Long Running Series — Welcome Alex Erickson and a Giveaway!
Sherry — I love falling back but hate the early dark!
Join me in welcoming back Alex Erickson to celebrate the thirteenth novel in his Bookstore Café series — Death by Caramel Macchiato! Look for a giveaway at the end of this post!
Alex: When I originally sat down to write this blog, I was thinking I’d discuss some interesting tie-in with my upcoming novel, Death by Caramel Macchiato. In the book, there’s a big town event, a sort of live action role playing murder mystery that might seem crazy anywhere other than the fictional Pine Hills. There’s coffee. Cats. Drama within the local community theatre. I had options.
And yet, when I brought up the dreaded blank page, I realized something: Death by Caramel Macchiato is book thirteen in the Bookstore Café series. Thirteen!
When I first started writing in this little cozy world, I didn’t know if there’d even be a series, let alone thirteen plus books in it. I didn’t have a contract for it. I was running on pure faith that I could come up with something that wasn’t completely horrible. Death by Coffee was born, and like any book, it isn’t perfect. But it had that little something about it that spawned book after book, that drew in reader after reader. It’s something I still haven’t been able to put my finger on, yet here we are, talking about the series in double digits.
Who knew?
Now, when it comes to my reading habits, I love long running series. I want to dive into a world and never come up for air. I want to cheer for the characters, to see how their lives progress year after year. And, yes, I even enjoy their suffering to some degree. Their pain is how they grow. Their pain is what makes their successes feel that much more amazing. And as the series progresses, the stakes always seem to grow, not just for the characters, but for the reader as well. There’s a drastic difference between when you’re worried for a character you’ll never see again past the last page in a standalone, versus worrying for someone you hope you’ll see again and again in future novels of a series. The stakes feel more real, even if the characters are not.
But I understand that not everyone wants to invest so much time into one group of characters, in one zany little town. I might like the idea of a 60+ book series like J.D. Robb’s In Death series, but I get that it’s not for everyone. Even trilogies sometimes stretch the limits of a reader’s patience, especially if the second novel falls into the dreaded “middle book syndrome.”
So, what is it that makes a series feel as if it has overstayed its welcome? The characters going stale? The plots starting to repeat? When you’re talking murder mysteries, there’s really only so many ways you can kill the victim, only so many motives. Yes, the author has to be creative, but is there a point when they can get too creative, where the story becomes too hard to believe? Where is that breaking point?
I don’t know the answer. At this point in the series, I’m trying to find that happy spot where I’m bringing back the familiar, be it characters or locations or plot points, while also looking to do something different. How different? I can’t stray too far from what has come before or else the series would no longer be the same. But to stick too close to home might have the opposite effect and create a sense of stagnation, a “why don’t the characters ever do anything out of their comfort zones?”
My bookshelves are filled with series after series. Sure, there are standalones and trilogies here and there, but the vast majority of the books are parts of a much larger whole. And me being me, I love a large variety when it comes to genre. Give me The Wheel of Time. Give me The Expanse. The aforementioned In Death.
And, of course, there are the cozies, which are very nearly all done in series format.
How about you, dear reader? Would you want to see a cozy standalone? A trilogy with a definitive beginning, middle, and end? Or are you perfectly happy with books that go on seemingly forever? Let me know because, who knows? Maybe I’ll get the opportunity to try a little bit of everything, and why not give the reader what they want? Alex is giving away two signed copies of Death by Caramel Macchiato to a reader who leaves a comment. U.S. only.
About the book: When Pine Hills, Ohio hosts an inter-town murder mystery game, bookstore-café owner and sometimes-sleuth Krissy Hancock assumes it’ll all be in good fun, but that’s before the competition claims its first real-life victim. . .
The unique weekend-long event—a combination of a live-action role playing game and a theatrical production—draws competitors from all the neighboring towns, including Pine Hills’ own Krissy and Rita. Although the actors, clues, and performances are spread across the community, somehow Krissy’s team lands at the one location with an actual body. . .
Police immediately call-off the competition while they conduct a real murder investigation, but soon it’s clear some folks are playing by their own set of rules. So it’s up to Krissy and her pals to shuffle through the suspects and draw out the real killer before another player takes their final turn.
Bio: Alex Erickson is the author of three cozy mystery series, including the Bookstore Café mysteries. He hides away in his home in Ohio with his family and their gaggle of cats. You can find him online at https://alexericksonbooks.com/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/alexericksonbooks
