Ryan Crane

Ryan Crane is a powerful mafia boss. Every woman wants him. Every man wants to be him. The world is obsessed with him. He’s hot. He’s as muscular as he is dangerous. He’s protective as hell. Possessive. He controls everything and every situation that he’s involved in with practiced ease. He’s got a little bit of a dominant side to him. He’s sexy. But where exactly did Ryan come from? Who inspired him? Curious? Read on to find out.

When I first wrote Billion Dollar Love Story, I knew I wanted Ryan to be the man behind everything. I wanted him to be the protector of his family. The one that everyone knew they could turn to for whatever situation they found themselves in. I almost wrote him as the main character, but I decided that he needed to be the one who fixed everything.

It was Ryan that inspired me to link Be Mine and Billion Dollar Love Story together. I just felt like I wasn’t done with Ryan. More of his story needed to be told. Through him, I fell totally in love with the Crane Family and decided that a series needed to be created. Ryan needed his happy ending.

Dangerously Forbidden Love was supposed to be the ending of the series. But I couldn’t stop. I just felt like the world needed more of the Crane Family. I needed more of the Crane Family.

Truthfully, the family had become my outlet. I stopped writing when I got married because it took away from time with him. He didn’t like that, and I didn’t want to fight about it. I put a lot of my own dreams and aspirations on hold. I sacrificed. I settled.

About four years ago, I realized something. I realized that I can’t do that. I realized that me sacrificing was wrong. Putting my life on hold was not the right thing to do. I was miserable. Sad. Depressed. I felt worthless. But I began to realize that I’m better than that. I slowly started to come out of it. Gain more confidence. I wrote a couple fan fics that I only gave to close friends and family.

It took a little while, but after a very long four hour conversation and reading a couple of blogs, I decided to take the leap. Put myself out there. At least a little bit. Test the waters. So, I started writing. I put Billion Dollar Love Story on the Taptales App and watched with complete astonishment as my reads climbed. I couldn’t believe it. People actually enjoyed my writing. It was flabbergasting.

So after a few more conversations and a little more pushing and prodding, I decided to publish my work. But I was terrified. I was terrified that I would fail.

Enter Ryan Crane’s inspiration. Dan Rengering. I kept going back to him. He pushed himself a few years ago. Lost 100 pounds. Reached his goal to join Gainesville’s SWAT team. He was on Survivor. Pushed himself and, at least in my opinion, got pretty far. Only reason he was eliminated is because people knew just how good he was. He could’ve won, and I believe he would have. Dan kept creating goals and reaching them. So… why couldn’t I?

Let’s go back to those blogs I mentioned. I sat back quietly and watched this completely average man use this newfound platform to continue to do extraordinary things. He raised money for charity. Hell, he had a hand in starting a charity. He spoke up in defense of the romance author community. He became an advocate for thousands of people he’s never met. He spoke out against his own city’s leaders in defense of his fellow police officers. And he didn’t stop there. He spoke out for women’s equality.

And I began to realize that if this incredibly normal person can do all of this, why can’t I take that leap and follow my own dreams? I’ll be honest. I wouldn’t have dared dip my toes in the water without Dan. He was the inspiration behind Ryan. Ryan is the one behind the scenes that protects everyone. And that’s how I sort of viewed Dan. When I decided to publish, I knew that Dan needed to be the face of the series. And if he’d said no? That he didn’t want to be associated with a mafia boss? Well, the series never would have been published. Because there is no way in all of the Hells that I could have published without him.

I would’ve felt a little too alone and vulnerable. I never would have wanted another person to be the face of the series because I know that I wouldn’t have had someone standing in the background quietly defending my work and the work of others in my genre.

So, I hope you have a little better understanding of where Ryan came from, and why I decided that he needed to be the quiet protector of the Crane Family. How do you feel about Ryan Crane? Is he your favorite character in the Crane Family Series?