M. M. Crane on Writing Fake Relationships

I have never been asked by a ridiculously handsome man to pretend to date him or marry him, or act as if I am madly in love with him for the sake of [insert a compelling reason, like our careers or some such thing]. Obviously I view this as a great travesty, but I deal with this enduring disappointment the way I deal with most things: I write about it.

I have thus far written some 30 or so books with a fake relationship element, but I am particularly proud of Reckless Fortune—my new book that approaches this trope by marrying it up with a contemporary Alaskan spin on a mail-order-bride as well. 

In Reckless Fortune, Autumn McCall enters a contest that pairs her up with brooding bush pilot Bowie Fortune and requires them to reenact a version of an old school Alaska frontier-style, mail-order-bride marriage. They both know they’re just pretending, but that doesn’t prevent sparks from flying as the two spend time together. And especially not when disaster strikes and they crash down in the formidable Alaskan wilderness with very little hope of making it to safety…

I loved writing this book, not least because I got to spend a lot of time thinking about the extraordinary courage of the women who decided to take their chances with strange men in far-off locations all throughout history in the hope of a better life. The women who set out on difficult journeys hundreds of years ago, praying that the man waiting for them on the other end wasn’t going to be the more difficult than the wilderness. 

But I also really loved the fact that the mail order marriage in this case is fake. Both Autumn and Bowie know they’re taking part in a contest—a publicity stunt to draw tourists to a remote stretch of the Alaskan Interior. They both know that either one of them could call it off at any point. Instead of being stranded with no recourse in the middle of nowhere with a man she doesn’t know at all, Autumn is choosing to be there. Bowie is choosing to participate in this marriage that isn’t actually a marriage.

Hopefully readers will find that as exciting as I do.

It’s always fun to play with forced proximity in a romance. In real life there are a thousand ways to disengage—even right in front of each other. It’s far too easy to hide from anything intimate behind a screen, or let the bustle of our noisy lives distract us. The beauty of fake dating in a book is that the people involved are forced into acting as if they have a kind of intimacy they haven’t earned, making what happens between them all the more delicious. The beauty of setting a fake dating story in the Alaskan wilderness is that there’s not a whole lot of the noise of the modern world to offer any distractions.

How can they help but fall in love?

Reckless Fortune is out 9/27 and I hope you love it!

M. M. Crane is a pseudonym for a USA Today bestselling and RITA-nominated author. She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband.

An 80’s Movie Explains Everything: The Inspiration for My New Novel 48 States

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. 

Today’s guest for the WHAT Is Evette Davis, the author of 48 States

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

I may be dating myself, but there is a scene in a classic ’80s movie called Working Girl, where the young assistant has to prove she didn’t steal a business plan and is asked to explain how she came up with the idea. In response, she pulls out a collection of seemingly random news clippings that when strung together validate her idea. 

48 States is a similar story.

I interviewed a panel of female veteran authors for a literary festival at the San Francisco Main Library, around the same time I was reading about the explosion of fracking in the United States. National Geographic published a feature about people who moved to North Dakota to work. One of those highlighted was a mother who left her family behind to drive a haul truck in Williston, ND, because the pay was so much better. I’d also been reading about Japanese Internment camps and had been surprised to know that the entire effort to relocate Japanese Americans had been done by Executive Order, meaning without congressional approval. If you put all of that in the blender of my imagination, you get 48 States. The book took five years and went through several major plot revisions, but the central themes I was interested in: extremism, domestic refugees, and, of course, women who transform themselves, remained the same.  

 Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

I usually write a chapter plan, by hand—in pencil—mapping out points of conflict along the way to ensure readers are kept on the edge of their seats. I did a lot of research and map reading for 48 States. I knew the story would take place in the west and that I would need to get a good handle on streams, rivers, highways, and hiking trails. I also spent time learning about how the United States monitors energy production. I developed character profiles and spent time writing down their backstories and thinking about the territories and what they would be like if they existed. The plot flowed from that rich backstory.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

For 48 States, the central plot of River, a woman trying to figure out who she wants to be after years of tragedy, and Finn, the man she finds standing in the middle of the road, who disrupts her plans, stayed constant throughout. I had a clear vision for the two of them from the beginning. What was tricky and changed over time is the villains and their motivations. Previous versions included more than one aggressor, including foreign terrorists on U.S. soil. In the end, I decided to keep it simple, and of course, the world changed. Red is over the top for a reason, but his actions, however outlandish, drive the book’s drama and they are plausible. But the plot for 48 States is much more intricate than Red. It’s a series of two-person relationships that each evolve (or devolve) until the six of them converge.

 Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

I have more story ideas than time to write. I keep ideas in notebooks and journals and sometimes if I need a break from what I’m working on, I will start writing a piece of the story or a character bio. I love that I have enough ideas to keep me busy for another 10-15 years. It’s always nice to know you have a creative project. In my case, I have a romance series, a spin-off of my urban fantasy trilogy involving a security firm run by super-naturals, and a few stand-alone novels.

How do you choose which story to write next if you’ve got more than one percolating?

I’m not sure, this is the very question I am asking myself. I have another novel being published in early 2023 and then I have to choose what comes next! I may have to ask my readers.

 I have six cats and a Dalmatian (seriously, check my Instagram feed), and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

I have a black lab who usually curls up in her bed next to my desk. I like her company, but I usually send everyone else out of the room and ask them to leave me alone for a few hours.  (Everyone being my husband and daughter.)

Evette Davis is the novelist who created the “Dark Horse” trilogy, including novels Woman King and Dark Horse. The final installment will be published in 2023.