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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