DISCLAIMER: On The Run is not a real motion picture nor does it have a soundtrack coming out. This is just me living in my fictional happy writer’s world. Where I pretend and where I run the show. Haha. Back in college whenever I would hand in a script or be working with already written material/feature film scenes, my professor would ask me who I would have play the characters, where would it take place, what location? And so I think that kind of stuck with me, because as I write this story series I want to include those aspects and give you a visual experience. Mysterious Attraction was my first shot at it, then came A Broken Heart For Christmas, and Love Conflicted. Along the way there have been little one shots, or shorts including a few parts as well. But that distinction is not always clear, I don’t always know how long a story is going to take to tell. As a kid I used to say “Make Pretend” all the time. Make Pretend you’re a princess who slays dragons. Make pretend you’re a ballerina who bull rides. Make pretend you’re writing a screenplay and you get to pick the actors, and release a soundtrack and commentary that people have been anxiously awaiting. The options could be endless. So let’s “Make Pretend.” Enjoy!

New Cast Promotional Photo:

On The Run Soundtrack Album Artwork:

Track list:

1. “Make Me”- Britney Spears
2. “Treat You Better”- Shawn Mendes
3. “Scared of Happy”- Fifth Harmony
4. “Home”- Rhodes
5. “Not a Bad Thing”- Justin Timberlake
6. “Dangerous Woman”- Ariana Grande
7. “Pillow Talk”- Zayn Malik
8. “Open Arms”- Journey
9. “I Miss You”- Adele
10. “Water Under the Bridge” – Adele
11. “Things I’ll Never Say”- Avril Lavigne
12. “I Run To You”- Lady Antebellum
13. “Save You”- Matthew Perryman Jones
14. “I See Fire”- Ed Sheeran
15. “How to Save a Life”-The Fray
16. “I Had Me A Girl”- The Civil Wars

Author’s Commentary-

Background:

On The Run is a short story series featured here on Michelle Leigh Writes. The story premiered on March 7, 2016 and ran pretty consistently all the way up until May 12, 2016. For the duration of a little more than 2 months, On The Run was my focal point. Then came a May/June slump. Posting resumed in July and the series wrapped in August. So over the span of about 6 months (give or take) On The Run was formulated here on this blog, for you to read.

Notes/Likes/Questions:

So often I dissect and pull apart my stories, which I think helps me to become a better writer. But I do want to shed some light on what I felt did work in this story.

I love the idea of Charlie and Sage having a connection they can’t explain. I love the mystery behind both of these characters, more specifically Sage’s character.

Charlie is this trusting, forgiving man who is stuck on believing the goodness in people deserving of it. He experiences this strange sense of human instinct to protect Sage. And because of that nature, Sage feels a strange sense of comfort when with him.

Sage is simple, beautiful and strong. A strength like no other. A selfless-ness like no other.

The relationship between these two characters evolves over time. Sage’s resistance is clear. And while we are tricked to believe that Charlie is the hero of the story, we soon realize that Sage is the heroine. She is determined to protect her family and friends at any cost, no matter the consequence or the effect it will have on her life. I enjoy how in such a short amount of time, Charlie to some extent has got Sage figured out, it’s a combination of his police training, and just being a really perceptive good judge of character. But one minute he thinks he knows her, but the next he’s left completely confused and bewildered. She certainly keeps him on his toes.

I love that Sage’s character ends up blurring the lines between right and wrong for a good cause. And that choice, in turn lands her into Charlie’s storyline of trying to save those who would otherwise go unjustified.

Match made in heaven, don’t you think?

In this story, you see a different side to law enforcement. That some cops and detectives will go out of their way, will go the extra mile.

I enjoy how the story unfolds of what happened that night of the murder. The glimpses we get through flashbacks. I wonder if the fact that it ended being Megan was a shock to any readers.

I also wonder how readers may view Sage/Charlie’s relationship.

Do you think it was believable? Did they fall too quickly?

Their relationship evolved quickly over a short amount of time- a few weeks at best.

Did you trust Charlie? Did you trust Sage?

When Sage found Charlie’s Detective Card did you see it coming?

Or did you feel as betrayed as Sage did?

Were you worried he was working against her, and just helping her to gather information?

Or were you rooting for Sage and Charlie to kick start a romance?

I personally like how for the most part this is a 2 character centric story. It felt nice to be able to have special moments/awkward tensions, emotions between just these two characters.

Most of the communication between these two is based upon their eye contact, their looks, their glares and stares. When those moment become too heavy, often times Sage will blush, while Charlie will chuckle and look away. Sage has been known to need to break their eye contact often two as she fidgets under his stare. He often looks her over, in a way that makes her nervous, her heart flutters and she doesn’t mind.

In the moments when they do touch, at first it’s just instinct. The need for Sage to feel close to someone, to feel guarded. But then that instinct becomes natural for both of them and blossoms into a different kind of need, a need to feel the touch of the person they are falling in love with.

Charlie is only scared of pushing Sage away or losing her. He’s not afraid of his feelings. While, Sage is afraid on many different levels, even though she too feels the spark ignited between she and Charlie.

Relationships are hard/complicated/contradictory. Sometimes feelings can change so rapidly, that we don’t always know how or why or what to do with them.

The playful flirtation between the two are my favorite moments. You see the real Sage in those moments. You see the sassy, sweet, funny, sexy girl she was before this all happened. You see they are both letting loose with each other and it’s a contrast to the darkness of the murder mystery plot which drives the bulk on the story.

Dream Casting:

“Sage Renly”- Shay Mitchell

Just fit the earthy, beautiful, vibes of Sage

“Charlie Steinfeld”- Max Thieriot

Just fit the rugged, kind, loyal vibes of Charlie.

*Both characters are simple life livers looking for love before all this drama unfolds.

Love scenes:

One of these days, I won’t blush while writing a love scene. I won’t hide in a corner shielding my computer screen from curious eyes. I won’t feel ashamed of what I’m writing. I find that when I write a love scene, I continuously edit myself. What if a family member of mine reads this? Oh my god what will they think? The people in my life have a certain perspective of me. I’m a pretty reserved personality, and so writing these scenes would be something they wouldn’t even think I do, or can do. So there’s a barrier there for sure and I feel like I need to work on being more free and not so constrained and worried about what people will think. If anything hopefully they can just realize that what I’m trying to do by writing these scenes, is to craft a beautiful love story.

Hiatus Drama:

WHY???? Why does this ALWAYS happen to me. I can’t shake it. I’m consistent for a good duration and then my focus shifts. Slump? Lack of story direction? Editing is a tall order, and then editing and finding images too, I can be there for hours working on one post- Laziness? Boredom? Lack of time? Blog feeling oversaturated in one topic? Need for change up? Excuses? I’ve tried on all of them. And quite frankly they all suck. I do hope to stick to a more permanent, more consistent schedule next time. I can’t promise that the hiatus won’t ever happen again. Because it will. I know it will. But I can promise you that I will continue to write short stories and I will continue to finish them, no matter how long they may take me to do so. I know my style of writing and posting is probably a factor in this too. I do like the formula, it gives me the freedom to take my stories a lot of different ways, but sometime it created the freedom to stop writing, which is where things get murky. But the way I see it is, if I waited to write a whole series before posting, nothing would get posted.

Themes:

Justice vs. Injustice

Love vs. Lust

Right vs. Wrong

Head vs. Heart

Trusting strangers

Trust Issues

Friendship

Love

Loyalty

Fear

Running Away *from love, and from the law (hence…the title…On The Run)

Supporting Characters:

The Black Family- Megan, Daniel, and Simon

Even though we don’t see every detail about the Blacks, they fuel the greater story and main characters need friends, they need people to enhance their character and their story.

Tim Malloy- Represents Justice and is Charlie’s light in the justice system.

The Ending:

I have a tendency to do the quick wrap up ending. Everything all wrapped up in a bow. There’s a pressure (especially after a long hiatus) I put on myself to finish and so I feel like I resolve things quickly. Like all the Hallmark movies I complain about. I don’t not like the ending, I just think maybe it could have been better. I always think everything I write can be better. Nothing is ever perfect, because if it was there’d be no room to learn more.

The ending I chose wasn’t what I intended. There were ideas of having Sage get pregnant. There was another idea of having Charlie ask Sage to marry him. There was also an idea where Sage and Charlie were going to marry to not have to testify against each other in court.

However, I always end my stories with marriage and babies. For this particular story that ending just didn’t seem fitting. These two characters love each other, but still need to get to know each other.

Often times we worry that stories aren’t believable, could two people really fall in love in such a short amount of time. It’s so unrealistic. Is it? If we all trusted our hearts a little more, we’d probably let ourselves fall in love a lot sooner. Why waste time.

There’s a quote from one of my favorite movies that comes to mind-

“I barely know you. I don’t know your dad’s first name, I don’t know if you ever wore braces or contacts or glasses. I have no idea how you came to be a wedding planner. But I know the curves of your face and I know every fleck of gold in your eyes…” –Steve, The Wedding Planner

*Written By: Pamela Falk, Michael Ellis

This right there is why you don’t need any explanation. The spark. It happens. In my stories it happens. Love happens. And I will always defend it, no matter how early, or unrealistic it may seem.

Missing Links:

Should Sage/Charlie’s back stories have been more in-depth/showcase throughout the story?

Family? Job? Home? $? Past relationships?

I kind of liked how both Sage and Charlie had this intense attraction and pull toward each other, but they were strangers who had to just figure each other out quickly. I like how they had kind of hidden identities up until the end where they decide starting over would be a good thing, and they offer their back grounds, upfront. I think that worked. Thoughts?

Should there have been more about Megan/Simon/Daniel?

Colors:

Blacks, Browns, Greens, Grays in clothing- camouflage to blend in.

Whites, yellows- in the hotel to show purity and simplicity, safety, security.

Red- blood, fear.

Final Comments:

With each short series I experiment writing, I learn something new. Each short story series is its own learning experience. And although there are many parallels and common themes that span across all of my short story series, featured here on this blog, I have also realized I’m growing my own style of writing and storytelling. I’m crafting my writer’s voice. Romance and a little bit of mystery seems to be my thing. And this series specifically is a murder mystery with a twist, not only in who committed the crime, but in the fact that a love blossomed during such a tragic time. Unconventional, unpredictable love. Also each story is a lesson in descriptive writing, were the scenes written well enough that you can picture them in your head. BE MORE DESCRIPTIVE- definitely something I need to work on for the next one.

So thank you for reading this commentary and for reading On The Run.

Until next time… (I already have some ideas for my next series…Stay Tuned!)

Catch up on “On The Run” from the beginning HERE

*I do not take credit for any images used in my edits, or video clips used.*

 -<3-