Variations on a Theme

The 1Night Stand series fascinates me and appeals to me because of how all the different authors can take one set of guidelines and turn each story into something unique and special. Just looking at the list of titles shows a wide variety of situations, not to mention practically every genre that’s ever been defined. I sincerely wish I had the time to read every single book available. I’d love to see how all my fellow authors have taken the simple premise (two—or more!—people contact a matchmaker and go on an unforgettable date) and used it to shape their stories. And when it comes to dates that include supernatural or sci-fi elements, or other characters and settings beyond our present-day world, I’m sure there’s got to be a little extra finagling involved to make the setup plausible.

Fitting Elysium into the 1NS framework definitely had some challenges. Our key players, April and Drew, both have interactions with Madame Eve that go beyond a simple matchmaking request. April wants a date with a man who has been dead for two years. Drew falls in love with April, but he believes he only met her along the path to a date with someone else. How will they ever get together?

Of course I can’t give away the entire plot here. Good thing another common thread of the series is Madame Eve always knows best! I tried to find that perfect balance of playing by the rules and writing the story I wanted to tell. One way or another, we all seem to wind up in the same happy place!