OPPOSITES ADD INSTANT CONFLICT

Many years ago, I remember a speaker at a writers' conference talk about the built-in conflict of writing a hero and heroine with opposite viewpoints or personalities. 

My own personality tends to be a peace-maker and I avoid conflict in real life when I can. However, if there's no conflict in a book, the reader could be asleep by page three. 

So I tried any suggestions that could deepen conflict in my writing. Writing protagonists who were opposites in some way gave me great conflict in a number of books of my Halo Legacy series. 

Picture Perfect Legacy features a social worker who doesn't like guns falling in love with a cowboy cop. The second book of the series pairs a former priest with a former prostitute. 

Book 3, Living the Legacy, focuses on the whirlwind courtship of a jaded police sniper and a sheltered small-town woman. Explosions that destroy most of their hometown push them to the realization either of them could have died in an instant. They marry shortly afterward, only to realize how little they know about each other. When danger once again threatens their lives and their unborn child, Collin and Beth must decide if their love is strong enough to face the challenge.

Opposites add instant conflict. So glad I heard that advice!