What is a series bible…and why do you need one? by Lisa Phillips

Hello, fellow writers! *waves*

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Lisa Phillips. That is a COMPLETELY ACCURATE photo of me. (Guess who just realized she needs a headshot that’s not five years old?)

I love writing series novels almost as much as I love dogs. Don’t even get me started on my giant adorable Airedale ball of crazy. I’ll be here all day. I write for Love Inspired Suspense, and I indie publish on the side.

That’s two whole blogs right there. And who wouldn’t want to read one about dogs? I’d love to write about being a hybrid author—it’s a great way to make this writer career thing work. But it probably wouldn’t be as good as the dog one.

So…series bibles.
Instead of telling you why you might need one, I’ll do the writerly thing and SHOW you.

Here’s a quote from a book I wrote a few years ago. My first full series (so be nice, lol.) The first book is called Sanctuary Lost:

John looked at the guy in line ahead of him. Early thirties but he was nearly bald, his glasses drooped on his nose and he gripped his plate of mostly bread and green beans. “I’m Terrence Evangeline.” He pointed at an older couple by the salads. “That’s my mom, Shelby and my dad, Aaron. They run the town’s community arts programs.”

Now here’s a quote from book three, Sanctuary Breached:

“There is also the problem of Andy.”
Nadia glanced at the man for the shortest possible amount of time. Sure enough, Andy Evangeline was staring at her. Why, Lord? He’d been nursing a terminal crush for months now, and it didn’t seem to be easing off. Nadia was the focus of his attention every second he wasn’t at the recycling center. Who knew what he thought about when he wasn’t watching her or following her around. It was the last thing she needed in the middle of this.

See the problem?
Somehow *cough-distracted mom writer-cough* a secondary character who was Terrence Evangeline in book one, was suddenly Andy Evangeline in book 3.
Oh what, oh what, is a writer to do?

Here’s where genre came in super handy. See, I write romantic suspense. This particular series? It’s about a town of people all in the witness protection program, also known as WITSEC (witness security). People change their names in witness protection all the time, right?

Enter the solution. Book 5, Sanctuary Forever, we were back in town and ready to wrap things up—which of course meant I needed a solution.

“Hi, Andy.”
He crossed his arms on the counter and smiled. “It’s Terrence. I’ve decided to go back to my first name again instead of my middle name.”
Seriously?
He looked like he expected her to say something, but she didn’t. Why would she care if he was having an identity crisis? She didn’t even like the man and never had.

Two more series and a lot of books later, I’ve decided to make life easier for myself.

This is my new series. Aren’t my covers AWESOME? Seriously, my cover designer (now that I’ve decided to quit doing it myself *blog post alert*) is so good!
Me? More like, meh. But that was a solid business decision.

Another business decision I made with this series?

One designed to save me hours of headache?

A series bible.

Right now it looks a lot like a messy spreadsheet, but the moment the first character walked onto the page in Expired Refuge, I wrote down her name. Age. Occupation. Hair color. Defining features. Key personality traits. Family members who live in town.

And so on, and so on.

Every time I open that first draft document, the spreadsheet gets opened too. Is it foolproof? No, because I’m a human and we all make mistakes. But this will cut down on SO MANY continuity problems I don’t need and don’t have time for.

Businesses in town. Street names. People who lived there years ago. The name of the vet, who won’t get a novel about him until next year? All of it gets noted down.

So how about you?
Do you have a series bible, or a way to keep track of these details? I’d love to know your secret. Or maybe you could just tell me what the plural of “series” is, because clearly I have no idea.

And after you’ve left a comment, feel free to swing by Amazon, KOBO, Nook or Apple Books and grab a copy of Expired Refuge!! You can find out more at www.authorlisaphillips.com/coming-next

True to the story, or true to the reader? by Robin Patchen

I’ll be honest: I’ve had complaints. And more than a couple of people have asked me why I wrote my latest story in three parts.

I can’t blame them. I never thought I’d write a book with a cliffhanger ending, much less two. That’s definitely not what I set out to do when I started this book last spring.

But the story went where it went. I had set out to write a shorter story than normal and ended up with a story so complex, I couldn’t figure out how to fit it into a single book. It wasn’t just the length, either, though that was an issue. It finished at about 525 pages, far too long for a book in the romantic suspense genre. But the bigger issue was the story itself.

I agonized over what to do with Harper’s story. Should I cut the first part, make it backstory? I considered that option, but the beginning of her story set up the rest. Not only that, but it showed the character growing through some very difficult trials. Here was a woman who’d been in prison, a woman who felt the guilt and shame of all her choices, a woman who could very easily have run away from the trials she was suddenly facing. I needed to show how love—not romantic love but love for an old man in her care—changed her, opened her heart to the true love of the Father.

So I contemplated cutting the middle part, but how could I shortchange the romance, the growing friendships, and the personal growth? Not only that, but the reader needed the middle part of the story to witness the villain growing more desperate.

And the ending… I couldn’t possibly hack away at the last part, where the story came together.

I sought counsel from wise friends and prayed for guidance. I know it’s a just story, but it is my story, and the story needed to be told the way it needed to be told. It’s a good story, one filled with danger and hope and Truth. At least, that’s how I see it. Sometimes, when we writers are faced with the choice between satisfying genre rules or telling the story to the best of our abilities, we must choose the story. Sometimes, the story is worth breaking the rules.
Don’t misunderstand me: genre rules are very important. It’s vital to know your readers’ expectations. When you meet and exceed those expectations, you will be rewarded with super-fans. That’s always my goal.

In my previous books, I tried to remain faithful to those genre rules, and I think readers have rewarded me for that
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But in the case of Beauty in Flight, I felt like I could either meet audience expectations for the story or I could meet their expectations for the length and price of the book. I couldn’t do both, so I chose to stay true to the story and release three books in order to manage pricing and length expectations.
Like I said, there’ve been some complaints. A handful of people have emailed me to share their frustrations. One reader suggested I was manipulative and questioned my salvation.

At the same time, I’ve received many, many emails from people thanking me for the stories and encouraging me to write more. The first book in the series, Beauty in Flight, has a 4.4-star rating on Amazon. It’s not as good as the ratings for my earlier books—or the ratings for the later books in the series—but it’s still respectable. The bad reviews are from people who don’t like cliffhanger endings.
The final book in the series, Beauty in Battle, released last week and is already collecting positive reviews.

In the end, I’m glad I stayed true to the story, even if it might have cost me a few readers. I am, after all, a storyteller at heart. The experience of releasing a linked series has made me even more thankful to my loyal readers, many of whom encourage me and inspire me to write the best books I can.
Have you ever felt like you had to choose between writing your best story and meeting reader expectations? How did you manage it?

Amazon Buy Link

Beauty in Flight

Her beauty once opened doors, but the felony conviction slams them shut.

Harper Cloud used to love the gilded glamour of Las Vegas, but on the far side of prison, she sees the cracks in the veneer. These days, she keeps her head down and focuses on the elderly patients in her care. Even her new wealthy east-coast boyfriend, Derrick, can't entice her away. She's trusted men before, and look where that got her.

She tries to brush off the feeling that she's being watched. But when she's followed home one night and her pursuer gets within a hair's breadth of grabbing her, she knows it's time to get away from Las Vegas.

Maybe Derrick can be trusted. Maybe his job offer—to care for his aging grandfather in Maryland—will be the second chance she needs.

But Derrick has secrets of his own, secrets that could take him down--and take Harper with him.

Can there be a second chance for someone like her?

Buy Beauty in Flight today, Book 1 in a 3-book-series that’ll keep you guessing until the very end.

Series page: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MWC4GVS/
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beauty-in-flight-robin-patchen/1129942040
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/beauty-in-flight
AppleBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/beauty-in-flight/id1444665084?mt=11
GooglePlay: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=3Nl7DwAAQBAJ

Chat with Robin Patchen on staying true to your story! @RobinPatchen @TerriWeldon

About Robin Patchen:
Aside from her family and her Savior, Robin Patchen has two loves—writing and traveling. If she could combine them, she’d spend a lot of time sitting in front of her laptop at sidewalk cafes and ski lodges and beachside burger joints. She’d visit every place in the entire world—twice, if possible—and craft stories and tell people about her Savior. Alas, time is too short and money is too scarce for Robin to traipse all over the globe, even if her husband and kids wanted to go with her. So she stays in Oklahoma, shares the Good News when she can, and writes to illustrate the unending grace of God through the power and magic of story.

Download a free copy of Convenient Lies, book 1 in the Hidden Truth series, when you visit Robin's website, robinpatchen.com.

Taking Your Writing Series-ly By Regina Jennings

You’ll always remember the day your dream came true. You’ll remember when that editor said yes, the day you pushed publish, or the day you first heard from a reader (that wasn’t blood related to you). You were, or will be, flushed with pride, wanting to bask in the glory of the story you presented to the world. Then that editor/agent/reader will ask the magic question:

What’s the next story about?

Next? Isn’t this magnificent creation enough? Not if it’s any good, because the more they like the setting and the characters, the more insistent they will be that they get to see them again.

Whether or not you are planning a series, there are a few ways to prep your stories just in case the opportunity for a series arises.

1 Make sure your story has more than two single characters that readers care about.

If you’re writing romance, then you must have a hero and heroine for each book of the series. You can make it easier on yourself if you have an attractive younger brother, a widowed cousin, or a feisty co-worker already in place. Watch your descriptions of these people because readers won’t buy it if the braggart soldier suddenly turns into a humble hero. Instead, give them a character flaw that we’ll cheer them into overcoming. Or even better, give them a touching backstory that has readers waiting for their redemption.

Sometimes the setting—a wagon train, a deserted island, a federal penitentiary–doesn’t lend itself to a lot of secondary characters. In that case…

2. Tell us about other single characters, but keep them off the page.

 Lieutenant Jack keeps writing to his long, lost love. No, she’s not in Holding the Fort, but we’ll cheer when she shows up in the next book, The Lieutenant’s Bargain. Or that newscaster that the sister has a crush on, maybe there’s just a hint that he lives close by. You can think of a myriad of ways that your first story can cross paths with interesting people who might be hero material later. And here’s the beauty of it—You don’t have to use them. Just throw the seeds out there and wait to see what sprouts in later stories.

3. Take notes and keep notes.

Right now, I’m reading book eleven in the Poldark series. Winston Graham wrote the first Poldark book in 1945 and the twelfth book in 2002. I can only imagine the notes he kept on the hundreds of characters and locations. It’s a good idea to do the same. How did you describe each location? Each character? Even the ages of the characters make a difference.

My last series covered nineteen years. I had to say good-bye to some of the wise, elderly characters that couldn’t survive the span. Although I was watching the youngsters grow up into eligible adults, I hadn’t realized how old the rest of the cast was getting. Remember, everything ages. Even the trusty horse.

4. Especially with historicals, keep an eye on the calendar.

Not just because of the characters’ ages, either. For instance, Downton Abbey’s story started with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. That event throws the estate and title’s succession into jeopardy, so it was essential to the plot. But while Matthew and Mary are figuring out what the windfall means to them and their relationship, another, bigger event looms—World War I.

You can’t set your book in November of 1941 without thinking ahead to Pearl Harbor. If your historical isn’t going to address certain real events, then it’s best to steer clear of them. Watch for obscure local events that you might not be aware of.

5. Each book must have a satisfying ending.

Especially if you are writing romance or mystery, the books need to be able to stand alone. For mystery or suspense, that means that at least one crime or mystery is solved per book, although there could be a nemesis that is not conquered until the final book. For romance, one couple needs to make a commitment per story. A historical series or family series could get away with making us wait for the Happily Ever After, but please don’t sell it as a romance.

You might not intend to write a series, but it’s best to lay some groundwork in case the opportunity arises. Your fans, and your editor, will thank you.

 

HOLDING THE FORT

 

Louisa Bell never wanted to be a dance-hall singer, but dire circumstances force her hand. With a little help from her brother in the cavalry, she's able to make ends meet, but lately he's run afoul of his commanding officer, so she undertakes a visit to straighten him out.

Major Daniel Adams has his hands full at Fort Reno. He can barely control his rowdy troops, much less his two adolescent daughters. If Daniel doesn't find someone respectable to guide his children, his mother-in-law insists she'll take them.

When Louisa arrives with some reading materials, she's mistaken for the governess who never appeared. Major Adams is skeptical. She bears little resemblance to his idea of a governess--they're not supposed to be so blamed pretty--but he's left without recourse. His mother-in-law must be satisfied, which leaves him turning a blind eye to his unconventional governess's methods. Louisa's never faced so important a performance. Can she keep her act together long enough?

 

Holding the Fort Amazon Buy Link

 

Award-winning author Regina Jennings is a homeschooling mother of four from Oklahoma. She enjoys watching musicals with her kids, traveling with her husband and reading by herself. When not plotting historical fiction she plots how she could move Highclere Castle, stone by stone, into her pasture and how she could afford the staff to manage it.