WHY DOES EVERYONE LOVE A SERIES? 

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CHARACTERS

By

Kathy Clark

I
heard another author say that the secret to her success was that she connected
all of her books with cross-over characters. 
I thought that was ingenious on so many levels.

First
of all, readers love series.  It’s like
watching a soap opera.  Most of the main
characters have already been introduced, so it’s fun to pick back up on their
lives.  With each new book, readers get
to experience another great story and meet more characters, but most
importantly, they get to catch up with what’s been happening since the last
book.  It’s almost like a family reunion.

Secondly,
series are good financial investments of an author’s time and talents.  There is a certain level of fan following
that will compel readers to buy all future books in the series.  And if a reader picks up a book in the middle
of the sequence, they will likely buy the first books to catch up on the back
stories.  That is, if the author has
created a series people want to follow which all depends on how much they like
the characters.

Most
importantly to the authors is that it’s so much more fun to write a series than
a stand-alone book.  Speaking for myself,
I get very attached to my characters.  Of
course, I’m the one who creates them, but about a third of the way into the
book, they take over.  From then on, I
sit back and write down everything they say or do.  If I’ve done a good job of setting them up,
they stick to the storyline, but often they surprise em by doing things I
hadn’t expected.  In DEEP NIGHT, one of
Chris’ Marine buddies shows up and becomes an important part of the plot.  I had no idea that would happen, but it
worked into the story beautifully. 

The
characters become very real to me.  I can’t
imagine how difficult it would be to write a book if I didn’t like them.  Then when I write the rest of the series,
it’s like spending time with old friends. 
I’ve missed them, but like with really dear friends, it’s easy to pick
up where we left off.

DEEP
NIGHT is book #3 in the Denver Heroes series. 
The first two books, AFTER MIDNIGHT (about middle brother Sam, the cop)
and CRIES IN THE NIGHT (about older brother Rusty, the fireman) were stories
I’d had in my mind for about twenty years. 
They were gritty, realistic plots about painful, sensitive subjects like
domestic abuse and stalking.  DEEP NIGHT
is about the youngest brother, Chris, who has just returned from several tours
as a medic in Afghanistan.  Chris is
going to med school and working as a paramedic to pay for it.  In a way, he’s the most complicated of the
brothers.  He’s found his calling helping
others with medical emergencies, but he doesn’t always deal with his own.

In
DEEP NIGHT, Sam, Kate, Rusty and Julie all show up.  We get to attend a wedding and catch up on
what’s been happening to them.  They are
an important part of Chris’s life, and, therefore, an important part of the
story.  I’m sad that this is the last planned
book of this series, but I know I can’t let these characters go forever. 

I’ve
already moved on to the next series, Austin Heroes.  The hero of the first book, AFTER LOVE, is a
sexy, complex DEA agent, and I adore him. 
Readers will meet him in DEEP NIGHT, so those two books are
connected.  However, I hope to have a
cross-over book that contains all the characters from both Denver Heroes and
Austin Heroes.  It will definitely be a
lot of fun for me, and hopefully, for my readers.  I just hope all that testosterone doesn’t explode.

So,
series are not loved just by readers; they’re also loved by us authors.  Writing is a lonely business, and when you
get to spend time with your best friends, even if they’re imaginary, it’s a
good day.

www.TheThrillofSuspense.com

BOOKS BY KATHY CLARK