How hard is it to write the second novel in a series?
That’s the question someone asked in one of the LinkedIn groups I belong to. During the course of the discussion in the comments, some people seemed to infer that the best way to write a series was for each book to contain a self contained story that was all wrapped up by the time you reached the end, and then the next book would have enough back story and information so that if the reader hasn’t read the previous book, at least they’d know what was going on to some degree. I posted a response to that way of thinking that I believe is worth sharing.
The novels in my series aren’t stand alone simply because that’s the type of a series it is. I wrap up the plot elements specific to that book during the course of the story, but then at the end I lead in to the next major plot element so people will want to read the next one to find out what happens next. I do this for two reasons. First, if each book is a stand alone, then there’s less incentive for people to go on with the series after they finish each one, and second, I really can’t stand books that get mired down in all the back story of things that I’ve already read in the previous book.
Really there are two types of series. The first type would be a series of stand alone books that each have individual stories, and the second type is more like a television series with a running storyline that continues from book to book.
My particular series is the second type. If people want to know what happened before, they should read them in order. You wouldn’t watch the third season of Breaking Bad for example and expect them to keep rehashing stuff that happened during the second season.
Both types of series have their merits and their appeal for different readers, and I personally think there’s more than enough room out there for both.
Encounters, book 10 of the Unseen Things series is now available!
Synopsis: The Nathalis destroyed the moons in seven different dimensions in an effort to to wipe out the Zethichtalarin threat, and while it did succeed in killing off the majority of their race, it was inevitable that some would escape to other dimensions before their worlds were destroyed.
It was assumed that the survivors would no longer be a threat, but when Beth and Erin encounter one of their military officers in the Paradise dimension, that assumption is quickly proven wrong.
Now that the Zethichtalarin have begun to show themselves again, what lengths will they go to in order to rebuild their empire? The answer may be found in the Faranox dimension, where a tribal leader from one of the free villages has formed an army with advanced tactical knowledge that no Faranox tribal leader would normally possess.
As the evidence mounts that the Zethichtalarin were behind the formation of that army, the group in Washington forms a team whose job is to search the Faranox dimension for those responsible, and put an end to their plans for a resurgence once and for all.
You can purchase this and all the other books in the series by going to my Amazon author page.
Also, if you’d like to add any or all of the series on Goodreads, you can head on over to my author page on there as well.
By Duane • Uncategorized 0