The Question of Series and Stand-Alone Novels

Another writer on a social media site recently posed the question about writing a series rather than stand-alone novels. When I wrote my first novel, Orchids in the Snow, I hadn’t thought about doing a series. In fact, Shades of Murder, featuring Police Detective Bev Henderson was not intended to be a series. Even though I do have only a small fan base, they are very supportive (thanks as always to them) and there was a general request for more of Bev. Thus came Shades of Truth, and others later. In creating the character of Chris Green in that book, I could see the potential for spinning her off as a character in her own story. That was Deadly Doubloons and I had the same sort of response from my fans. This is how I came to have two scuba-themed series.

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The Small Town “cozy series” with the quilting theme was the only thought-out series intended as a short-run with four books.

The stand-alone ideas I had were still with me as in Irises to Ashes. The other one, To Play on Grass Fields, continues to be in a category by itself as it has special significance and took me twenty years to decide how to write it. Those were interspersed between the others as well as the non-fictions.

I consider myself fortunate in being comfortable with fiction and non-fiction. They are distinctly different types of writing and I’ve met a lot of interesting people in doing the necessary research.

All of this leads me to the release of the latest Chris Green novel, Idyllic Islands. Unlike some of mine, the second point of view is told by an individual who, like Chris, is not aware of situations surrounding what seems to be an idyllic paradise. There are hints for the reader to pick up on, although there are a couple of twists that should provide a surprise. I’ll see what kind of feedback I get this time. The entire first chapter is posted for you to enjoy.

If you happen across this site as a new visitor, and decide to begin with the Chris Green series, don’t hesitate to email me through the Contact Charlie tab if you want some extra background.

Charlie