Jonnie Jacobs is the author of Paradise Falls (forthcoming March 2012) as well as twelve previously published mysteries. Today she discusses the thrill of starting a new book, and the differences when starting a stand-alone and a series.
Now that the various winter holidays are behind us and we look forward to the clean slate of a new year, I’m reminded of the way I feel when I’ve finished a book and am ready to start another. I love beginnings—a new year, a new day, even the oft-dreaded Monday. And I especially love beginning a new book. Getting characters into trouble is a lot easier than getting them out it! But more than that, I like the freshness of a new book. I have a pretty good idea of my characters, but they always surprise me. I think I know where the story is going, but it rarely does. At the start of a book, anything is possible.
Where to start when the possibilities are seemingly endless?
I’ve written ten books in two different mystery series. The nice thing about a series is that after the first book, many of the decisions are already in place. I know my main characters, their friends and family, the setting, and much more. Of course, series characters need to grow and change. Each book is complete in itself, but it’s also a chapter in an ongoing story, and one of the things readers like about series is being able to follow characters over time. I try in each series book to move the character in some new direction in her personal life, and in each book I learn more about her.
A series also means that decisions you made in prior books stick with you. If you’ve written about an amateur sleuth in book one, readers might be upset to find she’s turned into a veteran detective by book two. Similarly, readers expect the author’s voice and writing style to remain fairly consistent. And decisions about your lead character, even if they were minor and offhand, can come back to haunt you.
