For the past 4-5 years, I have been working diligently to create stories in The L & L Mysteries series. I absolutely love the characters, Leyla and Lucien, and really enjoy getting inside their heads as they deal with various situations, some fun, some hokey, and some dangerous. These two characters have become a huge part of my life and I look forward to continuing to develop them and their relationship through future mysteries and investigations.
When I first began this series, I envisioned it going on indefinitely. I didn't really have a set number of books I wanted to write in the series and felt that I would just go with the flow. Then, as the fifth book began to take shape, I realized something: Leyla and Lucien were maturing but their investigations were not.
So, I decided that The L & L Mysteries would consist of 5 books. Then, I would create a new, more mature "detective" series set during their college years. I still like that idea and have already begun drafting the first book in this new, more mature series.
But something was still bothering me. As anyone who has been following this blog has seen, over the past several posts I've mentioned beginning final edits on the fourth book in The L & L Mysteries, Dangerous Moves. I had talked about cover design and the difficulty I was having in figuring out what design I wanted to go with. I'd also talked about trying to get through rewrites and edits of the first chapter.
Well, today I had an epiphany. When the Muse and I sat down to go over the rewrites I'd done in the first chapter, we kept struggling with the process. Almost every sentence we went over felt forced or unnatural. And it suddenly dawned on me.....I was having major issues with the entire book. But why? So, we set aside our work and began talking about why I was having trouble with this particular book. And the answer suddenly came to me: I was actually trying to rewrite one of the earlier books but was using a different angle this time.
It finally made sense to me why this book bothered me so much. So, I made the tough decision to completely remove Dangerous Moves from The L & L Mysteries line up and have decided that there will only be 4 books in this series now before I move on to the newer, more mature series.
It was not an easy decision to make which is probably why it's been bugging me for the last several weeks/months. I love Leyla and Lucien and they had some great interactions in this particular book. But, I also realize that it's not fair or enjoyable for my readers to pick up a book and suddenly feel as though they've been cheated because the core plot of the story was similar to another book I'd already published in the series. So, I am stopping work immediately on Dangerous Moves and moving on to the final book of this particular series.
I do have a title for the final book and a cover concept is already brewing inside my little brain. So, from here on out, you will here me talk more and more about the final editing stages for The L & L Mysteries #4, The Butterfly Connection! I'm really excited about this book and the intriguing mystery that Leyla and Lucien find themselves investigating. And I believe that readers will start to see a definite maturing aspect in the friends' relationship and partnership, as well as the type of case they will be investigating. And this should lend itself for a nice transition into the new "detective" series I'll begin writing that follows Leyla and Lucien into college.
So, with that out there now, I'll probably be working some over the weekend to have the first chapter ready for final edits with the Muse hopefully by Monday or Wednesday of next week! If you've read this far into the post, thank you for taking the time and showing the interest. I really appreciate it!
I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend and hopefully I'll have more updates to post soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment