I Never Meant For This To Happen

When I started writing the first book in the Anchor Island Series, MEANT TO BE, there were a lot of things I didn’t know. For one, that there would be an Anchor Island Series. When I wrote the book, everything happened on the real live Ocracoke Island, NC. I knew pretty early in the writing that Sid and Lucas would get their own story (UP TO THE CHALLENGE.) I also knew by the end that Will and Randy would as well (HOME TO STAY – April 2014.)

And that’s all I had. I didn’t know the struggle to bring tourism back to Anchor would be a theme throughout all of the books. I didn’t know when I off-handedly mentioned Sam Edwards in the early parts of MEANT TO BE that three years later he would be the hero of book 4 (MORE TO GIVE – Fall 2014.) Heck, I didn’t even fathom there would be a book 4.

For me, this is what makes a series so fun. The surprises. The way a story and setting can take on a life of their own. The characters become our friends. We root for them, laugh and cry with them, and miss them terribly once their book is over. They linger in our minds and we want to visit them again. See what they’re doing. How that HEA is progressing.

With series, we get to do that. We don’t have to say goodbye forever. (Though re-reading allows us to visit our favorite places any time we want, it’s nice to get new stories, too.) Many moons ago, I found a book by Jo Beverly in a used book store. Somewhere around the halfway point I realized the book was the fourth or fifth in a series. 

The hunt was on. 

It was her Company of Rogues series, which if you know those books you know is very long. Luckily, I got in relatively early, but I probably spent a good decade or more following those characters.

The really fun part? She has another in the series coming out this year! (A SHOCKING DELIGHT – April 2014) That’s a twenty-three year span, and readers still clamor for more. That’s a power that’s hard to beat.

So let’s talk series. Love ‘em or hate ‘em? (I admit, if I find a book that is 4th in a series now, I might be less inclined to make the commitment.) What are your favorites? Let’s add to our TBR lists. One lucky commenter will receive a kindle copy of UP TO THE CHALLENGE!

Terri Osburn is the Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Anchor Island Series. Find out more about the author and her books at www.terriosburn.com.

BONUS: This blog stop is the kick off to my Belated Blog Tour for UP TO THE CHALLENGE. As part of the tour, I’m giving away a new Kindle along with an Amazon gift card. To get yourself in the running, enter through the Rafflecopter widget on my website here!