J.K.’s Comments (group member since Aug 14, 2012)

J.K.’s comments from the Q&A with J.K. Hogan group.

I've seen posts on a lot of blogs lately about serial romances, good or bad.... So I decide to ask everyone here.

Do you like serial romances? Meaning a series based on the same main characters, rather than new main characters for each book.

Personally, I tend to shy away from them. While I think it's awesome that you wouldn't have to say goodbye to characters you loved, the only way to add interest to a book about the same characters is to throw conflict at them. To me, that sort of destroys the illusion of the HEA. It's hard to end a book in which the characters are happy together, only to find them at odds with each other, or in trouble, in the next book. That situation tends to be just too angsty and emotional for me.

I much prefer a series with new main characters each time, but in which you get to see characters from the previous books and what they are up to.

How about you?

If you've read Fire on the Island, which characters would you like to see get their own story? If you've been to my website, you know who the next book is about, but there will be more to come.

I'd love to hear some opinions!

How do you choose your next read?

What draws you to a book? The cover, the blurb, reviews, recommendations from friends? Just curious.

I'm a very picky reader so I generally don't read based on other people's opinions. I choose based on the blurb & cover, but I generally will read anything from authors I already know and like.

How about you?

I have a question for you all! How do you like your backstory in a series to be delivered, if at all?

Personally as a reader, I like very minimal backstory in a series, because I won't read a book in a series if I realize it's not the first...I'll go back and start from the beginning.

In the sequel to Fire on the Island, I just briefly touched on the backstory in certain parts, because I am afraid of the dreaded info dump, which is a turn-off to me as a reader.

Reading series before I was ever writing them, I would always skip over the backstory, and often got frustrated with it because it was a repeat of a lot of what I'd just read.

What do you think? Do you like having the backstory rehashed or would you rather do without? Is just hinting at it enough?

The 3rd book in the Vigilati series presents a unique problem, because for the first half of the book, both MCs are unaware of previous events, so there really is no way to introduce the backstory. We'll have to see how I resolve that one! TIA!

Welcome, everyone! I've had people email me with questions about my recent release and upcoming works, so I thought I would create a group to share with everyone. Feel free to ask anything! I'll also be asking some things of you that will help me in my writing.

Thanks for stopping by!