Run Wild (Escape with a Scoundrel) - By Shelly Thacker Page 0,142

have said. “Who are you?” she whispered. “And what do you want with me?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buy this book now at your favorite ebook retailer:

Timeless

Bonus Content:

“The Making of RUN WILD: The Story Behind the Story”

—

SPOILER ALERT

—

Dear Reader,

I always love those “Behind the Scenes” bonus features on DVDs. I enjoy learning what inspired the stories, characters, and settings of my favorite movies. I love getting a peek at how the costumes were made, how the sets were built, and what changes were made in the editing room. When I first set out on this digital publishing adventure, I knew I wanted to include a “Behind the Scenes” bonus feature in each of my ebooks.

But I realize that some people dislike “Behind the Scenes” features. For them, hearing the nuts-and-bolts of the creative process ruins their enjoyment of the story. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s enjoyment of my books, so if you’re someone who typically skips “Making of” features on DVDs, it’s probably best to skip this section.

Also, if you haven’t finished the whole book yet, you’ll want to finish before returning to this page. I’m about to give you an inside peek at the creative decisions that went into writing this story—so plot twists may be revealed and characters’ secrets spilled.

So... if you’ve skipped ahead to this feature, please click back and finish the book. I totally understand the skipping-ahead impulse, because I’m a chronic skipper-aheader myself. But really, now is the best time to skip back. Before you see any spoilers. When you’re all done, return to this page. I’ll be waiting right here for you.

Ready? Here we go.

Inspirations

As readers of previous “Making of” features know, I usually get my inspiration from movies, and Run Wild is no exception. The initial spark came from the 1993 Harrison Ford thriller “The Fugitive.” I even remember which scene started it all: Harrison’s character, Dr. Richard Kimball, is on a bus being hauled off to prison, but the bus is hit by a train and he escapes. Watching that scene in the theater, I’ll bet 99% of the audience was thinking, “Wow, cool movie!” One person—me—was thinking, “Wow, what would it be like to be shackled to Harrison Ford on the run from the law?”

Writers. We’re not like everyone else.

I always keep a pen and paper handy for just such occasions, and when the lights came up in the theater, I hurried to jot down the key points. Two outlaws. Shackled together. Running for their lives.

I thought it was an exciting concept for a historical romance, a fresh and unique way to create what’s known in our genre as “enforced togetherness.” In a romance novel, some external device usually forces the hero and heroine to spend time together, even though they don’t particularly like each other at first. We authors use all sorts of beloved tropes to figuratively “shackle” our couples: a marriage of convenience, a kidnapping, a business contract, a deceased relative with an eccentric will, etc.

But I had never seen a hero and heroine literally shackled together. I thought it would be tremendous fun if I could pull it off.

In “The Fugitive,” the marshal played by Tommy Lee Jones gets equal screen time as he hunts Kimball, but I chose not to include a detective character in my story. I felt that would take things too far into the realm of mystery/thriller. What I wanted was an emotional, sexy romance, so I kept the focus on my hero and heroine and their developing relationship. The lawmen trying to bring my fugitives to justice remain unseen for most of the book.

I did include one small homage to “The Fugitive,” however: I made my hero’s nemesis a one-armed man. Just couldn’t resist.

Another source of inspiration came from 1992’s “Last of the Mohicans.” The gorgeous settings in that movie, one of my all-time favorites, inspired the waterfall and cave scenes in Run Wild.

And of course, research provides one of the richest sources of inspiration for my books. While researching my second Avon Romance, Midnight Raider, I created a binder five inches thick filled with details about life in Georgian England. I frequently run across fascinating tidbits that I can’t use in the current book I’m working on, so I flag them with sticky notes for future reference. Three of those sticky notes helped inspire Run Wild: details about 18th century prison hulks, the end of the era of piracy, and the horrifying punishments meted out on men, women,