Sail the sea of love as a pirate queen! Seek gold, glory, and epic romance with a rogue, a warrior, or a nobleman. The Golden Age of Piracy is winding down and life is changing in the Caribbean—and as a pirate, you must change with the times. England has renewed its interest in the Bahamas and the time has come for you to choose a side, decide your future, and maybe find true love. 

A Pirate’s Pleasure is one of the first set of games releasing with the launch of Heart’s Choice. I sat down with the author, Lisa Fox, to talk about writing interactive romance. Heart’s Choice games release December 2nd.

This is your first time writing interactive fiction, but it’s not your first time writing romance. Tell me about your other work and how you came to be a romance writer. 

I write a lot of short stories and novellas. They are mostly contemporary romances, but there is also some paranormal stuff in the mix.

I have always wanted to write professionally, it has been my goal since birth basically, but honestly, I never thought I’d write romance. I’m a huge fan of horror. HUGE. When I sat down to write my first novel, it was supposed to be scary, but as the work went on, I found that I enjoyed writing more about the relationship my two main characters were developing rather than all the spooky, scary stuff they were supposed to be facing. Somehow, that book morphed into a romance—not a very good one I might add, it never did get published—but it was the start of my romance writing career. Once the genre found me, I never looked back.

What advice would you offer romance writers interested in writing something interactive, whether it’s for Heart’s Choice or some other label?

I think that they really need to be prepared for the monumental undertaking a project like this is. It’s not just working with the code—which is a gigantic challenge in and of itself—it’s more all the different levels and layers of writing that need to be done. You as the author cannot dictate the player character’s personality. You have to write in all kinds of tones and options for how the person playing might want to respond to the situation you are putting them in.

For example, you can’t just write that the main character walks into a room and smiles. What if the person playing doesn’t want to smile? You can’t just decree that kind of stuff, not like you can in a straight narrative novel. You have to leave those feelings, those responses, all in the hands of the player. It was hard at first to make that kind of adjustment in my writing and I think it’s something new authors should really be aware of when they begin writing their own interactive adventures. It’s an important thing to keep in mind at all times.

A Pirate’s Pleasure is a fine piratical tale. What drew you to this genre in particular?

Thanks so much! I really appreciate that!

As for choosing the genre, well, I mean, who doesn’t love pirates? The freedom of the open sea, the romance, the adventure, the mystery and intrigue—the pirate life has it all!

And pirates are such charismatic characters. They are rebels, fighters, lovers, and sometimes, black-hearted villains. I’m a huge fan of Black Sails, I love the Uncharted game series, and I’m deeply infatuated with the Captain Hook from Once Upon a Time. I also spent quite a few years crushing on Errol Flynn. All these characters, and the real-life men and women straight out of history, they are all so iconic, so sexy, so daring. Who wouldn’t want to be a pirate—or fall in love with one?

If you were going to romance one of your characters in A Pirate’s Pleasure, who would you choose? 

Oh, no, I hate this question! I love them all dearly, but in entirely different ways.

I love Alexander for his sweetness, his honor, his drive. Nathaniel is the epitome of ostentatiousness, a dashing pirate captain to his core, and I would love to take to the streets of Nassau with him by my side. And Caleb is my quiet warrior, a man whose placid manner belies a deeply passionate nature.

How could I possibly choose between men like that?

What are you working on next?

I’ve been playing around with an idea for a romance series set in a restaurant in New Orleans for some time, so I’ll probably get to work on that soon. NaNoWriMo is coming up. I might make that my project for the month.

Of course, I would love to do another interactive adventure like A Pirate’s Pleasure, but maybe something Mafia related next time. Wouldn’t that be fun?