I hit send on Valentine's Day and submitted The Conned Lady, Book 5 of my Wild Blue Mystery series. As all writers know, every time you hit send on a book, it takes a little piece of you with it and stirs up a jungle of butterflies. This book was exactly like that – but different. The Conned Lady is the last book in the series that started my writing career.
To tell the truth, I’ve thought about ending a series
for a while now but there were so many unknowns:
·
How would I do it?
·
What would happen to my characters?
·
How hard would it be?
·
Will my readers be upset?
·
Will that mean I can never revisit
those characters again?
When I started writing Book 5, I hadn’t intended to
end the series just yet. I had plans for one more book but the characters had
other ideas. This one wrapped up so many things that it left me no option! Once
I got to the final climax, the next move was for them to all live happily ever
after. Who was I to argue with an organic, natural ending to the series?
What would happen to the characters? Life will go on
even though the readers and I will no longer be a part of it. Working out what
would happen to them next was so easy. The last chapter truly wrote itself.
I truly hope my readers are not upset. I was prepared
to struggle with that last chapter and saying good-bye to a long list of old
friends that I’ve worked with since I first started writing about their
adventures around 2010 then published in 2013 when Books We Love took a chance
on The Bookstore Lady. Characters
definitely become a part of your life and it’s hard to imagine not having a
next book to follow them around and see what they’re up to. At the same time, I
still have the freedom to use those characters in future short stories or novellas
or even a new book or series should the vision arise.
I guess for me, I think of ending this series much
like going home after a vacation. You’ve had a great time with friends but it’s
time to go home and get back to work on something else. Since I do have more
series in the works, there will always be more endings. Hopefully the next
series ender will be as smooth as this one.
Happy reading!
Diane Bator
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Having ended a number of series I realize how hard this can be and how tempting it would be to find just another story for the characters. Good luck with the next series
ReplyDeleteSome of my series ended organically after three novels, but others, like the Curse of the Lost Isle, Celtic legends spanning centuries, demanded up to eight books. Others, like the Chronicles of Kassouk, kept asking me for book after book, then demanded a prequel, an origin story. Nowadays, I try to keep them at three books, but I keep writing in the same sci-fi fantasy universe. Currently writing Book 1 in a new series "Blue Phantom" featuring a hero who was a secondary character in the last book of the Azura Chronicles.
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