Keeping It Fresh For Readers
Ever since I was small the two things I have loved doing the most were writing and reading.
And even now nothing has changed.
If I'm not working on my latest book you will find me sitting down with my Kindle in my hand reading.
To be honest with you I do think that as a writer it is good that I do so much reading as I am able to see things from two points of view: that of the reader and that of the writer.
Now at the moment I have three books available for Kindle, but I am currently working on another two.
One is the first book in a brand new series, while the other is the fourth Anya Harding.
The new series I am writing is again fantasy, but I all ready have an idea for the second and I know what is going to happen character wise well in advance. I would like to think that this will keep potential readers in the series interested in the books.
I know that as a reader I don't want to be reading a series of books that are, shall we say, the same plot line time and again told differently. To me that gets boring and takes away the excitement of what is going to happen next.
And it is for this reason I have taken the decision to take the Anya Harding books off in a new direction in order to keep them fresh for readers.
In A Murder Is Foreseen as it was the first book in the series I introduced Anya and we saw her clairvoyance develop and her work with the Police in order to stop the murder she had seen from happening.
When Witches Gather was different as it is a collection of eight short stories told by Anya and her friends.
In The Dead Can Kill Anya is again trying to stop a murder, but she also has a restless spirit to deal with, so to me that makes the book different from the first.
But for all that I know a reader may think different and it is because of this I am making major changes to the storyline in the fourth book. Now naturally I don't want to go into details but I hope it will keep the series fresh for readers.
I think I read a while ago that George R R Martin said that readers of A Song of Fire and Ice shouldn't get too attached to any one character as anyone could get killed off before the end of the series. And let's be honest he hasn't been afraid to kill off the likes of Ned and Rob Stark before now!
So there you have it. The reason why I am keeping my books fresh. I'm doing it for the readers :)