Some of my favourite books are series. I grew up reading things like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. More recently, I’ve fallen in love with Rivers of London and so many more.
I adore watching how a story unfolds over multiple books. There’s something addictive about being forced to wait for the next book and continue the journey. Even if all the books have been released, I enjoy giving myself a quick break to digest the information before carrying on.
As a reader, a series says to me that the author had too much to tell us. Plots and characters just couldn’t be confined to a single book.
As an author, some of that joy dampens.
Writing the first book in the series is a wild experience. I’m not much of a plotter – preferring the characters to guide me. That first book is usually as much as a surprise to me as anyone else when I finish the first draft. It’s polished and put out into the world and I start the next one. And this is when the fear creeps in.
I prescribe to the mantra that I write for myself. Every time I open a doc and work on an idea, I do so wanting the result to be something I would want to read. But when you publish and put something out into the world – it’s impossible to avoid opinions.
Readers have their own wonderful ideas about what may come next or how they want the plot to continue. All those thoughts are hard to brush aside and I have to admit that while writing Of Truths & Bonds I deleted 60K words because I realised I wasn’t writing the story I wanted to tell but the story I thought everyone else wanted from me.
I took some time out from social media and rewrote 100K words of the story the way I always saw it playing out and am thrilled with the outcome.
As release day draws closer, some of the doubt tries to rear its head, but I’m reminding myself that, much like in life, one story may have a million different directions and that I can never please everyone.
Not so long ago, I told myself I would only write standalones to avoid the mini panic I have, but I’ve already gone back on that. I’m still a relatively new author and learning what process work best for me. So expect me to disappear as I work on anything beyond the first in the series.
It may take a little longer than expected but won’t let the panic hold me back.
Hello loved your books
Hello, I love your books! Is there a something that shows what each character that is a god, their divinity and color? And which god are together as a couple? It would be so nice to be able to reference that when reading the books. I am on the second book Truth and Bonds, and having something like that would help with understanding the characters, since it has been a minute since I read the first book.