Life Outside the Box: Jamie Carie, author of "Angel's Den"

Jamie Carie is the author of Angel's Den, and she lives in Indianapolis with her husband and three sons, like some weird mirror of the Mikalatos family with our one wife and three daughters here in Portland.  Check out her website or her blog here.  I'm glad to have Jamie writing our first installment of Life Outside the Box.  Thanks, Jamie!

In the genre I write, historical romance, there is an element of formulaic plotting that is expected by the reader. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl encounter obstacles on the road to love, obstacles get resolved and boy and girl live happily ever after. There is an emotional payoff here that brings the reader (and me!) back again and again. That being said, it is vital to find "outside-the-box" ways of keeping this formula fresh and engaging. In my latest book, Angel's Den, we have the story of a woman who marries her dream man only to find out shortly after the wedding that he is nothing like his handsome outer façade. She has married an evil monster and in 1809, she is trapped. As the abuse escalates she begins to lose hope that she will survive it. Enter the hero - a rough around the edges man of God who falls in love with a married woman and wants nothing more than to rescue her. At this point it would have been easy for the formula to take over and allow Luke to rescue Emma and her husband to die somewhere on the trail (they are following the Lewis and Clark trail) leaving the way open for their HEA (happily ever after). But that's too predictable! What I do at this point is pray, "Lord, how are You going to rescue Emma? If this was really happening to one of your children, and this scenario we've built was real back then, what kind of miracle would You do for Emma?"
Well, I don't want to give away my ending but let's just say when I pray these prayers for my characters God always gives me something "outside the box" and thrilling, beyond what my imagination could dream up! It's one of my favorite parts of being a writer. And if I sound a little crazy, praying for my characters as if they were real people, well, that's one of my favorite parts of being a writer too.
Here's a fan email I recently received for Angel's Den that illustrates my point:

"I have just finished reading Angel's Den. I can tell you I suspected that Eric Montclaire was good looking, but up to no good the first time I met him on page 7. BUT I would have never expected the outcome of the book. Page 45 brought Mr. Luke Bowen into the picture and sure there was chemistry and then I had the plot all figured out:

The triangle would head off into the Pacific Northwest following the footsteps of Lewis and Clark. Then some sort of fatality would overcome Mr. Montclaire. Luke and Emma would build a life in the Northwest and live happily ever after.

Boy, was I mistaken. The events that happened really kept my eyes glued to the end of this book. There were lots of twists and turns that I did not expect." Norma B.

I picture God knowing every story that has ever happened in all creation. It is such an amazing gift when He whispers some of them into my heart and then I get to tell of His amazing love, His awesome creativity, His plan of salvation for each of our stories, to you.