Saturday, April 9, 2011

Stages and new mystery series...

Book 1 of my shiny new Vintage Kitchen Mystery series, A Deadly Grind, will not be published until May of 2012. For me, ADG is at the stage where I know so much about it (in fact, I'm done the first draft of Book 2 - Bowled Over) that I'm excited for other people to read it, to see if they like it as much as I do! I'm like a parent, I guess... will you all like my special little snowflake? I hope you do.

Writing is all about stages. I'm at a completely different stage with another series that I am planning, a historical mystery series that has me so excited I can't sleep at night. I'm at the very beginning, peering at it through the pearly haze of dawn and hoping it will be all I want it to be. I know some writers don't feel this way, but planning a new series is like... well, it's like seeing a bright, shiny gift under the Christmas tree and wondering what's in it. Do you remember that feeling? Remember dreaming about what's in that gift? Is it all you hoped for, you wonder? Will you unwrap it and gasp in glee? 

As the days go by, I make new discoveries about the series. I haven't rushed it, which is how I approach opening gifts, first untie the ribbon, then remove one maddening piece of tape at a time to preserve the pretty wrapping paper. 

But then, I tend to do the same with a new mystery series that I am thinking of diving into as a reader. I like to look around, find something I'm interested in, tiptoe toward it and look it over. How about you? Do you look for new series, then be sure to get Book 1, so you'll have the story from the beginning? Or do you dive in wherever you find a book that hooks your interest, then go back and get the others if you like it?

7 comments:

  1. yup....that's me. Gotta have the first book and go in order.

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  2. I figure what's the point if they are not read in order. You get to know the characters as the series progresses.

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  3. Yes, I love discovering new-to-me authors and series and I have to start with the first book. Looking forward to reading yours in 2012.

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  4. Interesting to hear from you all! In theory I like to start with book one and move forward, but I have 'stumbled' onto some good series by starting in the middle, then going back! Not always easy... sometimes writers get better as they go along, and the first book isn't as good!

    Do any of you find that, that the later books in a series are better written? I hate it when it's the opposite, and a series goes downhill.

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  5. Usually the books get better. I have come across a few that went down hill and I had to stop reading the series. I feel guilty when I have to do that, but what choice do I have. There are so many other books to read.

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  6. I always go for the first in a series so I can read the whole series in order. That is part of my obsessive trait, lol. I would love to read a historical mystery series. I love historical books.

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  7. Michelle, I know what you mean... I feel guilty when I stop reading a series, but life's too short!

    Angela... I love historical mysteries, too! Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen series is a favorite, as is Anne Perry's 'Charlotte & Thomas Pitt' series. So good.

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