Linked Series

Carol Tanzman checking in!

I picked up best-selling Irish author Tana French’s books a few weeks ago to check out this adult thriller writer. I’d heard good things about the writing, her latest book, Broken Harbor is on several “best books” lists––and I love reading (and writing) thrillers. It wasn’t until I started the second book, The Likeness, however, that I realized she was going for a similar premise with her work as my Harlequin Teen’s WiHi series: linked books that are stand-alone thrillers.

Cool! Linked books, or companion books, are books in which there is always a new protagonist. Characters (and sometimes settings) from one novel appear in the next. However, each book has a definite ending. You can read them in any order and still enjoy each one. 

It’s a fun way to create a "series"—without creating a series that must be read sequentially, with the same main character in each novel. Most adult thrillers are centered around this specific character; usually a private eye––Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone comes to mind–– or a police detective like Irish-American author Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer (don't you just love this cover?)

It’s a great way to create reader buy-in. Since the main character’s job automatically leads to a suspenseful situation in each book, there are instant plot take-off points. It’s also fun to watch the characters change over the course of the series. Character growth, however, is not the main point of each book—it’s the thriller aspect that is primary.

In Tana French’s books, the continuing “character” is, in actuality, the Dublin police force–-not anyone specific. What she’s doing is playing a kind of leapfrog—a character who makes an appearance in one book becomes the main character in the next.

Her books also have psychological complexity (along with some gorgeous writing and great plotting). I would venture to say that is possible precisely because of the fact that there is a new protagonist in every book. A new backstory, a new family situation, new boyfriends and breakups… a new main character brings lots of things to explore. If you have to “play it out” over many novels, the impact is much weaker per book. Thus, having a linked series gives French the opportunity to explore character in the way many thriller series do not allow.

In terms of realistic YA, there are not, of course, “professional” jobs as detectives or private eyes that allow a continuing teen to run into dire straits all the time. Going “linked” seemed to be the best road for me. In the Wihi series, the school takes the place of French’s police force and each protagonist has to solve her own mystery in her own way. As a writer, it was a way to create some familiarity (the school, Brooklyn Heights, Tony’s Pizzaria), as well as having characters in one book reappear in the other.

As a reader, it’s fun to see Tana French do the same thing –to say, "hey, I know you" when a minor character in one book becomes the main one in the next. Or to find out that the sometimes jerky head of the Undercover squad is really a much deeper character, with a fascinating backstory, who becomes not only the focus of the next book, but a much more sympathetic character in that following book.

So readers, what do you think? Linked or sequential? Does it matter -- as long as the book thrills and makes you turn those pages? Do you find one more entertaining than the other? Just something to think about...

Next time: the importance of setting in a linked series.

Interview with ENTWINED Author Heather Dixon

By Dan Haring



Me again. Ilsa is under some crazy deadlines, so she asked me to take her turn this week. A few months back I did an interview with author Heather Dixon, and I thought I'd share it here, as she offers some great advice and information.

 I've been lucky enough to know Heather for almost 10 years now. She was a year ahead of me in the BYU animation program, and it was a blast getting to know her and working with her. If you follow her Story Monster blog, which I suggest you do, you'll find she has a wonderfully dark sense of humor. It's even better because it's hidden beneath such a sweet exterior. Her debut novel ENTWINED is a fantastic read. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did! (It's pretty long, so make sure you click through)

I had to research the 12 Dancing Princesses because I'd never heard of the fairytale before. First off, I have to say that it's pretty rad that you're on the wikipedia entry for it. High five for that. What drew you to this fairytale originally, and how did the idea for the retelling come about?

Ooo, I scored on Wikipedia? Awesome ^_^ I'll have to check that out. I started the story back at the beginning of 2006, when I was taking a bunch of dance classes and majoring in animation. The story, with its silver forests and ballgowns and waltzes, is intensely visual and when it struck me, I couldn't get it out of my head. I had to write it down. (It helped, of course, that I grew up in a large family--with 10 brothers and sisters, I felt a special connection with a story about 12 sisters ^_^)

You're also a storyboard artist. How does boarding inform your writing? Do you ever board out scenes before you write them?

I often don't board out scenes I'm writing (it's often more time-consuming than the words), but I do like to draw beat boards to the chapters--quick sketches that mark the mood, staging, and tension of the piece. Strangely enough that's been helping me with pacing, because once I sort out which beat boards to draw, those are the marker points in the story that need the most focus.  

That's a really cool method. In my own writing, I sometimes sketch out maps or layouts of buildings to help me keep track of where things are taking place. Do you do anything like that?

You bet! It's especially helpful with staging, & world-building too I think. Right now I'm working on a story with a steampunk ship, which involves looking up a lot of airship & seaship diagrams, then mapping out what this certain ship would look like. It makes the story & scenes quite a bit more distinct I think.

Are YOU an Indigo Child? Take a Test to See

by Jordan Dane
@JordanDane  



In my new HUNTED series with Harlequin Teen, a strong inspiration for book #1 INDIGO AWAKENING and the series is the idea that Indigo, Crystal, or Star children are the next evolution of mankind. I am very intrigued by the idea that despite what man might believe—that we are top of the food chain and can’t foresee a 2.0 version of us—mankind is bound to evolve into something beyond what we are today. And yes, there are many people who believe that these children (or Indigo Warrior adults) exist among us and are evolving into a more enlightened version of ourselves. Query “Indigo children” online and you will get over 61 million hits. The phenomenon of Indigo children or Indigo adults have inspired books, movies, TV shows, national news coverage, and been linked to the CIA and the Pentagon.

The tag line for the book is “They are our future, if they survive.” In my fictional book, these special psychic kids are being secretly hunted by the Believers, a fanatical church that fears what these children (and the Indigo adults who are protecting them) are becoming. A storm is brewing on the streets of LA.

But today I would like to see how many of YOU are an Indigo. At ADR3NALIN3, we think all of our followers are special and exceptional. Take the Indigo test and see if you are the next evolution of mankind and share your results with us in a comment too.

Do you see people's auras? Have you ever seen the dead or angels? Are you intuitive or have you ever had a deja vu moment that struck you as sooooo real? Do you know anyone like this?  

If you were an Indigo, what kind of psychic powers would you want to have?

If you have trouble taking the quiz on the widget below, click HERE for the link to the test, but please post a comment and tell us how you did. Some of you may not need a test to tell you what you already know. I have a very strong feeling--call me psychic--that our little community at ADR3 is loaded with exceptional readers.

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Common Denominators -- Recurring Fictional Themes

by Jennifer Archer 

Writing for both the young adult market and the adult market is enough to make me feel schizophrenic sometimes! Next week on the very same day -- September 18 -- I have two books being released. My novel for teens, Through Her Eyes, will be available for the first time in paperback, and my Romance novel, Shocking Behavior, will be available for the first time as an e-book -- with a brand new cover.

Writers are often advised by agents and editors to develop a "brand" by focusing on one genre. While I know this is good career advice, I've always had trouble following it. I can't force a story -- I have to write the one that's knocking around in my head, trying to get out. Over the years, those stories have included paranormal romantic comedies like Shocking Behavior, quirky mainstream women's fiction, more serious mainstream women's fiction, and teen fiction like Through Her Eyes.

I used to spend a fair amount of time wondering why my books are so different, one from the other. I asked myself if I was too easily bored with writing the same "type" of story. Or if I was allowing myself to be influenced by whatever I was reading at the moment.  (I'm an eclectic reader -- I don't stick to one genre in that regard, either.)  

It wasn't until my agent pointed out that all of the books I've written have one thing in common --    a "continuity of voice" -- that I took a closer look at my body of work. When I did, I made a surprising discovery. My books have more than one common denominator. I revisit the same themes in my stories, again and again. 

For instance, more than one of my books have a past story and a present story taking place simultaneously. In these, history catches up to the here and now and affects it in some profound way. And many of my characters wear masks, literally or figuratively or both. These characters hide behind or inhabit a false persona or pretend to be someone else. Sometimes another character in the story falls in love with the "disguised" person's soul or personality -- their inside -- before seeing what they look like physically -- their outside.

All of these things are true of both Through Her Eyes and Shocking Behavior. On the surface these stories seem to be completely different. Through Her Eyes is a novel for young adults, a ghost story that deals with serious issues such as illness and death and dealing with change. Shocking Behavior is a novel for adults, a paranormal romantic comedy about a man who becomes invisible after stumbling upon his kooky scientist father's latest invention.  Through Her Eyes is serious with moments of humor.  Shocking Behavior is humorous with a subtle, serious undertone. However, look closer and the similarities are there. The ghost and the invisible man. The girl/woman who falls for each without ever really seeing him. A historical story that affects the present day story. The illness of a loved one and the changes that brings.  

Follow any author's work and I predict you'll find that I'm not unique. Every writer has his or her own themes that they explore in their writing, again and again.

How about you? If you're a writer, do you recognize recurring themes in your stories? And readers, can you identify the repeating themes of your favorite authors?

THROUGH HER EYES

Every ghost has a story to tell . . .
The last thing Tansy Piper wanted was to move to the middle of nowhere in Cedar Canyon, Texas. Once there, her life takes a chilling turn when she finds a pocket watch, a journal of poetry, and a tiny crystal in the cellar of her new home.
The items belonged to Henry, a troubled teenager who lived in the house and died decades earlier. And Tansy, an amateur photographer, soon discovers that through the crystal and her photographs, she can become part of Henry's surreal black-and-white world.
But the more time Tansy spends in the past, the more her present world fades away. Can she escape Henry's dangerous reality before losing touch with her own life forever? 

SHOCKING BEHAVIOR 

When J.T. Drake is rendered invisible by one of his elderly father’s inventions, his father’s assistant Roselyn Peabody is the only person with the skills to possibly make him normal again. The beautiful, young scientist has never met J.T. and has no idea what he looks like, yet sparks fly whenever they touch. Rosy vows to help him regain his visibility, but when J.T. finally materializes, will their electric chemistry disappear or expose itself as true love?

Jennifer Archer's website www.jenniferarcher.com