1. Angelia Menchan
2. Shelly Ellis
3. Dyanne Davis
4. Angel de Amor
5. Pat G’Orge Walker
6. TL James
2. Shelly Ellis
3. Dyanne Davis
4. Angel de Amor
5. Pat G’Orge Walker
6. TL James
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19 comments:
Writing a series hadn't entered my mind when I created the Sister Betty character. Because a "Gospel comedy" or"Christian humor/comedy" genre didn't exist; Sister Betty God's Calling You" a short story pamphlet created it.
Kensington acquired the entire collection and used it to launch the Christian fiction line of their imprint Dafina books.
Good morning,
When I began writing about Adam Omega, my vampire, I knew it would be a series. And that's where the F.D. Davis came from.
Dyanne
What tips do you have for those who are interested in writing series?
What type of system do you use for keeping track of your characters?
What do you have to do to make sure the book can stand alone even though it is part of a series?
How do you decide which characters to branch out with?? Does every stand out character have a full story?
When you write a sequel, how much do you refer to what happened in the previous book(s), especially at the beginning. It seems like quite a balancing act to give enough information for the person who might not have read the previous book(s) but not giving so much that you bore the readers who have read them.
Hi Sheila,
I'm generally a pantser, so I learned the had way what tips to give. At lest they helped me. I keep a file on each character, basic likes and dislikes, habits, manner of speaking, and GMC
This is why: When Sidney, my wonderful psychic editor was editing book two in my series, she said to me, "Adam wouldn't talk in this manner." My first thought was, shouldn't I know how Adam would talk. But I trust Sidney and she's edited 13 books with me. So I decided to remain calm and think about it.
Sure enough Adam would not have spoken in the manner I had him speaking. I had to reread book one to find that out. I was reading L.A. Banks, vampire series and had fallen in love with Carlos, who was street. Adam isn't, but in book two I had made Adam more street.
I first thanked God for Sidney once again, and thanked him that I wasn't too stubborn to listen, and go back and hear Adam's voice. I don't generally read the same genre I"m writing until I'm finished, but that just kind of happened.
That was when I knew I needed at least a loose character sketch of each of the characters.
In my long winded way, Shelia I"m saying write down the basic so you can go back to reference it when you need it.
D
Hello Everyone,
I'm in the stage of writing a sequel for my novel "His Betrayal Her Lies." One of the things my editor kept telling me is make sure it stands alone. One thing you should do is make sure you give the reader a recap on the first book and the characters.
Another thing you should do is read series or sequel books. This will help you get a flow on how the book should be written. Finally, tie up all loose ends that the readers may have from book one.
LaShaunda,
I use a file with character outline to keep track.
Your second question is a bit harder.It's trying to balance back story so a new reader won't be lost and not rehashing so much that the reader who has read the other books will become lost. Thank God I had Sidney for the first three. And thank God she does free lance and I will be the one paying her this time to edit. I have no idea how she r4emembers all of these things about my characters that I forget but she does. And she always knows where I'm heading.
Melissa,
I almost forgot that I did a trilogy, which is a series. That wasn't planned. It just happened at the end of each book, the next character needed to be heard. The main three character are a husband, wife and son who have reincarnated and found each other.
With the Vampire series, Adam is always the star. I ended each book on a cliff hanger and readers are getting a bit miffed because I haven't brought out the 4th book.
D
Suzanne,
In both series I began with the new story and get the needed info out through dialogue, just little snippets. I found I didn't really need a lot of back story.
But again, Sidney was always there to remind me when I was repeating myself, probably as I've done in some of my answers here today. LOL
Because I started out performing Sister Betty monologues and incorporating core characters I found it easy to keep the nuances. I do however, keep character logs for new characters. I find it is necessary when I bring characters back.
Although my books are a series I've made it my business to make each novel stand alone. I don't leave any business unfinished.
No problem about any repetition here, F.D. I don't know about anyone else, but I need repetition for most lessons to really stick. Thank you for taking the time to answer each question and share your experience.
Q - What tips do you have for those who are interested in writing series?
A - If you are going to create a series, you need to have well developed characters with a storyline that can stand on its own.
Q - What type of system do you use for keeping track of your characters?
A - My storylines were created and updated in EXCEL. When I created The MPire, I started with a timeline. I added real historical events to build that belief-ability while creating alternative reasoning to involve my characters.
When I created The MPire Saga, it was one long story to me. My saga chronicled the main character, Mallory Towneson Haulm from the beginning when he rejoined his family to his death (third death). I never imaged that it was going to be a series. Once I was finished, I realized that my story was too long to publish as one book. I worked with a team to help me break it up. I created endings for each of the book to make it a stand-alone but it is a series.
Sometimes it happens. When I wrote DONT BLAME THE DEVIL..it was the reviewers and readers who gave the character Deacon Thurgood Pillar the spin off go ahead. When I featured him again in Sister Betty Says I Do..he stole the show. For the most part I have a cast of supporting characters who have stories that add dimension while leaving Sister Betty in tact as the protaganist.
My characters live with me and are usually born of other characters.
Q - What type of system do you use for keeping track of your characters?
I actually use Scrivner to keep track of my characters for my series rather than the writing parts. I can include pictures and character profiles to keep track of them and other resources such as family trees to keep track of who is the parent or child and birth dates and places.
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