Writing a Series

Writing a Series, guest post by Lance Erlick @LanceErlick @iReadBookTours


I never set out to write a series. The first published book that I wrote (Rebels Divided) was written as a standalone story taking place after anger in this country led to a second civil war and a nation divided. Sound familiar?

Rebels Divided has two protagonists, from opposite sides of the conflict, who have to figure out how to work together to rescue her sister and gain justice for the murder of his father. After I finished the story, Annabelle Scott (one of the co-protagonists) bugged me to write her story, which became The Rebel Within. This story is about the conflict between following her conscience and the orders she is given after she is drafted into the elite military. It was fun to write the second novel (now the first in the series) because it felt as if Annabelle was narrating it to me.

After these two books were published, readers pressed me to know more about Annabelle and to find out what happens next. That story became The Rebel Trap, which begins moments after the end of The Rebel Trap. It continues her adventure and struggles with conscience with one additional impediment. Her commander gives her audio implants and contact cameras to watch and listen in to everything Annabelle sees and hears. It intensifies her struggle between duty and conscience.

The challenges of writing a series out of order was making sure that what happens in the new books one and two are consistent with what happens in book three. When it came time to write the Regina Shen series, I knew up front it would be a series because of the amount of story I had to tell. At first, I knew it would be at least two books, but as the stories unfolded, it became clear it would be longer. Because of this, I made sure to have a rough draft of books 2-4 before I moved forward with publishing book 1.

What holds the Regina Shen series together is the struggle of an outcast young woman against the tremendous odds of her world and the people who wish to harm her. She has to struggle against the forces of nature and against the power of Federation agents determined to control her and her DNA to further their quests for power. She becomes a pawn in a Federation struggle of succession while as an outcast she holds not power. Yet she refuses to give up.


Writing a Series, guest post by Lance Erlick @LanceErlick @iReadBookTours
Lance was raised by a roaming aerospace engineer, growing up in various parts of the United States and Europe, as well as traveling through Asia. He took to stories as his anchor, including the works of Asimov, Bradbury, and Heinlein, and has been writing since age eleven.


Growing up, he was inspired by his father’s engineering work on cutting-edge aerospace projects to look to the future.


In an ideal world, Lance would find time loops where he could step out for a week at a time to read and write. Then he would return to the moment he left, without life getting in the way. Of course, since everyone would have the same ability, he suspects life would still sneak in.


Lance is also the author of short stories and novelettes.

Connect with the author:  Website   Twitter   Facebook   Goodreads

Find Lance on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1sGMmnS


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1 Comments

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