How a Single Book Grew into a Series

When I first set out to write Monster in My Closet, I had a vague notion that it had potential to be a series, but writing that first book–well, that was the goal. Get through this. Prove you can do it.

By the time I was finished, I’d figured out what mystery wasn’t going to get solved, what string I needed to leave hanging. I had no idea what the answer to The Question was, but I knew it was going to carry me through two more books.

While I wrote Pooka in My Pantry, The Answer hit me. I knew what happened in the past to set things in motion, and I had a vague idea of what was going on in the present outside my main character’s line of vision. The Answer was only one book away.

So, now I’m working on Fairies in My Fireplace. My editor asked if she could take a peek at the outline, so I sent it to her–not so much an outline, mind you, but a 1500 word ramble of sequential and non-sequential events and character arcs. She liked it very much. Except for one thing.

One very, very big thing.

The way I’d planned it out, Fairies pretty much wrapped it all up with a nice bow with the bad guy taken care of and a happily ever after. No, no, no. Shouldn’t we save some of these things for book four? What about books five and six?

Now, I’ll be honest, here. I’d planned a three book arc, thinking that if it sold well, I could go back and write more of them somewhere down the line after doing three books in the new djinn series. They could be a brand new arc.

They don’t tell you that one of the many jobs of an editor is to save you from your own shortsightedness.

So. Update: I’m working on developmental edits for Pooka and hope to have them done by the end of this week. I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo (because I’m a glutton for punishment), thinking I should learn the skill of editing one book while writing another. I’ve since realized how stupid and counter-productive that is, but if I can hit these edits hard, I can jump into Camp NaNo a week late and try to catch up. 50k in three weeks instead of four? Let’s do it!

Snort.

In the meantime, though, I can’t start Fairies properly until I figure out The Big Bad in books 4-6. I could write it, but knowing what’s influencing the events in Fairies behind the scenes will help me write a better first draft.

I know who it is. I don’t yet know the what and the why. But I’m getting there.

And it’s gonna be Big.