Are all Sequels Equal?
In my current release Miss Taken, Tabitha Stuart has an adventure of a lifetime over a two day period. While the story does have a very satisfying ending, there’s still plenty of room to bring the characters back for a sequel.
So, how does an author decide if they should leave the story to stand alone or bring it back as a sequel or series?
I’ve considered bringing back the characters from Miss Taken but haven’t taken the plunge yet. Although, I’m a huge fan of series books I think that some of them go on for far too long. The quality can seem to fade from the books after the author has to come up with fresh new adventures for the same characters over and over again.
On the flip side, there have been many books that I’ve been absorbed in until the very last page and then am still left wondering, what happened to those characters? Destined to never to find out when the author doesn’t continue the story in another book.
Some of my favorite series are the Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich, the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and the Grant County series by Karin Slaughter…just to name a few. All of these series have six or more books in them and they still continue on.
I’ve been a faithful follower of all three since the beginning but in the past couple of years I’ve stopped reading two of these series. Now, I won’t say which two but I will say that I quit because I felt like the author’s passion for the stories was beginning to wane.
I could feel it as the series grew older and I no longer counted down the days until the next release. Have you had a similar experience with a series that you enjoyed?
Sometimes I wonder, when is enough…enough? The same is true of television series. I can’t tell you how many shows that I’ve loved only to have the network pull it way before its time. Then again, some shows plug on and on and you couldn’t pay me to watch them.
As avid readers, do you consider yourself a fan of series books? Which ones are your favorites and which ones have you dropped?
I’m gathering opinions on series novels today and trying to decide if I should revisit one or more of my own books. Share your thoughts and feelings on series books today and be eligible to win a prize pack from me which includes: a hanging photo frame and a promo goodie bundle!
Thank you to Raine for the wonderful opportunity to blog with you all today. I look forward to reading your thoughts and comments. Be sure to check out my current June “Summer is Hot” contest now in progress on my website at www.kerrinelson.com Also stay tuned for my first paranormal release entitled Soul Searcher due out from Whispers Publishing on September 18th!
Sneak Peek into Miss Taken by Kerri Nelson:
http://www.whispershome.com/book_pages/miss_taken.html
Tabby was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming but she couldn’t make herself wake up. She dreamt that she was in a straitjacket and the harder she struggled to free herself, the tighter her restraints became.
She shook her head from side to side and realized that something was over her mouth. It was gagging her and she suddenly felt as if she couldn’t breathe. She fought the urge to panic and began to cough frantically. Her tongue protruded from her lips and she felt something rough and unnatural there. What was going on?
As her eyes opened and tried to focus, she saw blurry images of unfamiliar furniture and she had the chilling sensation that she was in a strange place and that someone was watching her.
Suddenly it came back to her in a flash. She remembered leaving work and her missing car. She remembered the black Mercedes and then…and then she remembered nothing.
Where was she? How had she gotten here? Who had grabbed her out of her office parking deck and what were they going to do to her?
She felt panicked again and her stomach rolled with nausea. Her eyes darted around the dim room and then she saw him. She saw a beautiful man sitting in a chair across the room from her. He watched her with a mixture of curiosity and something else. What was it? If Tabby hadn’t been such a social recluse the last few years she would have been more certain but still she thought he looked at her with lust.
She blinked her eyes rapidly to help clear the remaining fog that seemed to be blocking her vision. She tried to reach up and rub her eyes and realized her arms were bound behind her back. She looked down to see that she was still wearing her work clothes, which felt like only a small relief when she saw that her ankles were also bound to the legs of the chair.
She shook her head from side to side and felt tears begin to well up in her eyes.
“Settle down now.” She heard the smooth voice of the mystery man.
Something about his voice did seem to calm her slightly but those words weren’t enough to stop the tears from spilling over her eyes and down her cheek.
* * * *
He rose slowly from his chair and reached out to her with just one finger. She felt herself automatically flinch as his hand reached for her. He stopped his hand in midair and her dark green eyes looked up at him with what she knew was a look of pure fear.
He seemed to consider her look and then said softly, “I won’t hurt you. I promise.”
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30 Responses to “Guest Author Day with Kerri Nelson & a CONTEST”
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Hi Kerri,
Thanks for coming today and sharing your thoughts on Sequels.
I love certain series. Some are Dark Hunters, Kim Harrison’s Hollows series, JD Robb’s In Death plus many, many more.
Some sequels sometimes feel forced to my eyes and in MHO, the author just wrote it to finish the contract. *shrugs* Some have memorable secondary characters that leave me breathless and I am clamoring for a story abouthtem. It all depends on the author and the storyline.
Raine D.
Whew! Hey Raine!
Thought the dates got mixed up when I saw my buddy Kelley’s blog on here today! LOL
Great to be here and I’m going to give a shout out to all my e-mail loops now. Be right back.
I don’t particularly like the kind of series where the same characters star in every book. There are a few great ones out there, but mostly I get bored with reading about the same people after the first three or four books.
However, I love stories where secondary characters from one book become central characters in another. That way, readers get the best of both — new characters in a storyverse they enjoy, and now and then a peek into the continuing stories of characters they enjoyed in an earlier book.
Kerri, So great to see you at Raine’s beautiful site! As a reader and a writer, I love series. The advantage to writing a series is that the writer knows her characters so well that she knows how they’ll react in different situations. I spend a lot of time developing my characters, so when I introduce new characters, it takes considerable time to flesh out their traits. That said, I agree that there’s a point at which “enough is enough.” You don’t want characters that are SO predictable, they’re boring.
Keep up the great work, sweetie. You rock!
I like some series but i have to agree sometimes they drag on and on so i get bored with the series and cant read more of it on the other hand sometiems a book needs a sequal cause not everything was told or u wonder what more is to be known so a second book is almost nessary to answer those questions so for me it all depend son the story and whats good for one story isnt nessarily good for another
Barbara~~
Great points! I can totally understand where you are coming from. I like it when they have the second story focused on the best friend or sidekick from the first story. Sometimes the author will throw in a little detail or two about the original hero or heroine to keep you updated.
That’s kind of what I was considering doing with my book.
Thanks for stopping by!
Susan~~
So great to see you here, my dear friend! Big hugs!
I agree that no one knows a character better than the author but I think I would find it incredibly difficult to “keep it fresh” with the same lead character in book after book. I’m not sure that’s a talent that I possess.
You are too sweet and I’m so thrilled that you stopped by to chat!
Beverly~~
You are spot on. It does vary from book to book and author to author. Some seem to have a real knack for it and others not so much. Doesn’t it seem like there are just tons of series out there right now, though?
Sometimes I feel like I can’t pick up a book that’s NOT part of a series. It stresses me out then because I must read them in order if I’m going to read them at all. LOL
Thanks for your comments.
Hey Kerri and Raine!
I don’t normally care for series books, simply because when the new book comes out, I have to browse the previous ones to refresh my memory—and I don’t always have time. HOWEVER, there are a couple of series books I do like and currently follow:
Veronica Wolff’s “Highlands” series
Melissa Mayhue’s “Highlander” series
Karin Tabke’s “Master” series
Emily Bryan’s alliterative titles
I like them because each book in the series can be read as a stand alone story. Though if I know it’s a series, I have to read them in order. A now completed series I did like was Amanda Stevens’ Harlequin Intrigue Gallagher Justice and also H.I Eden’s Children.
Okay, I’ve just realized that I may like series books more than I thought! Though when it comes to t.v. series, I lost patience with Lost and Heroes and quit watching them last year. I don’t like soap operas—sci-fi or not—that string you along without giving you a resolution, however small, before moving on to the next drama.
Julie
I like series, but tend to prefer those where secondary characters in one book step up in the next rather than those utilizing the same protagonist again and again like the old detective novels.
BTW, Kerri, you don’t need to count me in for your contest.
Julie
Hi Kerri and Raine,
Super topic today, ladies. I have one particular series that needs to ‘play on’. There’s so much story left to tell. I think all writers face this crossroads at some point in their career.
With a contracted trilogy, sometimes it’s difficult to make the decision to move forward with another book. For me, it goes back to sales. If the sales warrant another book and there’s a lot of story left to tell, the need to write a sequel will eventually drive me a little nuts.
Hugs!
Destiny
Julie~~
I know exactly what you mean! Sometimes I have to just save up the books and read them all consecutively. My Mommy brain can’t remember all the details if it goes too long in between installments.
On another note, I totally owe you your big prizes but haven’t see you around and wasn’t sure that you’d made it back from your cruise! How’d that go?
Glad you’re back, girlfriend. Hugs!
Destiny~~
Thanks for the input. I haven’t been contracted to write a trilogy but I wonder how much pressure I would feel knowing that I had subsequent stories waiting on me to be written? Eeek! Stress!
I’m one of those impulse writers and find that I just have to have a spur of the moment impulse in order to make a story come alive. I don’t like to plan it out too much.
Great to see you here!
I’m a huge fan of series, but I lose interest if the author doesn’t stay true to the characters or if the story lines get tired or old. My favorite series are ones in which the author creates an interesting world.
Emma~~
It is easy to get addicted to series if you find yourself easily lost in the world of the characters. I particularly like Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series. They are all time travel and have some common elements but there is enough new material to keep you engaged. Their world is absolutely mesmerizing!
Thanks for stopping by, hon!
I’m right there with you, Kerri. I am a complete fan of series novels. I love to read what the previous characters are doing in the new book and I enjoy hearing from secondary characters and see then get their hapy ending as well.
Great post!
Thanks for asking, Kerri. I’m back, but have been super busy this past week, but The first week, I tried to catch up on old emails and didn’t succeed. All those Unread Messages still bug me! Thanks for waiting to mail, ’cause I did have my snail mail on hold.
Julie
I like you decided not to read a certain author who write a series but killed off a certain character. I said that I wouldn’t read her again but she wrote another book which I want to read. I haven’t bought it yet. Sometimes the author goes to far.
Shiela~~
Thanks for stopping by, hon! I know that series can be addictive particularly to us “book-a-holics”. I once got on a buying binge wherein I was buying all the culinary mysteries that I could get my hands on. I think I have like six or seven series of them and more recipes than I’ll ever even attempt. LOL
Julie~~
I’ll be in touch soon. I’m trying to get everything out by month’s end. I was just on a super tight deadline but I finally got that out today!
Loretta~~
I know exactly what you are referring to and it was totally heartbreaking. Gasp!
I guess that was certainly a way to shake things up and take things in a different direction. We’ll see what happens with that!
Thanks for hanging out at Raine’s lovely blog today!
I like series books with continuing characters but not continuing story lines. If you do miss a book you don’t want to feel like you’re lost. I like Alex Cross from James Patterson where there’s a background of characters but new stories that are independent. The Spenser character by Robert B. Parker is the same way. I would enjoy reading your new book!
I love both series and stand alone books. I’ve discovered new series but there was so many books in the series that it would take forever to get caught up to where they are out now and the discussion about them. So that will turn me away from a series. So I’ve missed some because of that. But there are some that I’ve followed from the beginning and they had a few books to the series and I so love to go back and visit the ‘world’ or characters they created for the series. Yeah its hard to say goodbye tho! I love to read both those stand along and series! Too I love to read a variety from the author too!
So good to chat with you Kerri. A great discussion!
I too wanted to give a shout out hello to Raine!! Its great to visit your blog! I’ll be visiting more for sure!
Pat~~
Think I missed your comment yesterday. My bad!
I totally agree about the secondary character being used in sequels. It allows the reader to dig a little deeper into a character that they only got to know on the surface before.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks to everyone for a great day yesterday. I’m off to draw the winner of my prize pack. Will be back shortly!
Thanks Raine!
By random draw from all comments, the winner of my prize pack is Susan B.!
Congrats and I’ll contact you for snail mail information.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Oops somehow missed Caffey & Scottsgal. The messages just now showed up. Huh?
Anyway, thanks for stopping by to chat. My summer blog tour continues today and throughout July. You can check my website for the schedule.
More prizes and more fun! http://www.kerrinelson.com
Congats, Susan B!
Enjoy.
Julie