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Carolyn Brown | Why Writing A Series Has Both Ups And Downs!
January 18, 2010
Hello and thanks for having me on your site to celebrate Getting Lucky hitting the
market this month. It’s the final installment in the Lucky Series and
tells Julie and Griffin’s story about their journey to true love and happiness.
Writing a series has ups and downs, pros and cons, as opposed to writing a
single book. One pro to writing a series is research. Basically, the whole series is going to
be about the same area and time frame so when the research is done for the first
book, it’s pretty well set for the next two. I wrote about the two areas I was most familiar with and even though each book
was set in a different town in southern Oklahoma or north central Texas, they
were all within spittin’ distance of each other. Close enough that the Luckadeau
cousins could visit back and forth for barn dances, cattle sales and family
gatherings. Ardmore, Oklahoma isn’t far from Ringgold and Saint Jo, Texas. Beau Luckadeau
lives in that area on the Bar M (Lucky in Love). My husband
and I live about twenty-five miles north of there and I’m very familiar with
Ardmore and the small towns near there. At the time I wrote this series my
husband, Charles (Yes, I am married to Charlie Brown!) was still teaching in
Nocona, Texas so we were living in two places. Nocona sets right smack in between Ringgold and Saint Jo, Texas. One Lucky
Cowboy is set in Ringgold, Texas which is thirteen miles west of Nocona. Getting Lucky is set in
Saint Jo, Texas which is thirteen miles to the east. Slade lives in Ringgold on
a ranch with his grandmother, Nellie. And Griffin runs a big ranch over in Saint
Jo. Research was fairly easy because I could dash over to either town when I
wanted to verify details and when I was home in Oklahoma on weekends I could
check out Ardmore. Characters are a definite pro. They can make cameo appearances in all the
books. If you enjoyed Lucky in
Love, then you’ll like seeing a bit of Beau and Lucky in One Lucky Cowboy and most
of the previous characters in Getting Lucky. Each book
has its own hero and heroine and secondary characters but they are all
intertwined among the stories to give a little insight into what’s happening in
previous character’s lives. If you pick up Getting Lucky and read it
before One Lucky Cowboy
and like Nellie and Ellen, then go back and read One Lucky Cowboy for a
bigger dose of those two sassy women who’d slap Lucifer horns right off his head
if he got in their way. One of the cons to writing a trilogy is momentum. It’s been said that there’s no
new thing under the sun and that could surely be written in stone and propped up
beside the rose bush in the front yard. It takes a lot of steam to put together
three separate stories with something exciting in each one. Good strong heroes
and heroines make the job easier and I had three sexy Luckadeau men and three
sassy stubborn women to work with. The whole time I wrote Milli and Beau’s story in Lucky in Love, Slade and
Jane were teasing Milli and Beau about One Lucky Cowboy being even
better! And while they told me how and what to write in their story, Griffin and
Julie were sitting on top of my computer whispering that Getting Lucky was going to
be the best one of the three. Another con is the final ending. By the time I got to the very end of Getting Lucky I knew those
characters as well as my own children and grandchildren. Had Lizzy, Annie and
Chuck knocked on my door, I’d have invited them right in for cookies and milk.
They had told me all about their kittens and what they’d named them and what
went on in their kindergarten class that day. I had listened to Ellen and Nellie
tell me all about the men they’d danced with on senior citizen’s night at the
club. We’d laughed together about Jane getting into a cat fight with Slade’s old
girlfriend out in the parking lot. And Mamie and I’d had quite a time convincing
Julie to buy that run down house in Saint Jo. When their stories were all told
at the end of Getting
Lucky, I wrote "The End" and wondered how I could ever find characters that
had been so much fun; that had had so many problems to overcome? That was a
bonafide, guaran-damn-teed con. It was over and the time had come to let Griffin
and Julie get down to living their HEA lives. They’d earned it with all the
hoops they’d jumped through. And it was time for me to go on to the Honky Tonk series which will be
out this year. So when you finish Getting Lucky go on and
read the first chapter of I Love This Bar at the end of the book and get ready
for a whole new set of Texas cowboys. So tell me why do you read trilogies or series? Do you like them better than
single books? GETTING LUCKY BY CAROLYN BROWN IN
STORES JANUARY 2010
Book 3 in The Lucky Trilogy Single mom Julie Donavan is looking for a place to start over. What she finds
after buying a small house on five acres is nothing short of a nightmare. Single dad "Lucky Griffin" Luckadeau has been crossing horns with his elderly
neighbor for years. But when his daughter, Annie, decides she wants the new
little girl who lives on the feuding property to be her friend, or better yet
her sister, the sparks fly. These two stubborn hotheads, who irritate each other beyond endurance, refuse to
admit that it's fate that brought them together. And running from the inevitable
is only going to bring a double dose of misery... About the Author
Carolyn Brown, an
award-winning author who has published 36 romance novels for the library market,
credits her eclectic family for her humor and writing ideas. She was born in
Texas but grew up in southern Oklahoma where she and her husband, Charles, a
retired English teacher, now make their home in the town of Davis, Oklahoma.
They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young. For
more information, please visit http://carolynlbrown.com.
Be on the
lookout for Carolyn’s
new series, The Honky Tonk Series, in 2010! Click to
see contest prize.
Comments
37 comments posted.
Re: Carolyn Brown | Why Writing A Series Has Both Ups And Downs!
The books sound wonderful. I love series books except when I get to the lost one, because I always want one more.
(Elizabeth Mitchell 8:56pm January 13, 2010)
Hi Carolyn! Great post. The Lucky series sound great, and can't wait to read them. I love books that are part of series, because it gives you a chance to revisit past characters.
(Amber Eversmeyer 10:33pm January 15, 2010)
I love books that are a part of a series. In single books I often wonder what happens to certain characters after the book is finished. A series lets those character's stories be told.
(Tanja Haack 7:07am January 17, 2010)
Series books are great! You get so much out of each book.
(Joanne Reynolds 6:22am January 18, 2010)
Series are my most favorite books. I just finished reading a set....and am looking forward to the next. Hopefully they will be Carolyn Brown....my fingers are crossed!
(Danelle Drake 8:16am January 18, 2010)
Good morning,
Thanks for letting me stop on your site on my blog tour! It's great to be here. Thanks to everyone for all your comments today. Good luck in the contest and happy reading.
Carolyn Brown
(Carolyn Brown 9:15am January 18, 2010)
I have read the first 2 books and really enjoyed them - can't wait to rceive getting lucky. I love the continuation of the characters in series. To get a snippet of what they have gotten up to after their story has been told. I do not like the trilogys that run at the same time frame as you learn what will happen to some characters before you start reading their story.
(Barbara Hanson 10:16am January 18, 2010)
I have been hearing a lot about these books lately and I can't wait to read them! Thanks for sharing.
(Gail Hurt 12:42pm January 18, 2010)
I love a series as long as I get my hands on all of it... I really hate when I miss one of the books... it is always wonderful to revisit characters that I have met before, and to see what they are up to in the next book!
(Colleen Conklin 12:55pm January 18, 2010)
Good mornin,
I love series i feel you get a greater since of knowing the characters lives and personalities.I for one have many favorite series I read. As a new book gets ready to be released I have been waiting for from a series i get execited like everyone else .I would not want to miss one.Then I also enjoy series that spin off in to new series with new characters and one of the previous .Like katie mcCalisters dragon series she has three but every once in a awhile you will find one of your favorite old characters thrown in .Cant wait to get read your book.It sound great !!
(Elizabeth Deming 1:11pm January 18, 2010)
I love reading series. Series give me an opportunity to revisit the characters especially what happen after the happily after ending.
(Kai Wong 1:51pm January 18, 2010)
I love series, following your favorite characters through more than one adventure is fantastic!
(Darci Paice 2:04pm January 18, 2010)
Series are great. Especially when you really fall in love with the characters and you can keep meeting them again and again. This looks good and it is now on my wishlist!!
(Valerie Bongards 2:22pm January 18, 2010)
First I have heard of these books. Leave it to Fresh Fiction to find some reading treasures.
(Sherry Russell 2:37pm January 18, 2010)
I enjoy reading books in a series. I love to read about the lives of siblings and other secondary characters. I just finished The School for Heiresses Series by Sabrina Jeffries and she has a new series starting that will cover the other people from the original 6 books!
(Karen Haas 2:57pm January 18, 2010)
I certainly look forward to each new book in a series.
Thanks and blessings,
Marjorie
(Marjorie Carmony 2:59pm January 18, 2010)
I like to read and if it is a series so much the better. I would feel lucky to win one of these books. They sound so good.
(Joy Isley 3:13pm January 18, 2010)
Thanks for the contest; I'd love to be lucky enough to win.
(Phyllis Gronewold 3:28pm January 18, 2010)
I really do prefer trilogies over single novels. It's really nice to catch up with characters from the previous books. Also, I think it gives the characters a chance to develop more, when you get a chance to see them from within another relationship.
(Chris Binns 3:49pm January 18, 2010)
I'm with everyone else, series are the best. Characters become like old friends.
(Mary Preston 4:36pm January 18, 2010)
With it being a gloomy winter day, it would be a ray of sunshine to win these books - look forward to reading them regardless. Thanks for having this contest!
[email protected]
(Katherine Reese 4:36pm January 18, 2010)
I love a series. Getting to know the characters and meeting new ones; it gives one something to look forward to.They are at the top of my list.
(Leni Kaye 4:42pm January 18, 2010)
I have never read any of your books b-4, but you can't go wrong with a cowboy. Can't wait to read them.
(Paige Hollenbaugh 5:10pm January 18, 2010)
I read a lot and read both stand alones and series books - If I like the first book in a series, I nearly always read the rest of the series since I love meeting familiar characters and places again.
[email protected]
(Penny Tuttle 5:33pm January 18, 2010)
Series reading is great! You get caught up in the books, love, hate, nurture and grow with the characters. BUT, a good series always leaves you wanting for more. That is what this one does. Great reading!!!
(Teresa Ramdial 6:43pm January 18, 2010)
Absolutely Carolyn....series sets are the best!
(Danelle Drake 6:57pm January 18, 2010)
I would love to read this series and win it so I could review it and make it known in this area.
(Jane Squires 7:16pm January 18, 2010)
Sounds like a great series! Thanks for the blog today!
(Jane Lange 8:30pm January 18, 2010)
This series looks wonderful; would love to win it. And yes I love series book, maybe a bit more than non-series. And there are wonderful ones out there.
(Pat Lieberman 8:40pm January 18, 2010)
Thanks to everyone for your comments. Good luck to the entry that wins and may you enjoy all three books.
Carolyn Brown
(Carolyn Brown 9:35pm January 18, 2010)
Coming in late from the left coast...I love a series. I would love to read yours...Cowboys are my favorites!!!
(Mitzi Hinkey 10:17pm January 18, 2010)
This sounds like a terrific series, Carolyn.
(Cheri Oggy 10:47pm January 18, 2010)
I enjoy reading series! More of a good
thing is always welcome.
(Sue Ahn 10:53pm January 18, 2010)
Am I too late? I love series books very much. This one looks v.g.
(Helen Livermore 10:14am January 19, 2010)
I enjoy series books. But I HATE to have to wait a year or more for the next book to come out.
(Karin Tillotson 12:08pm January 19, 2010)
I love series and there are no cons I can see with following characters through all sorts of dilemmas and resolutions.
(Alyson Widen 1:21pm January 19, 2010)
Karin,
Then you should love the Lucky Series! Lucky in Love, Sept.; One Lucky Cowboy, Nov.; and Getting Lucky, Jan.
The same story with my new Honky Tonk Series: I LOVE THIS BAR, June; HELL, YEAH, August; MY GIVE A DAMN'S BUSTED, Oct.; and A HONKY TONK CHRISTMAS, Nov.
No waiting a year on any of them. Happy reading.
Carolyn Brown
(Carolyn Brown 2:20pm January 19, 2010)
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