Let me preface this by saying that I love series. I mean, really love series. When there are multiple books with the same MCs and we get to see them repeatedly on their adventures and watch them grow and change. What I might love even more is when we meet secondary characters along the way who then in turn get their own stories. That way, we get to see the couples we’ve met previously as secondary characters and get to see that they are still going strong, but we also get to get new and different stories that take place in the same “world” and get to see characters that we’ve already met find their own happy ever afters.
I have a tendency to think in series. I don’t know why I even pretend that anything is going to be a one-off. Because even when I write something with the intent of it being a single title, it always changes. Probably because I love to read them so much. It inevitably happens. Always. The side characters start clamoring for their own stories to be told.
Monday night, before I dragged my ass to bed for the night, I made it to 25K words. I left it hanging at that point because sleep was imperative. As I was drifting off to sleep, my mind was writing the scene that I would write last night. A new character was introduced and I started figuring out where he fit in. How he was connected to my MCs and what his role would be. By the time I fell asleep, I was happy with where it was going and I knew by the time I got home from work yesterday I’d be ready to write it. But when I woke up yesterday morning, a curious thing happened. I knew the new character. I knew how he fit in with my MCs and what his role would be. But he started talking…letting me know that he’d be open to his own tale. Once I got this one finished, of course.
Honestly, I have no idea why I was surprised. But I was. For a few minutes there, I was completely shocked. And then I very politely but firmly told New Guy to can it. Because as much as I would love to hear his story, I am currently focused on something else. My brain is firmly entrenched with Nick and Owen. So he needed to take a back seat…as least as far as his own romance was concerned. But I was happy to hear anything he had to say about Owen. He obliged and is currently sitting in the back corner of my brain, ready to jump in whenever I need him.
I’m not going to say anything definitive right at this moment. But thus far, things to be going smoothly. And I might just jump right into another story as soon as I finish this one. We’ll see. But Joe? He’s got a big mouth. And he’s loud. And kindhearted and helpful. And he just wants to find someone who will love him with no agenda.
What do you think? Are you a fan of series? Or would you rather read something completely separate every time?
Kris T. Bethke--Author of M/M Romance 