{"id":1595,"date":"2017-04-20T10:31:49","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T14:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/?p=1595"},"modified":"2017-04-20T10:34:16","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T14:34:16","slug":"the-third-book-takes-a-sharp-right-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/?p=1595","title":{"rendered":"The Third Book Takes a Sharp Right Turn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing a series is like when a dinner guest becomes a roommate. Writing the first book is like having a dinner party with exciting and stimulating guests, carefully planned menu, atmosphere \u2013 but the guests get to go home. And you get to put your feet up and relax. Writing a series, the guests stay permanently. You have to think of exciting things for them to do, vary the menu, invite different guests for them to play with.\u201d<\/em> \u2014 Rebecca Forster<\/p>\n

The Lynton Series <\/em>so far.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Book One and Book Two<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Four books set in a fictional city in New Hampshire centered around the lives of a group of women brought together by fate. That was the plan. At the time, I had no idea how ambitious an undertaking it was for a first-time writer.<\/p>\n

I am a series reader and have been since being introduced as a child to The Bobbsey Twins<\/em><\/a>, Nancy Drew<\/em><\/a>, and Trixie Belden<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>I love to follow the characters\u00a0and I hate it when a series ends. I miss them.<\/p>\n

Recently, I re-read (I think I already told you that I am a dedicated re-reader of long-standing) the Tradd Street Series<\/em> <\/a>written by Karen White. There are five books in the series and I am hoping she will keep going because I want to know more about what Mellie and Jack are doing. The series is set in Charleston. If you like ghosts and quirky characters, these books are a treat not to be missed.<\/p>\n

This second time I read the books as a writer not as a reader and I learned a lot about what it takes to write\u00a0a successful series. The biggest \u201cAh ha!\u201d I had\u00a0was the need to stay with the characters you start out with. In The Lynton Series<\/em> this would be: Brid, Franny, Sofia, Neil and Brendan.<\/p>\n

Maggie\u2019s Girls,<\/em> the story I have been writing (and fighting with) for the last year, doesn\u2019t follow this rule. The story\u00a0introduces a new main character along with her complicated family and friends. The usual Lynton ladies do make an appearance but only in supporting roles. Having read the Tradd Street Series<\/em><\/a> again, along\u00a0with readers often asking me what is happening with Franny and Nick, I realized\u00a0this was not the right book to be number three in the series.<\/p>\n

The wonderful thing about writing fiction is very little is ever completely lost. Writers smush things together and move them around or, worst case, shove them in a drawer. I intend to come back to Maggie\u2019s Girls<\/em> one day.<\/p>\n

Book Three, as yet unnamed, will focus on where the relationship between Nick and Franny is going. Brid, Sofia, and Lilah will have a lot to say. As Rebecca Forster indicates\u00a0in the above quote, I will have to think of exciting things for them to do and maybe sneak in a new face or two along the way. Faces that I have been writing about in Maggie’s Girls.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Muse is delighted that I have finally figured out what was she tells me was obvious to HER and I am tapping away at the keys once again.<\/p>\n

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“I could have told you…”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writing a series is like when a dinner guest becomes a roommate. Writing the first book is like having a dinner party with exciting and stimulating guests, carefully planned menu, atmosphere \u2013 but the guests get to go home. And you get to put your feet up and relax. Writing a series, the guests stay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10,22,17,25,1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fran-foundlings","category-mac-women","category-maggies-girls","category-the-lynton-series","category-the-muse","category-uncategorized","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1595"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1610,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions\/1610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathleenferrari.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}