All's well that ends well
I'm finishing up the final tweaks on INK FLAMINGOS. This book is the fourth in my tattoo shop mysteries, and most likely the last one. Who decides that? The publisher looks at the sales numbers and decides whether it's profitable to continue. Sadly, while I haven't gotten the "official" word on that, it's not looking good for my series.
That said, I'm really proud of these books. I wasn't sure that I even wanted to write them at first. My then-editor had told me that the publisher didn't want any more Annie Seymour books (see reason above) and suggested that I write another series. After coming up with some lame possibilities, she said she was looking for a tattoo shop mystery series. I pointed out that I had no tattoos, that I was not privy to that world. But she said she was confident I could do it, so after some soul searching, I decided to give it a try.
Research for this series has been fun: talking to tattooists, tattooed people, reading about the history of tattoos, watching YouTube videos and, of course, those two trips to Vegas. I have grown to really love my characters: Brett has grown, albeit slowly, but you'll see some real changes in her at the end of DRIVEN TO INK and especially in INK FLAMINGOS. Bitsy, Joel, and Ace are fun supporting characters, and I have had a real hoot writing Sylvia Coleman. Jeff Coleman was the biggest surprise. He wasn't even included in the first proposal and has grown to be a character I would love to keep learning about.
So finishing up INK FLAMINGOS is rather bittersweet. More so than just finishing another book. It's finishing a series, saying goodbye to a world I've created and enjoyed immersing myself in.
I get a lot of emails asking if Annie is coming back, but like Brett, I've said goodbye to her, too. It took a while to get over that; Annie's world was much closer to my heart, although Brett's showed me that I am not just a one dimensional writer, that I can write about something other than my own hometown and my own profession. I've learned a lot writing these two series, but as with Annie, in this last tattoo shop mystery, I have left Brett in a good place.
Do you read series? How do you feel when you know a book will be the last?
That said, I'm really proud of these books. I wasn't sure that I even wanted to write them at first. My then-editor had told me that the publisher didn't want any more Annie Seymour books (see reason above) and suggested that I write another series. After coming up with some lame possibilities, she said she was looking for a tattoo shop mystery series. I pointed out that I had no tattoos, that I was not privy to that world. But she said she was confident I could do it, so after some soul searching, I decided to give it a try.
Research for this series has been fun: talking to tattooists, tattooed people, reading about the history of tattoos, watching YouTube videos and, of course, those two trips to Vegas. I have grown to really love my characters: Brett has grown, albeit slowly, but you'll see some real changes in her at the end of DRIVEN TO INK and especially in INK FLAMINGOS. Bitsy, Joel, and Ace are fun supporting characters, and I have had a real hoot writing Sylvia Coleman. Jeff Coleman was the biggest surprise. He wasn't even included in the first proposal and has grown to be a character I would love to keep learning about.
So finishing up INK FLAMINGOS is rather bittersweet. More so than just finishing another book. It's finishing a series, saying goodbye to a world I've created and enjoyed immersing myself in.
I get a lot of emails asking if Annie is coming back, but like Brett, I've said goodbye to her, too. It took a while to get over that; Annie's world was much closer to my heart, although Brett's showed me that I am not just a one dimensional writer, that I can write about something other than my own hometown and my own profession. I've learned a lot writing these two series, but as with Annie, in this last tattoo shop mystery, I have left Brett in a good place.
Do you read series? How do you feel when you know a book will be the last?
Comments
I hate to see a series ending, but I do like for it to have a conclusion if the author knows beforehand that the book will be the last in the series.
Any plans for another series?
Whatever you write next, I look forward to reading!
No plans for another mystery series now. I'm actually working on a YA book that could be a series, and it's fun to write something that's completely different.
Clair, you're right about series overstaying their welcome.
I love series (even more than standalones) as long as the characters develop (and yours do). In fact, what I can't wait to find out in the last two books is if Brett and Coleman do ge....oh, nevermind. I'll have to wait and see. That's part of the fun. Thank you for what you do.
--Marjorie
I'm with Marjorie above, I'm anxious to see what happens with Brett & Coleman (love the last name bit.)
Still... I miss my old world. I sorta wish I could do it again but better.
That said, a series should be finite, I think.
Poodle Springs was a book too far, even for my favorite character. Although you can't blame Chandler for that. I thought the Easy Rawlins series was just right. Even Westlake's Dortmunder novels seemed to grow tired after a few, not that I've read them all.
I have ambitions for this new WIP to be a wartime series, but three I think is still the max. Because three is the magic number, right? The Three Blind Mice, The Three Stooges, Manny Moe and Jack, Three Strikes and the Holy Trinity seem to bear that out.
Regardless, I know you have many more books in you.
Me? I think Panamanian Moon was the result of a hormonal imbalance. We'll see.
I do agree, though, about a series that goes past it's expiration date. I started reading Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta mysteries, but after the fifth one, it didn't seem fresh any more. The same with Elizabeth George's Inspector Lyndley series (although I thought the PBS/BBC shows were wonderful and was sad they cut it off at Season Six).
However, I know you'll land on your author feet like a cat with many lives and go on to bigger and better things. I'll look forward to hearing about and reading your new endeavors. (You will keep the blog going, right? And share your ups and downs with the new YA book?)
I'm planning a trilogy for my YA (of course hoping that the first one sells!).
Becky, I will keep blogging and writing and hoping for another contract. It's a crazy business, but I can't imagine not writing.
I agree about Cornwell's series. I got tired of it after about four or five books; when she brought Wesley back from the dead, I'd had it. It jumped the shark.
Well, this news sucks, but I won't feel too bad about it because I know you and am confident that you'll come back with something brilliant.
I know this because you managed to turn me on to, and make me an advocate of, a series set in Vegas featuring a tattoo artist--two things that I would normally have no interest in, but that I came to love. And you managed to do it at a time when I was completely immersed in the world of Annie, and thought there could be nowhere worth going from there.
I was wrong.
So I have no doubt that whatever you do next will be brilliant because you have the talent and the ambition and you are one hell of a character yourself...
John