On Friday,
November 23rd, Crooked Cat Books
released the fifth STAC Mystery, Murder
at the Murder Mystery Weekend. Five books, all with the same
central characters, but the only theme common to them is a murder mystery.
Writing with a
series in mind is a fine idea, and even when I produce stand alone novels, like
Voices, I tend to finish them with a
sequel in mind. There are many pros to turning out a series. But, equally,
there are a few cons.
The STAC
Mysteries are just beginning to be noticed, and a part of that lies in the
series factor. A reader buys one, enjoys, and buys another, and another, and
another. Why? Because they know what they’re getting.
From the
writer’s point of view, this is a great advantage. As long as you can keep the
storylines fresh, keep the characters in character, maintain or improve the
level of quality you set at the start, then the readers will follow, perhaps
slowly at first, but they will be there.
In a stand
alone novel, you have 100,000 words to develop your character(s). In a series,
you can have them grow. Joe Murray, the amateur sleuth of the STAC Mysteries,
is a case in point. Grumpy, hiding a heart of gold, Joe remains obstinately
single after his divorce, but with this fifth book I took the opportunity to
re-introduce him to the joys of love (non-graphically, of course) and in the
sixth book, I’m taking that theme a stage further.
Another
advantage is you don’t have to go into detail on character backgrounds. Most of
the groundwork has been done in the first book. A few reminders here and there
in subsequent tales are all that is needed. It frees you up to concentrate on
plot and action.
Finally, the
great advantage a series has over, say a serial, is that each novel is a stand
alone. Think of Harry Potter as an example. Would Goblet of Fire make complete sense if you had not read the earlier
books? But if you read Murder
at the Murder Mystery Weekend, it would make perfect sense, and you
could go back to The
Filey Connection (the first STAC Mystery) at your leisure.
But it’s not
all plain sailing. There are downsides to the series, and the biggest one is
accuracy.
Joe was born
sometime around 1955. He was 55 years old in The Filey Connection.
I cannot, then, have him as 54 years old in Murder at the Murder Mystery
Weekend. Opposite Joe’s café is Doncaster Road Industrial Estate.
It will always be Doncaster Road Industrial Estate. It cannot suddenly change
to Sanford Industrial Estate, anymore than the local newspaper can start off as
the Sanford Gazette and later become the Sanford Herald. To make such changes
needs an explanation, and to avoid error, keeping detailed records is vital.
It’s one of the
tenets of writing novels that you should know every, tiny detail about your
characters. That goes double for writing a series. One of Joe’s friends is
diabetic. I cannot have her taking heaps of sugar in her tea when I’m six books
in. Another is a self-employed painter and decorator. If I have him installing
a new central heating system several books down the line, the reader will want
to know where he got the skills and whether he’s just doing it as a favour.
Another problem
you face with the series is variety. The Filey Connection
was a traditional, British seaside mystery. When I began work on the second
book, The I-Spy Murders, I set it in
Skegness, but then I changed my mind and moved it to Chester. I did not want
the STAC Mysteries to become seaside mysteries. Since then, I’ve set them in
Leeds, York, and with Murder
at the Murder Mystery Weekend, Lincoln. I vary the murders, the
murderers, the circumstances and the motives as much as I can.
Is there a
limit?
I don’t know.
Alan Hunter, author of the George Gently
novels, turned out 46 between 1955 and his death in 1982. I’d like to think
that the STAC Mysteries could go that kind of distance, but only time will
tell.
In the
meantime, if you’re contemplating a series, go for it. I’ll keep an eye out for
you in the Kindle charts.
~~~~
David Robinson
is a 62-year-old freelance writer, novelist and blogger. He lives and works in
Greater Manchester, England.
He has
published six novels with Crooked Cat Books, five of which are STAC Mysteries.
He was a
volunteer editor on 50 Stories for Pakistan, an anthology whose profits
go to the Red Cross to help those afflicted by the 2010 floods in Pakistan. He
was also a managing editor on 100 Stories for Queensland, the proceeds
going to help victims of the Queensland floods of January 2011.
You can find
David at http://www.dwrob.com and you can
learn more about the STAC Mysteries at https://sites.google.com/site/sanford3rdageclubmysteries/
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Great article and I completely agree with everything said here about writing series
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