reason to want power in the first place.

I decided that Mr Villain came from high up in the Khekarian Imperial hierarchy. To put him onto his lowly platform with the Terran band of heavies colonists, I had him thrown out of the Empire. Exiled (Sweet!). Which gave him the need to earn his way back into grace.

There are aliens involved, naturally. Creatures that might prove worthwhile in the Khekarian war effort against the Chiddran. Mr Villain is, of course, Sturn, who is half Khekarian and half Terran. His sidekick, the delectable Sevi (who can kick ass as easily as she breathes) is all Khekarian and an elite soldier – just to add menace.

And so the story came to be about Mr Villain wanting to return home to power and to glory, deciding that Ms Sweet Young Thing can ride psychic shotgun for him and guide his return. It’s also about the capture of a rare kind of creature, a new and unrecognized man-form that can do interesting things with dimensions and would likely help the war effort considerably – if they, too, can be captured.

All this took years and plumped up the basic single book to a basic five in the series with expansion to come.

Yes, with sex! Great, huh?

Cheers, everyone. 😀

Allyson