Mash-ups are fun to think about and fun to write. What if your favorite Avenger ended up in Sunnydale fighting alongside Buffy the Vampire Slayer? How about something time-bending like the Stranger Things characters ending up on a Star Trek vessel? When I got back into writing erotic romance after a long hiatus, one thing I knew I’d do is have fun. Part of that means making things less complicated for me, tearing down the walls I built between my series, both contemporary and paranormal. The other part is simply playing what if.
And so, Saving His Elven Steed, a free book that kicks off a new series, combines not one, not two, but three of my series. (I’m writing the second one now and hope to finish it this month.) I am in love with my Shifters United world. I began by writing a shark shifter (Shark’s Alpha) and then got to bring in all sorts of shifters and create this big, bold shifter universe. (My free serial you can sign up for on this page, Mates & Allies, also takes place in the Shifters United world.) But since I’m exploring writing more “why choose” stories, I added an elf, and then Centaurs loosely related to my Centaurs of New York series, and the 2 Hearts Rescue series as well.
I’ll admit, I’m having a blast. It’s fun to imagine different magical entities or shifters combining, becoming mates, falling in love (or lust) and just how that would work. Why do, for example the centaurs from New York have two forms and the other centaurs, three? (I may reveal that in a future blog).
To me this is what writing one vast universe is all about. It allows me to feed my worldbuilding, something I bring from my fantasy background, and allows me to broaden and imagine scenarios. Tell me in the comments, do you like having series cross like this, or would you prefer they just stay in their own lane?
