It’s
my very great pleasure to welcome back mystery writer Kristina Stanley.
Kristina has just released her third installment in her Stone Mountain Mystery
series, and today she’s talking about writing a third book in a series.
For
those who missed her first appearance, here’s a little bit about Kristina:
Kristina Stanley is the best-selling author of the Stone Mountain Mystery Series. Her first two novels garnered the attention of prestigious crime writing organizations in Canada and England. Crime Writers of Canada nominated DESCENT for the Unhanged Arthur award. The Crime Writers’ Association nominated BLAZE for the Debut Dagger. Her short stories have been published in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and The Voices From the Valleys anthology. She is also the author of THE AUTHOR’S GUIDE TO SELLING BOOKS TO NON-BOOKSTORES.
Before
writing her series, Kristina was the director of security, human resources and
guest services at a resort in the depths of the British Columbian mountains.
The job and lifestyle captured her heart, and she decided to write mysteries
about life in an isolated resort. While writing the first four novels, she
spent five years living aboard a sailboat in the US and the Bahamas.
Find
out more about her at www.KristinaStanley.com.
Now,
in Kristina’s words,
Thank
you, Debra, for having me on your blog today. It’s an honor to be here and
share your space.
Writing The Third Book In A
Series by Kristina Stanley
An
avalanche buries a man. The pressure from the snow is so great he can’t wiggle
his toes inside his ski boots. His own breath will slowly kill him as his
oxygen transforms into carbon dioxide. The deeper he breaths, the faster he
will die.
Each
novel in the Stone Mountain Mystery series starts with an inciting incident. DESCENT opens with a skier crashing while he’s
race training at Stone Mountain Resort. BLAZE starts with Stone Mountain on
fire. AVALANCHE begins with a man buried by
an avalanche.
All
three openings leave the readers asking if the incident is a crime – and it must
be because I write murder mysteries – and leave the reader with an open
question.
DESCENT:
Is the skier dead?
BLAZE:
Will Kalin find Chica (her dog) who is lost in the forest fire?
AVALANCHE:
Will Roy be rescued before his air runs out?
These
are not the main plot questions. They are questions about the inciting
incident, which will lead to the main plot. I’ve been consistent with my
opening structures, so a reader knows what to expect when s/he picks up a Stone
Mountain Mystery.
While
writing a series, you must consider your readers. If a reader has moved on to
read book two in the series, that is a huge
compliment. So you don’t want to disappoint the reader by changing the style or
voice you write in. With a stand-alone novel, an author has the luxury of
choosing any point of view, any voice, or any tense that best fits the story.
With a series, you must be consistent in these areas or you might lose a
reader.
By
the third book in a series, the reader will be familiar with your style and be
looking forward to the adventure you’ve created for them. I write the Stone
Mountain Mysteries in close third person point of view with multiple point of
view characters. It wouldn’t be enjoyable for a reader if I changed this for
the 4th book.
The
Stone Mountain Mystery series, started out as a stand-alone novel, which then
turned into a trilogy, and now that I’m 20,000 words into the 4th
Stone Mountain Mystery, it’s become a series.
When
you start writing that first novel, keep in mind it may become more. Characters
and settings have a way of intruding on your life and taking over.
A Little About AVALANCHE (Released June 25th, 2016)
On a cold winter morning, the safe at Stone Mountain Resort is robbed, and Kalin Thompson’s brother, Roy, suspiciously disappears. As Director of Security, Kalin would normally lead the investigation, but when her brother becomes the prime suspect, she is ordered to stay clear.
The police and
the president of the resort turn their sights on Kalin, who risks everything to
covertly attempt to clear Roy’s name. As threats against her escalate, she
moves closer to uncovering the guilty party. Is Kalin’s faith in her brother
justified? Or will the truth destroy her?
Links to the Stone Mountain
Mystery Series:
DESCENT:
myBook.to/Descent
BLAZE:
myBook.to/BlazebyKristinaStanley
AVALANCHE:
myBook.to/Avalanche (on sale for a few more days
only.)
1 comment:
Thank you for hosting today. Avalanche was released yesterday, so today I'm hanging around being happy.
Post a Comment