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Based loosely on a fan fiction I wrote back in... 2005, SYA is about a young woman who becomes entangled with a killer. The first half of the story bares little resemblance to the fan fiction and the characters have new names and backgrounds. Cassandra Sidell works in a hotel and meets a charming guy in a bar - who later steals her access card. After swapping cell phones, she interrupts a murder and ends up going lamp-to-face with him.
Garrett Ramsey is a trained killer. He's done his best to shut off his humanity in order to do his job. But Cass gets under his skin. Before long, he's dragging her along in an attempt to save her life against his better judgment.
The banter between them and the chemistry was all inspired by the 2005 thriller "RED EYE" directed by Wes Craven. The fan fiction that served as my jumping off point for SYA followed Lisa and Jackson as he plotted his revenge on her for transgressions made during the film. The unlikely duo end up working together to take down his bosses and survive, all while falling for each other.
Wanna see some differences?
The original scene in the fanfiction.
Lisa entered her bathroom and washed her face with cold water to wake herself up. After drying her face she looked in the mirror and jumped backwards. Written in soap was a message, clearly for her.
I MAY HAVE TO STEAL YOU
Lisa started shaking. Jackson had said those very words on the plane.
"When this is over, I may have to steal you," he said, icy blue eyes locking on her.
She knew it was only a matter of time. Jackson would come for her soon and there was nothing she could do about it. Jackson never broke his promises.
A scene from STEAL YOU AWAY.
Cassandra blew her bangs out of her eyes, standing up. She faced herself in the mirror, dark-circled eyes and all, only to find her image obscured.
Blood red lipstick covered the glass. I MAY HAVE TO STEAL YOU it screamed in bold writing. It was a man’s handwriting – all angles and straight strokes. No curves or silly dots. Plain and to the point.
Just like the man responsible for the garish graffiti.
Garrett Ramsey. He’d been in her room for sure this time.
Except, there was a line through STEAL. Above it, he’d scrawled KILL. I MAY HAVE TO KILL YOU.
She shivered, chills moving through her body.
The original idea was of a shooting on campus. These were in the days before the VA Tech shooting and other high-profile incidents of violence on college campuses across the US. The shooting was a distraction to kidnap Kat.
Also, FT was meant to be Aidan's introduction to readers. But, he got a larger role in SOLE SURVIVOR and wasn't an unknown in FT.
Here's an example of the differences, using two different scenes focusing on Kat's training.
From an old draft in 2008:
"Do it again, Kat! Faster!"
Her chest was heaving. She could barely catch her breath. Kat wiped the sweat from her forehead with a white towel and whirled around to attack the punching bag. The weighted bag swung on the chain in the workout room she had fashioned with her father. Her mother was upstairs organizing boxes as they ran through the motions of a workout.
She swung out her right leg, striking the bag, before following with a left-handed punch. The chain creaked and her father shouted directions. Kat punched, feinted, and kicked through a series of combinations, a pulse-pounding beat in her mind as she fought the bag.
"Good, good!" Jackson praised, clapping his hands as she finished the set. "Now let's go for a run."
"You've… got… to… be… kidding…" Kat gasped, bent over and doing her best not to vomit. She'd pushed herself hard—she always did.
He cocked his dark-haired head in her direction. "No, Kat, I'm not. Get some water, and we're going. You need to build up your endurance levels."
"Why? I'm going to college in a few days."
From the new version:
“Breathe. Focus. In and out.”
He stood behind her, his breath hot on her bare neck. His hands steadied her, helping to adjust her position. Katherine loved being close to her boyfriend, even when he barely touched her.
“You can do this. Remember the recoil. No, don’t tense up. That’s a good way to get smacked in the face,” he urged, soothing her muscles with a gentle touch. “You’ve got this. You’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” she said.
Katherine Carter-Robertson took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. In her hand, the gun leapt, barking out as the bullet left the barrel and soared across the room to cut through a paper target. Her shoulders absorbed the recoil and she held her ground.
“Again,” Aidan urged.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack.
Each bullet ripped through the paper. One. Two. Three. Four. Five holes. Two in the head and three center mass.
“That’s my girl!” Aidan Murphy whooped, kissing her cheek. “Great job, babe!”
It's amazing what can happen between drafts. While the core of the story is the same - Kat being a target for a ruthless killer, her allies have changed, her solid relationship with Aidan is tested, and some subplots are removed.
