High Concept and How It Happened for Stolen Fire
The term “high concept” is popular with the Hollywood crowd, and, by association, publishers. When I first heard the term, I had no idea what it meant. Some well-meaning soul gave me an example: “What if a theme park was built around live dinosaurs?” Jurassic Park, obviously. But what made that high concept?
Two things. First, people know what theme parks are and what dinosaurs are. They require no explanation. Second, putting those two things together is unexpected, intriguing, and has a ton of possibility. People like theme parks. People like dinosaurs. What could go wrong?
That last question is why the movie was so popular.
High concept captures a complex creative idea in a simplistic sentence that clearly communicates and entices the listener to learn more. It’s essentially marketing shorthand. The challenge is crafting such a powerful sentence.
My NOAH series is a sci-fi romance based on a spaceship run by a team of females. But that isn’t the high concept pitch.
My initial spark for the NOAH series began when I was reading a very popular vampire series by JR Ward, the Black Dagger Brotherhood, or BDB to her fans. I love these books. I love the found family aspect of them all living together in the manor. I love the large cast of characters, each with their own unique personalities. I love reading about them finding their perfect and, often, opposites-attract love match. But at some point, I was reading…I can’t recall, the fifteenth book maybe, when I noticed that all the women in the books were adapting their lives to the men. And I wondered, “What if…”
What if the men had to adapt their lives to the women?
That’s how a high concept is born, with two words: What. If.
The next words can vary. “But then…” or “Set in…” or “But with…”
My high concept second step was “set in space.”
There’s a certain amount of liberty authors can take when writing about characters that don’t exist like vampires or aliens. Rules that exist in historical or contemporary worlds can be broken or ignored. Rule breaking is always appealing to me. That could be why I enjoyed writing the hero, Cifer, in Stolen Fire so much. He’s a rule breaker too. Setting my female-centric “brotherhood”, or sisterhood, in space gave me all the freedom I needed to start writing.
I am a science fiction fan. One of the best short-lived series was Firefly. It was a rag-tag group of slightly eccentric characters on a big spaceship in post-Earth space traveling from colonized planet to colonized planet while taking questionable contracts to make a living. “Perfect, setting!” my writer brain announced.
And the high concept for my NOAH series was born. A female-centric Black Dagger Brotherhood meets Firefly.
High concept helps writers cement and pitch their ideas. It helps readers understand what you’re writing and how it’s the same as what they already know and love, but different. Because that’s what we as readers want: The same, but different.
The best high concepts require no further explanation and leave the listener excited to experience the story. I hope you’re excited to read Stolen Fire.
Blurb:
Blaize can’t trust the criminal, but that doesn’t stop her from wanting him.
Cifer
I spend my life hiding what I look like, what I’m capable of, what I’ve done. I didn’t ask to live my life this way, but sometimes fate has a sense of humor. The one thing I may live to regret is giving myself away after boarding The Treasure uninvited. But rules were made to be broken—including my own—like outing myself to save the beautiful, brilliant engineer from certain death. Everything I have, I’ve created—my career, my reputation, and, most importantly, my freedom.
I wouldn’t give that up for anyone. Not even her.
No way.
Blaize
I’ve always been a freak. My pale skin, nearly white eyes, and flame-red hair are like a warning signal to everyone who meets me. Weirdo incoming. Too smart. Too much to say. I can’t help it that my brain is always working. That I see possibilities others don’t. Like my thoughts on the extremely attractive criminal who stowed away on our ship. Why couldn’t he follow the rules and book passage like a regular traveler? He shouldn’t be here. I don’t trust him, but I also don’t want to be responsible for shooting him out the airlock. I’m too tender-hearted, putting my partners—the crew of The Treasure—at risk when I vote to save him.
I’m sure I’ll regret it.
The only question is how much.
Excerpt:
Her stunning red hair caught his eye again. He hadn’t exaggerated the vibrancy in his imagination— she was every bit as bright as he’d remembered. Her luminous pale skin was the perfect canvas to accentuate her vibrancy. Even the icy blue of her eyes was so pale as to be nearly non-existent. Cifer clenched his hands to fists to keep from reaching for her. No matter how her curves begged to be held, her full lips to be kissed, his contract took priority. The Treasure could make the journey to Hiargus. If he could sneak off the ship on Cassan and then contract the captain to take him, there’d be no issue. But that plan depended on him staying hidden, not riding this beautiful female to completion over and over again. Maybe after he negotiated for paid passage, he could risk pursuing an affair.
An eerie metallic scrape dragged Cifer’s mind out of the future and the possibility of pleasure. Blaize continued to babble. Another scraping sound compelled Cifer to abandon his no movement policy. He craned his neck, searching for the source.
Above where Blaize worked, a light tilted at an odd angle. Before he could decide what to do, a nut pinged to the floor. The large metal fixture slid away from its mount.
Cifer leaped forward. Stretched his arms to reach for the flying metal hazard headed straight for Blaize. He bashed the huge fixture to the side with one hand. Tugged Blaize out of danger with the other.
Blaize screeched and pummeled his chest.
He discarded a layer of his camouflage. “Are you—”
She wriggled in his grip, and he released her. “Who are you? What did you do? I could have been killed.”
Cifer blinked. She was angry with him? He held up his hands in surrender. “That’s why I saved you.”
“You aren’t authorized to be on this ship. How did you get on board, and what are you doing in the engine room? How long have you been here? I’m calling security.”
Buy Links
Shopify: https://jordynsbooks.myshopify.com/products/stolen-fire
Books2Read: https://books2read.com/stolen-fire
Author Bio:
Award-winning author, Jordyn Kross, is an unapologetically naughty romance novelist who spent years honing her writing skills with tech manuals and marginal poetry before finding her passion for writing sexy, boundary-stretching happily-ever-afters.
When she’s not writing, she’s attempting to garden in the Desert Southwest, hiking with her insane pound hound, and admiring that handsome man wandering around her house who continues to stay.
Jordyn enjoys saucy double entendres, pretending to be an extrovert, and is well-known for having no filter.
Find all her books and subscribe to her newsletter at jordynkross.com.
Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordynkrosswrites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordynkross/
Thanks for hosting me today. I had so much fun writing Stolen Fire and I’m celebrating by taking a week in the wilderness. I’ll try to check back in tonight. Would love to hear peoples thoughts on high concept and what they like best in their romance reading.
You’re so welcome, Jordyn. I’ve shared the post and, hopefully, some readers will stop by.
I’m wishing you the best of luck with Stolen Fire!