Stand Alone Novel or Series?

by +AneMulligan  @AneMulligan

What are you writing? A novel that is part of a series or stand-alone one?

I want to talk about series. There are 2-book series, 3-book, 4-book and more. Jan Karon has written eleven books in the Mitford series. But the average seems to be three or four books. Let's face it, it's kind of hard to leave beloved characters behind after all that time you spent with them. Especially if you have a town filled with characters. 

When I planned out my Chapel Springs series, there were three books, which has become four. I write the first book with two characters having POVs. My main character is Claire. Her best friend, Patsy, had a POV. In the second book, Claire has a POV again, but another character in town has the other POV.

With two books out, I had a street team, fans (I love saying that word) who populate a community group on Facebook. When I began to work on the third book, I was in a quandary about whose POV I would write this one in. My fans were emphatic. Claire had to have a POV. She was the heart of Chapel Springs.

That was my determining factor … my readers. So the third book and now the fourth all have Claire with one of the POVs and another character from the town with one. And readers like series.

But not all series are like mine. More often than not, there is a unifier that goes through each book. Sometimes it's a town, sometimes a theme of lost love or families reunited, or perhaps a job.

Ronie Kendig has written several series: The Discarded Heroes - 4-book series addressing PTSD. A Breed Apart is about military working dogs. The Quiet Professionals is a 3-book series with active duty military. The Tox Files (new, not released yet--coming out in October/December) is a 3-book series that's sort of Indiana Jones meets Jason Bourne meets her Rapid-Fire Fiction (Ronie's brand). 

October 2016

Susan May Warren had several books in her Christiansen Family series. Each family member was the POV character in one of the books. She has a series about Montana smoke jumpers, mountain fire fighters. A number of years ago, she did a series with a noble legacy as the unifier.

Deborah Raney has five books in her Chicory Inn series, starting with the parents changing their home into a bed and breakfast. After the first, each of their grown children had their story told.

Melanie Dickerson writes fairy talks, or rather rewrites them. She bases her novels on a fairy tale character in her fairy tale romance series. Some Biblical historical authors have based their series on the women in the Bible.

So, if you're thinking about writing a series, you first have to decide how the books will tie together. You can have an ensemble cast in a town, like my Chapel Springs series. In this type, the town actually becomes a character.

You can choose a career, like fire fighters, or the police. Richard Mabry writes medical thrillers. They are all stand-alone novels … and yet, they could be considered a series, since all have the medical profession theme.

As long as you have something that ties the books together, you can write a series. If you've written a series, I'd love to hear about yours. What was the unifier? Join the conversation.

TWEETABLES: #Writing a series isn't hard and readers love series. (Click to tweet)

Home to Chapel Springs

A homeless author, a theatre ghost, and a heartbroken daughter ~ there’s trouble in Chapel Springs

There’s always someone new in Chapel Springs, either coming home or stirring up trouble. Bestselling author Carin Jardine’s latest book is a flop. Homeless and broke, she and her little boy have no choice but to retreat to the house she inherited from her nana in Chapel Springs—the house that’s been gutted. Then, a stranger knocks on her door. One that will change the course of her life. With one of her daughters in love with the wrong boy, a theatre rumored to be haunted, and Howie Newlander and Mayor Riley go head-to-head in a hot election, Claire gets caught in the middle.

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Special Birthday Guest ~ Deborah Raney!

by +AneMulligan  @AneMulligan

Happy birthday, Novel Rocket! 

Don't forget to leave a comment every day this week to be entered in the drawing for these books:

I'm delighted to have as our guest, our very first interviewee, Deborah Raney. 

Deborah Raney dreamed of writing a book since the summer she read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books and discovered that a Kansas farm girl could, indeed, grow up to be a writer. After a happy twenty-year detour as a stay-at-home mom, Deb penned her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, which won a Silver Angel Award and inspired the acclaimed World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Since then, her books have won the RITA Award, HOLT Medallion, ACFW Carol Award, National Readers' Choice Award, as well as twice being finalists for the Christy Award. She and her husband, Ken, have four children and four precious grandchildren who all live much too far away. Visit Deb at www.deborahraney.com. 

Deb, you were our very first Novel Rocket interview in Sept 2005. What’s happened in the past 10 years? 

Wow, Ane! I can’t believe it’s been 10 years already! Whoosh! What’s happened in the past 10 years. Well, I’ve become Mimi to 5 precious grandkids, with 2 more on the way. Oh, wait… You mean in the writing world? ;) Well, let’s see…

Ten years ago, I was just signing my contract with Howard. I wrote seven books for them, and am now writing a five-book series for Abingdon Press. I’m working on my 31st novel now and still enjoying my career as a novelist. I’m also doing some freelance editing now, and finding I really enjoy that! 

How has your writing changed in these years?

With my two series for Howard, and especially my standalone The Face of the Earth, I was able to incorporate more threads of suspense than in my earlier novels. That was a challenge and made me a better writer, I think, even with my new series, which is a bit more lighthearted than some of my books.

Overall, I definitely write shorter and more spare now than I did earlier in my career. I’m not sure what brought that change about, but I’ve learned to let dialogue carry a good part of the story, and maybe I’ve learned not to include the boring parts readers skip over. 

How have you seen the industry change over the past 10 years?

The whole e-book phenomenon has really shaken up the publishing industry. I see both challenges and advantages for authors in this. Challenges because the competition has never been stiffer, and the rules have never been so hard to pin down. What worked even two years ago doesn’t necessarily hold true today.

With traditional publishing, there seems to be fewer slots and shrinking advances. But the good news is that it has never been easier to self-publish. Many authors are having success publishing their own novels or publishing with small indie presses. And competition is always good for everyone in the long run.

I think the future looks bright for new writers, as long as they don’t skip the important steps—study the craft, get professional editing, professional cover design, etc., things that have always been hallmarks of good books.

I’m sure we have yet to see how things are going to ultimately shake out, but one thing is sure: storytellers will never go away. And that makes this reader happy.

  

I’m so honored to have been a part of Novel Rocket all these years, and I hope you’ll come back [to me] in another ten years and see what’s up with both of us then!

Two Roads Home

Minor-but-nagging setbacks continue to sour Grant and Audrey Whitman’s initiation into the world of innkeeping, but larger challenges brew when an innocent flirtation leads to big trouble for the Whitmans’ son-in-law, Jesse.

Jesse Pennington’s friendly, outgoing personality has always served him well, especially in a career that has earned him and his wife Corinne a very comfortable lifestyle. But Corinne and Jesse are both restless—and for similar reasons, if only they could share those with each other. Instead, too many business trips and trumped-up charges of harassment from a disgruntled coworker threaten their marriage and possibly put their three precious daughters at risk.

With their life in disarray, God is tugging at their hearts to pursue other dreams. Can Corinne and Jesse pick up the pieces of what was once a wonderful life before it all crumbles beneath them?

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