Coming Events, Etc.

Yesterday, I learned that I will be on a panel discussion at the Love Is Murder Conference in February. The topic? DOUBLE INDEMNITY: THE TRIALS, TRIBULATIONS, AND JOYS OF WRITING MORE THAN ONE SERIES AT A TIME. This is a very exciting opportunity because I'll be talking about my books and perhaps inspiring a few people to buy them.

I've started making some strides in creating promotional stuff to take to the conference as well, since they generally have a table or so for authors to do just that. Got an idea for making bookmarks and already have a few updated brochures printed. For the copies of "The Dreamer Gambit" to be sold in the bookstore, I'm considering inserting a sticky note in each one telling the buyer to find me at the conference (they usually have a book signing event, too) and I'll give them a chapbook for the sequel, "The Changeling Kill."

Of course, I am now thinking about what sort of questions the moderator of the panel will ask. Fact is, I never started any book with the intention of making it into a series. Once upon a time, I thought it would be terribly dull to be stuck with the same character from book to book. But once "The Dreamer Gambit" was done, I found myself still interested in Jack Watson, who oddly enough started out as a very minor character. I gave him a tortured past, and a sequel allowed me to explore that more. "The Changeling Kill" thus became volume 2 of the series.

When I wrote "Two Faces, Two Faced," I figured it too was a one-shot deal. Then I was talking to someone from work at a social function, telling her about the book, and she bought and read it. She was very enthusiastic. One day, she asked me what was next for Tracy, and I told her honestly I didn't have a clue and had not given it any thought. As I walked away, covering about twenty feet or so from her desk to the ladies room, I suddenly saw a new adventure for Tracy which incorporated a plot idea from another book I once considered writing. Then I was off to the races. Even "Dabblers" came from a one-book notion, but here I am now, writing a sequel.

So when it comes to the panel discussion, I won't have much to say on trials and tribulations, but plenty about the joys. The only tribulation I usually face is which one to take up next.