As soon as I wrote that title, I was reminded of the age-old rule of querying that if chapter one in your book isn't the best chapter, it should be.
Ugh...really? Do you buy that? I don't! Yes, it should grip the reader! But if it's really the best chapter, why would I read the rest of the book, since it'll all be downhill from there?
In my opinion, a series is the same way. Yes, the first book better be darn good to make readers want to buy the next one. But let's face it, if it's the best one, you aren't really doing your job with character development.
I find this true with sitcoms. I can't count how many times I've watched a pilot and said, "Eh...I'd rather read", or my son tells me about a series that's been out for years, and I've never heard about it. I watch the first one, and I'm hooked. Why? Because I have to know what's gonna happen next. Because I fell in love with the characters I hated at first... Because I want to know if the bad guy is gonna get it.
Now, before you ask... NO...that doesn't mean there has to be a cliffhanger! Each season--or book--in our case, I know it's readers and writers reading this blog--should finish the current situation, to a degree, and then leave room for the next issue to pop up.
Hey, that happens in our daily lives. You're going along, just singing a song, and then BAM, son gives you news about a grandbaby, youngest son decides he's going to a different college than you thought, hubby may have a job change, and the doctor finds a suspicious mole on your back.
Two weeks later you find out the mole is benign, hubby secures the job, and all looks good. But...you still don't know about youngest son's career goals and oldest son's trouble with ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, so that can be in the next book.
The first story was good. You met the family, learned a little of their dirt, found out the main character--mom--isn't going to die yet, but there's a dangling carrot for the next book. Now granted...that'd be a pretty boring book, but it's how our lives go, and how a series should go. We just need to add all the fun extra 'dun, dun. dun' moments like Mom falling apart on the inside, drinking too much, while she tries to remain strong. Dad working too much because he doesn't want to see her cry. And sons partying too much because neither of them want to face the reality of the future, especially if their mom might die. Now we're getting somewhere.
So...should book two be better??? Absolutely! Now we know all our characters and what they're capable of when the going gets rough. Now we might see the second son at his new college, dealing with all of those issues. Ex-girlfriend might threaten oldest son with seeing his child or heaven knows what else.
The point is...the characters have come into their own. They've grown.
If you've ever watched Friends...one of my favorite sitcoms, even though I didn't start watching it until it'd been going for a couple of years, when they showed the re-runs at 5:00. They were immature, silly, and I didn't know to laugh when Chandler emphasized his words. But after a few episodes, I was hooked. I couldn't wait to find out if Rachael would make it to the airport on time...
After all that, do I think When Noonday Ends, the fifth book in my Southern Romantic-Suspense Collection is the best mystery? Yep, I do! Sorry, but it's true. It might not be the best of everything, but I think I got better at weaving a complex whodunit.
Do I think Creatus Rogue is better than Creatus? Heck yeah, I do. BUT...if you didn't meet the main character of Creatus Rogue in Creatus (They Exist) and Creatus, I don't think you would have liked her, because you wouldn't have really known her, and I don't think I could have filled you in on her backstory. In fact, prior to Creatus Rogue, she lived a rather boring life.
Creatus Eidolon...it's a different kind of better. You now know practically everything about five creatus beings you've met in the first three books. It's coming to a culmination, you know something is on the rise...
That's all I can say, other than, heck yeah, my books gets better as they go along, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm proud to admit it, as I think everything we strive after should get better.
Oh...and, I hope you agree!
Until next time, happy reading and writing, my friends!
Carmen
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