Readers, the wrong question to ask is whether you like to read a lot of books! Of course, as avid readers, we all love books. So my question to you, dear readers, is whether you like to read a whole boatload of books in a series or collection by the same author, or whether you’re more the type of readers who prefer standalone books, picking and choosing as you go.
First, some rough definitions to give you a general idea of what I’m talking about. More precise definitions can be found out there (and they’re not always accurate, by the way), but here are what come to my mind when I think of these words.
- Standalone: single books that have no strong connection to other books that the author writes.
- Series: a closely-connected sequential collection of linked but complete-on-their-own books (the books may or may not be written by the same author) that are best read in sequential order to avoid spoilers in future books in the same series (as opposed to serial, which technically describes incomplete episodic books that are usually part of an omnibus or require a whole season to tell the compete story).
- Collection: a group of books by the same author (as opposed to an anthology, which is a group of books by more than one author) where the books may or may not be connected to one another (it could be a general thematic scope or just a collection of all the books the author has written).
I write all my books in series. That is, I group all my books together into meaningful (to me) rows of books according to a theme or setting. I’m not the only author who does this. Many of the Inspy Romance authors also write in series, and some of them have longer series than I do.
For example, my Sweethearts collection has four series in it. One of the series has not been published yet (secret: stay tuned!). One is completed (after five years of hard work). The other two are at various stages of writing and revising.
- Savannah Sweethearts
- Vacation Sweethearts
- Protector Sweethearts
- (Coming Soon!) Sweethearts
My Seaside Chapel series started out as one series, and then I split it into 2 series (if you must know, it was Seaside Cottages), but it was too much trouble, so I merged them back into what I had originally planned. You know what they say: the first thought is the best.
My Hackers collection has two series. One is coming soon and I won’t give away the series name at this time. The one that’s already out is in progress, so I will finish that first before I get to my pièce de résistance.
- Binary Hackers
- (Coming Soon!) Hackers
I hope you’ll be patient with me when I say, “Stay tuned!” because I do have to write these books that are on my queue. Writing takes time — word by word, scene by scene, chapter by chapter. I don’t use dictation. I write everything by hand. I revise everything myself. Praise the Lord for giving me enough imagination to come up with all these stories that I hope you will enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing them. I can’t wait to tell you the next story!
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I’m excited about what is to come, but most importantly, I am excited about what God is doing in my writing career. God is always good, no matter what, and I press on to write what I felt that He has called me to write. At the end of the day, to God be the glory!
Joyfully in Jesus,
Jan
