Paranormal Romantics: Series - Love 'em or Hate 'em

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Series - Love 'em or Hate 'em

6:20 AM | Posted by Sara Brookes | | Edit Post

Personally, I love them. I read them, I write them. Standalones really do have their place, but I've yet to write a book where I didn't want to know more about secondary characters and story lines. Series can accommodate that perfectly. In fact, originally, Midnight's Ghost was supposed to be one book. The ending happened and that was all she wrote - literally. But when I let the story sit for a little (as I do with all my stories) I realized there was more to the story there. Questions I hadn't answered that I wanted to know - not just as a writer, but as a reader to. Just what did happen to Taran's father? And how the heck did Wallace break out of Widow's Bay? Those were questions I hadn't answered at the end of the book and ones I needed the answers to. And the next book in there series was born. Interestingly enough, the premise of the next book already lent itself to another book and viola - a three book story arc.

There's a recent book I wrote where I kept telling myself that I was going to write a standalone title. No series, no connections, nothing. Didn't quite work out that way. LOL

So, how do you feel about series?

Labels: Sara Brookes

7 comments:

Beth Caudill said...: While I like reading series, sometimes you just want an all contained story that answers all the question. No overall arc, no what happens next. Whatever happened to happily ever after for everyone?

I also don't write series which is a serious drawback right now. Publishers want series to sell so they have guaranteed sales. It's something I'm working on.; May 20, 2010 at 2:42 PM
Kristabel Reed said...: I enjoy both. I love knowing about the other characters but I also like having all the answers contained into one story. I suppose the best way to describe it would to say that if each story has a satisfying ending even with an overall arc, I'll eagerly pick up the next book. (And next!); May 20, 2010 at 2:48 PM
Annie Nicholas said...: Hi my name is Annie Nicholas and I'm a series addict. I love writing and reading them.; May 20, 2010 at 3:43 PM
Rebecca Royce said...: Hi-Like Annie Nicholas-I am a series addict. I really prefer series.; May 20, 2010 at 4:12 PM
Sara Brookes said...: @ Beth I have noticed that pubs are looking for series right now - they seem to be the way things are swinging. But like all trends, I would think things would swing the other way after a while.

@ Kristabel I actually write a few different approaches to series. Lets me play around with the many variations of series writing.

@ Annie & Rebecca LOL Glad to see I'm not alone!; May 20, 2010 at 5:33 PM
Sandra Sookoo said...: Once again, I'll be the minority on this blog. I'm not a big fan of a series unless it's exceptionally written and I can really care about the characters. Unfortunately, the authors who can do this are becoming few and far between and after awhile all the books sound the same.

I much prefer stand alone books because then I can move on to something else :-)

That's not to say I haven't written a series or even a trilogy. Exceptions to everything.; May 20, 2010 at 8:35 PM
Linda Andrews said...: I'm not a big fan of series because when I get to read I like to read a broad spectrum not feel like I'm trapped in a series. I'm just a tad OCD:-); May 20, 2010 at 11:20 PM