Most authors building a three-book MC romance trilogy settle on their tropes first. Stacy Kristen finds out what she wrote afterward.
“I wish I could say I chose them. Instead, they chose me, lol!” she says of the enemies-to-lovers, age-gap, and forced-proximity threads running through her Desert Aces MC series. “I’m a total pantser, so when I write, I don’t pick tropes beforehand. I just wait to see how the story evolves, and then identify what tropes are in each book.”
The tropes chose her
The writing grew straight out of the reading. “As an avid reader of romance, becoming a writer was something I always wanted to do. So I did.” Erotic romance and romantic suspense are the two subgenres she loves most as a reader, and they became the two she writes. She names the tropes only once the draft is done, and every book still lands on a happily-ever-after, no matter how far the suspense drags readers first.
Getting the chemistry right
Romantic suspense lives or dies on chemistry that holds up while the plot yanks the characters around, and her method for it is plain empathy. “I try to put myself in their shoes. How would it feel? And how would others feel? That usually does the trick.” Music carries the rest: “I also listen to music that sets the mood for a scene or even a chapter.” She keeps Pinterest boards of the songs and images behind each book, a window into how each story sounded and looked in her head before it hit the page.
Some books still fight back. Jax, she admits, was the hardest of the trilogy to wrestle down. “Jax was so hard to write. The book twists and turns so much, and trying to keep all the details straight broke my brain, lol!” Every thread in a suspense plot has to pay off at once, and keeping them straight is the hard part.
The business of staying in it
Distribution was a deliberate call. The whole Desert Aces MC trilogy is free to read on Kindle Unlimited. “I tried going wide and my sales plummeted. So now all of my books are part of KU.” KU puts the entire series one click away for the subscribers already hunting for their next MC read.
What keeps the work sustainable is everything sitting around it. She bakes for the joy of it, and also “when I have writer’s block.” The squirrels in her backyard pull their weight too: “they’re a bunch of hooligans and provide comedic relief… I see them as stress relievers, if anything.” Her reading still feeds the writing, with Jenika Snow, Ainsley Booth, and Bella J. among the authors she names as influences.
There is more on the way. Collateral Damage released on June 10th, and she is already “floating ideas in my head about a sports romance, baseball specifically.” A charity anthology is slated for next year, with details still to come.
Where to find Stacy Kristen
The Desert Aces MC trilogy is on Amazon and free to read on Kindle Unlimited. Visit her at stacykristenauthor.com, and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, and BookBub.
If you’re an indie romance author with a launch on the horizon, tell me what feels messy.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Desert Aces MC series about?
It’s Stacy Kristen’s motorcycle club romance trilogy, blending erotic romance and romantic suspense with enemies-to-lovers, age-gap, and forced-proximity threads. Every book ends on a happily-ever-after.
Is the Desert Aces MC series on Kindle Unlimited?
Yes. The full trilogy is free to read on Kindle Unlimited. Stacy moved all her books into KU after going wide hurt her sales.
What is Stacy Kristen writing next?
Her latest, Collateral Damage, released on June 10th. She’s floating ideas for a baseball sports romance, and a charity anthology is planned for next year.