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DO
YOU DISCONNECT IF YOU DON’T CONNECT?
From www.murdershewrites.com
Hey suspense fans, how cool
to be guest blogging at one of my very favorite places
to procrastinate! Thanks
to Allison, Karin (my future anthology mates) and the
whole MSW gang for the invitation to play in the cyber
sandbox.
I'm currently in writer's limbo, a place
that rarely lasts more than two or three days for me: between
books. I
do not like it, Sam I Am. I
function best when I am ankle, knee or (best of all)
chin deep in a manuscript, living on the hairy edge of
a deadline, falling wretchedly in love, taking down a
baddie, planning my next twisted twist. But
this month finds me in the trenches (known as signings,
appearances and speeches) to promote my latest release,
THRILL ME TO DEATH. I am trying to make the most of it, and
using my time with so many readers to do a little unscientific
market research about what they read, and why. What
I've learned is probably not news to anyone reading this,
but it is so universal that
it strikes me as something that bears blogging.
Here is the mother of all understatements: readers like connected books. No, that's not true. Readers LOVE connected books. Frankly, this connection with connection
is so extensive, pervasive and attractive to readers
that very often they won't consider books
that aren't connected, much in the same way they won't
consider certain genres, time periods or settings. Maybe
that's a great big duh to you, but I confess it took
me a while to see this particular light, blinding as
it might be. My first three books, all romantic suspense single titles,
were blissfully unconnected to one another. Nary a character from one showed up in another. My interest in the world I'd created
and the people that populated it ended on the last page. Those books sold just fine, did very
well in contests, and started a nice career chugging
along for me. But it wasn't until I climbed aboard
the connected book bandwagon that my career did more
than chug, and I know that forward motion is no coincidence.
Readers, I've learned in my recent travels
to bookstores and libraries, demand connected books. They
are, in truth, way past disappointed when they pick up
one of my backlist and use it to point to a stack of
another title and say, Are these a series? Fortunately,
I can slide forward two other piles, with similar titles,
similar covers and one big world I've been building. These
books, I assure them, are connected, and more are on
the way. This gives me an opportunity to blurb my Bullet Catchers, bodyguards
to die for or whatever marketing phrase flows to my
tongue. The audience brightens. And they buy. (In multiples.)
I admit I wasn't a fan of connectivity
when I was just a reader – for many years, I
should say. Maybe there weren't that many connected series around then,
but when an author would reference a character who was
obviously from a previous book (now happily married,
conflict free and, usually, expecting) I would cringe
at what felt, to me, like arrogance. Was the author so cocky that she assumes I'd read everything
she'd written? Plus,
it gave me that feeling you get when you arrive at the
movies fifteen minutes late: I've
missed something critical – do I even want to be
here? I don't know why it took me so long to get with the program – I
was a fan of nighttime soaps back in the glory days of Knot's
Landing and Dallas, and admit to being a 24 and Lost addict
today. Why
wouldn't that spill over into books?
I dipped my toes into the connected
book water with my first three category books (the much-loved
and oft-used brothers connection) and then, when researching the premise
for my fourth romantic suspense that I had decided would
feature a bodyguard, I came across the term Bullet Catcher and
the equivalent of writer's lightning struck. My
world was born, my team was formed, my series took shape
faster than I could start a character list. And,
lo and behold, brother, I am a believer! Readers adore connected books.
Not that everything comes down to marketing
(says the former PR pro). I
am really enjoying the process of world building and
the challenge that comes with layering a story arc across
multiple books and creating characters who will be promoted
from secondary to lead in future books. I
love the extension of my stories, and now look for
ways to layer the connectivity, whether it's a mini-trilogy
within the series or laying the foundation for a relationship
between secondary characters that grows and changes from
book to book. I
have definitely caught the connectivity fever.
However, I do believe this phenomenon
has changed the playing field for genre and commercial
fiction writers. It has an impact on the kinds of stories
that are told, the speed with which they are published,
and the eventual success (or not) for writers who may
not be hardwired to think in terms of connected series
(or may not be able to produce them fast enough to feed
a hungry market). I
hope it doesn't impact creativity. I
have lots of story ideas that have nothing to do with
bodyguards. Some aren't even romantic suspense. There may not be brothers, sisters, co-workers
or story lines involved that merit their own books. Will I get to tell them? I hope so. I hope no stand-alone stories remain untold by any writer
because of the market demand for connectivity. Just as I hope no secondary characters are created for the
sole purpose of having their own book someday.
I won't ask why readers like connected
stories – they've told me. They
like to revisit old friends, they like familiarity, they
are invested in the characters and their stories. But
I would like to know if you all believe this trend (if
it can be called that) is forever. Is
it good for readers and writers? Is
there anyone out there who doesn't like
connected books? Could
we overdose on them? Do
some work better than others, and why? I'd
love to hear comments from writers and readers on the
pros and pitfalls of connected books.
Thank you, again, for inviting me to
stop by. I'll check comments and will be happy
to answer any questions about connectivity in particular
or the writer's life in general. For
a little while, anyway. Then
I'll be leaving writer's limbo and heading into deadline
paradise. I can't be late I've got a connection to make.
xoxo
Rocki
www.roxannestclaire.com
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