Writing a series is exciting but difficult. The longest was my seven book Loving series that took place in a fictitious town, Loving, Michigan. I based the setting on a real tourist town, Grand Haven, and my characters visited numerous events and businesses there. I loved that series, but never again will I do one with involving seven novels. : )
My last three book series was Man's Best Friend, based on 3 women involved in a dog shelter. I hope you enjoyed those novels: Dad In Training, Groom In Training and Bride in Training.
A true series occurs when one story is finished, these characters will continue into the next book now focused on another character or two who appeared in the previous novel. It's challenging and interesting but not without it's difficult moments.
The hardest part about writing a series is keeping information straight. What kind of car do they drive? Are the parents of the hero and heroine living and if so where do they live? Do they have siblings? What caused them to be single: death, never married, or divorced, and if it's divorced, how do we handle this as Christians? What church do they attend? Where do they work? And it goes on and on. The author must be on her toes to keep all the details accurate.
Now I'm working on another three book series, Dreams Come True. It's not a series I would have chosen, but my editor encouraged me to write creat this kind of series because she thought I could. They love my emotional stories so I guess that's a compliment. These stories are based on the same concept as Make A Wish Foundation, about parents with a child who has a very serious illness. I know it sounds depressing, but my job is to give the readers a wonderfully emotional story with good times and diifcult moments but always a happy ending.
Each of these books can stand alone. The story has a satifying ending but leaves the doors open for another character to step into the spotlight. In fact it might be fun for readers to try and guess whose turn will be next. I've asked myself if readers enjoy reading books writing as a series or do they prefer single titles so they don't have to wonder what will happen next. I know some readers purchase the novels and then wait until they're all released so they can read them in a row. That's something I've never done.
I'd love to hear from you and your thoughts on series. Do you enjoy them? Do you wait until you have the whole series before reading them?
2 comments:
Gail -- Your new series does sound challenging, but so worth writing. Congratulations on having the emotional punch.
Life is short! Read all ya can! :)
I like to read a good book as soon as I see it! If it is in a series, that's just fine! I will hope the next one comes out quickly. I have had those which take too long, though, and find myself reading the previous one(s) again. If it was well-written, it's always a pleasure to recap. :)
If you sit on 'em too long, trying to collect the whole series before reading them, you may miss out on some good stuff!
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