I’ll forever be grateful to Narelle Atkins for talking at an Omega conference in 2015 about the value of writing in a series.
When I heard this, I’d just finished writing my third historical (Winning Miss Winthrop), and was primed to write a sequel to this as a NaNoWriMo project in November that year. Little did I know that my collection of contemporary and historical books that were starting to collect dust (well, not literally, as they were in my computer) could one day be salvaged by the power of leaning to write in a series.
Now most normal people would plan out their series by figuring out a shared setting, characters, an event, etc. Apparently I’m not too normal. For my historical Regency-era books, I could see a way in which I could use my already-written books (The Elusive Miss Ellison, Misleading Miss Verity, & Winning Miss Winthrop) as books in a trio of connected trilogies (they eventually became books 1, 4 & 9, respectively of the Regency Brides series). Some characters popped up in most books, some settings were familiar, one book even springboarded off an event at the start of another, offering a different character’s perspective. It was fun trying to work ‘backwards’ to create stories about side characters so there was a degree of continuity and these books could ‘flow’ as a series.
I had a similar experience with my Original Six series. Love on Ice and Muskoka Blue (which ultimately became books 2 & 6) were written years before the others, so I again had to find ways to help these work as a series. I did this through introducing the online Bible study group chats with shared characters, each of which became the hero of their ‘own’ book.
My most recent series has seen this happen once again. I had two or three books (or parts thereof) that I thought could potentially capitalise off the gorgeous setting I’d used for Muskoka Blue. A decade or so ago, I’d toyed with spin-offs for Muskoka Blue, but I was unpublished at that stage, so I didn’t try too hard to finish them. But when I realised just how many readers love reading series, I decided to work on these books and incorporate them into another series, based in the beautiful Muskoka region which I visited many moons ago. (Want to see pics from my travels there? Visit my website here)
So last week saw the release of Muskoka Shores, the first in a new small town Christian contemporary romance series that’s (mostly) based around the lives of a group of female friends in the (fictional) town of Muskoka Shores, Canada. Each book takes one of these ladies and their romance quests, and it’s fun to see how to once again blend these books into a series so there’s a degree of connection.
Now, I don’t recommend this technique for everyone – I do think being able to plan out a series and writing books consecutively saves a lot of toil. But I have loved redeeming books I once thought had potential – and had invested enough time to write anything from 10k to 40k words – that had just been ‘dusty’ manuscripts in my computer and turning them into something that readers will enjoy today. Muskoka Shores will be followed by Muskoka Christmas, and I have plans for other Muskoka romance books for the future.
As for other series? Well, I still have a romantic suspense book (it won an ACFW contest years ago) to do something with one day. (Yes, I have rough plans for a NSW south coast romantic suspense series) And there’s a rugby story that needs more love – and a series home one day. So there’s a few more to get out of the way.
But I also look forward to having more time to write new books in new series – such as my next hockey book in the Northwest Ice series (that spins off the Original Six books). And then there’s other Aussie and internationally based contemporary romance. Oh, and another historical book I could link to a Regency I’ve written. Hmm…
Anyway, here’s a bit about Muskoka Shores:
Serena Williamson loves working at Muskoka Shores, the fancy resort on Lake Muskoka, and making couples dreams come true. But after returning from a celebrity wedding to find her own hopes crumbling to dust, she sets out for self-improvement, and to prove her ex was wrong. But when a misunderstanding concerning the new assistant church minister leads to more self-doubt, can she ever really trust a man again?
Joel Wakefield is looking forward to a fresh start for himself and his sister in this beautiful small town beside Lake Muskoka. He hadn’t counted on meeting a curvy cutie with a gift for hospitality and a gracious heart. Can he show her that it’s what is inside that truly counts?
Grab your copy at Amazon Apple B&N GooglePlay Kobo or ask your local library to get the ebooks in.
It is fascinating to hear how these series came to be. Yes, the theory is that you plan up front but so often the reality is that we don’t because we don’t necessarily even think of it.
My first series was quite unplanned at the beginning (since I thought I was writing a standalone book). It ended up a six-book series which works well for boxsets as three is a good combination.
My second series is planned as a 6 but already I’m seeing ideas for more. I am thinking about not numbering them as each story will be a standalone but thematically linked.
I can’t believe how many ideas you have in your mind at once.
Ah, so many ideas, so little time. I’m glad to see others have fun figuring out how to write a series, too. It’s not always as straightforward as one might think, is it?
Hi Carolyn, Congratulations on all your series and book releases! 😊
Thanks so much – and thanks for sharing about the importance of series all those years ago.
Hi Carolyn, Enjoyed your blog. If a trilogy can be called a series, then I’ve written a series too, but it was unplanned. I wrote my memoir of my childhood days under Japanese occupation during World War II. It finished at the end of hostilities in Burma, but when fans asked for the next instalment, I wrote Book II, the period in Burma after independence and the civil wars that followed. That ended with my escape from Burma to Australia in 1967. Then friends clamored for more. They kept asking about the rest of my family. Were they alive? Where are they now, etc., so I wrote the last book of my memoir trilogy, ‘Opera, Orchids and Oz.’ It is available from Amazon, Book Depository and most on-line bookstores, but will be publicly launched in March 2022. Look out for more news about it soon.
Isn’t it fascinating to see how books come to be? What an exciting life you’ve had – that obviously warrants a series of books!