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Monday, November 28, 2011

In Praise of Sequels and Series

The only thing better than discovering an enchanting  new (to you) world—the literary kind, that is—is finding out that it’s part of a series or, at worst, that there’s a sequel or two…maybe three, in the offing.

I love reading series. A good book leaves you with the certainty that the story isn’t over when you’ve turned the last page; that there’s more going on with the characters you’ve fallen in love with, or the world they inhabit, than can fit comfortably into just one volume. A great book leaves you yearning for some of that "more". A series means multiple chances to get it!

As an author, I love writing series as well. Because I write primarily paranormal/sci-fi, I put a lot of energy into my world-building. The settings for my stories are usually an integral part of the story itself.  It takes time  and patience (something I don't have all that much of!) to research all the science, history, geography, myths, legends, and who knows what else it might take to bring a new world to life. From a practical point of view, I have a hard time  justifying walking away from all of that after only one book.

Of course, there’s also the emotional angle. I really hate saying good-bye to my imaginary friends. Writing a sequel is  a good way of putting that off a little while longer.  There’s also the fact that I’m OCD enough to really like things in sets, but that’s probably a good topic for another post!

In any case, it didn’t really come as a huge surprise when the idea for a four-part, spin-off series hit me when I was only about one-third of the  way through the writing of ThisWinter Heart. And, as if I needed more proof that my antho-sisters and I are truly connected, I was thrilled to realize that all of the A ClockworkChristmas authors have sequels or related series in the works, promising more steampunky goodness for the year ahead.

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We Wish You a Steampunk Christmas

Changed forever after tragedy, a woman must draw strength from her husband’s love. A man learns that love isn’t always what you expect. A thief steals the heart of a vengeful professor. And an American inventor finds love Down Under. Enjoy Victorian Christmas with a clockwork twist in these four steampunk novellas.

Anthology includes:

Crime Wave in a Corset by Stacy Gail
This Winter Heart by PG Forte
Wanted: One Scoundrel by Jenny Schwartz
Far From Broken by JK Coi



The anthology releases December 5 from Carina Press. To keep up with the fun and laughter and sheer silliness of our pre-release celebrations, please join us on the A Clockwork Christmas Facebook page.

You can buy A Clockwork Christmas as an EPUB or for your Kindle.

5 comments:

  1. PG, that's it exactly. Both as a reader and author I'm all Oliver Twist-ish: "Please, sir, may I have some more?"

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  2. We just did a "Keeping your world building straight for series" mini workshop at my local chapter of RWA. Some great ideas for how to put it and keep it all together. I love series, too. It's like, you find a writer whose voice you love, and one book just isn't enough! Congrats on the anthology.

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  3. I love discovering a new author or world and finding out there are many more in the series!

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  4. Yes yes I always want more! I'm a huge PG Forte fan as well so anytime I I see a new book I have to have it!! ;)

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  5. OMG I can't wait forthe next book in a series that I've loved. Sometimes it's so hard I wish I hadn't started the first book until there were at least 2-3 already available, you know?

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