Friday, January 12, 2018

What's in a Series

Happy Friday STT friends. I’m celebrating a new release in one of my series, and it occurred to me some might want to know how to distinguish one type of series from the other. Sometimes, it isn’t easy to tell.

A series is connected by some common element. It might be a setting, the characters, or a theme. An episodic series is one where a story moves from one episode to another. It can end in a cliff-hanger or not, but either way, you have to read the entire series to get the whole story.


My new release is Revealed, Book 3 in Intrigue under Western Skies. The series is connected by setting, characters and theme. The story begins in Charleston, SC, but quickly moves to a fictional town in Nebraska, where the other books are set. Each book has a different plot, and each story can stand alone, but it adds to the reading enjoyment if the books are read in order. Of course, different readers have different taste. I’ve even heard of readers who read the ending of a book first.

I have two books out in another series, The Wolf Deceivers. It isn’t connected by either characters or setting. Each plot is a suspense that carries the theme of the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. It doesn’t matter which book is read first.

Some series have prequel books, usually a novella. I got carried away with the prequel for Intrigue under Western Skies, and wrote three novellas. And the boxset of all three is FREE today through Jan 14. It contains background information about Carianne Barlow, the heroine of the first two books in IUWS, although the novellas are about her three friends who become mail-order brides.





Also, I’ll be giving away an ebook copy of Revealed to one commenter today. If you are an author, do you prefer to write series or stand-alone books. If you’re a reader, which type book do you prefer and why? 


Katherine Levinson and her gravely ill mother face eviction, and she has no choice but to appeal to the brother she’s never seen, the famous cattle baron, Rhyan Cason. Over her gravely ill mother’s objections, they move to Nebraska and the sprawling cattle ranch, Sollano. 
They are met with whispers and scorn in the little prairie town near Sollano. Gradually, the sins of her parents’ past surface, and Katherine begins to doubt her very identify. With her brother busy with cattle rustlers and her mother too ill to be bothered, Katherine turns to Colt Holliman, a soft-spoken neighboring rancher, for comfort.
Then unexpected danger strikes, testing Katherine's and Colt's trust in themselves and in God.

14 comments:

  1. I love both stand-alones and series. Stand-alones are fun because everything gets wrapped up by the end of the book, most of the time. Series are fun because there is that anticipation of what may be coming next, especially when the authors leave us with a cliffhanger of an epilogue.
    mindyhoungATmsnDOTcom

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    1. It's always a pleasure to have you visit our blog, Mindy.

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  2. I like both. Sometimes a series is like visiting friends or family of going home again. fishingjanATaotlDOTcom

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  3. I like cliffhangers when the rest of the series is available, but not when I have to wait six months for the next book.

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  4. I like both, but if it's a series I prefer to read them in order. I'm famous for buying s book and then realizing that it's book 3 in a series. Thank you for the giveaway opportunity.
    perrianneDOTaskewATmeDOTcom

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    1. Exactly. When I find a book has prior books in the series, I often go back and get the former ones and read them before.

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  5. I enjoy reading stand-alone and series. If reading a series, I want to read them in order. Sometimes I'll wait on reading a series until near the time for the last one to be released (of course that doesn't happen if I'm reviewing the book for an author). : ) Being an avid reader it's hard to always recall all the events in the previous books.

    I must read Revealed in your IUWS since I've read and reviewed the first two. Thank you for the giveaway opportunity.
    marilynridgway78[at]gmail[dot]com

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    1. Marilyn, your are such a wonderful encourager for me and other authors.

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  6. I like both but don’t really like cliffhangers where you HAVE to read the next one. If that’s the case then I wait til all in the series are out.

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  7. Forgot my email: paulams49ATsbcglobalDOTnet

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  8. Sounds like an interesting read!
    I like both - series and stand-alone books - however, I prefer the series that you can read as a stand alone book :)
    kykla99ATgmailDOTcom

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    1. Thank you for stopping by, Natalya. Love that name.

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