Second Wind Publishing discussion

Vince Flynn has Mitch Rapp, a counterterrorism operative. John Sanford has Lucas Davenport, a Minneapolis Police Department Detective. William Kent Krueger has Corcoran O’Connor, former Chicago cop and current part-time investigator in northern Minnesota. Patricia Cornwell has Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Virginia.

All are very successful series novels. What are the key selling points of these books? The writing, the plots, the characters, or the setting? For me, it is a combination of all four. I am taken by the writing. I care about the characters and look forward to their next adventures.

Do you have any series you have followed, or do you prefer new sets of characters with each new book? I look forward to your comments.

Christine Husom is the Second Wind Publishing author of "Murder in Winnebago County" and "Buried in Wolf Lake"

I tend to follow James Lee Burke's detective Rouxieaux (sp) novels, and Robert B. Parker, Spenser novels, along with Harry Potter. I think part of what sells them is the characters themselves because when I read them I grow to care about them and want to know more about their lives. Also I think it is like comfort food or security blanket in terms of you know what to expect in the serial novels.

In a word, VOICE

The only series I follow is Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, and I think the reason is a combination of voice and characters. I have heard William Kent Krueger speak - he was a presenter at one of our Writers Retreats at the Blue Belle Inn with a group of writers who called themselves Minnesota Crime Writers. He was good! Chris - as a sidenote - I'm in the middle of Murder in Winnebago County and loving it!

Sherrie Hansen

I follow several series, the one I will not miss though is the Diskworld series by Terry Pratchett. Pratchett is smart, funny and generally dead-on regarding human nature. I adore satire and parody, and Pratchett is a master.

The other series I read are all fantasy, and for the most part I guess the one link they all have is that they are great escapes without a lot of hard thinking. I spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week as an admin. asst. to the managing partner in a branch office of a law firm. The last thing I want to do when I get home is think... I'm all about relaxing and being entertained.

Iain M. Banks Culture novels.

I follow a number of series, but I do read other books in between; being short on cash most times, I have to wait on a lot of the series books. Two of my favorite series are no longer being written: Hillerman's Leaphorn & Chee books (author deceased) and Lyn Hamilton's Lara McClintock, recently retired and now deceased ( http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=1461 ), another great shock.
My other favorite series are Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series, Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow series, Aaron Elkins' Skeleton Detective Gideon Oliver series, Tamar Myers Den of Antiquity series, Sharyn McCrumb, all her series, Appalachian Ballads, Elizabeth MacPherson, Dale Earnhardt, and yes, even the Bimbos of the Death Sun.) James Doss' Charlie Moon (Ute) series, Kirk Mitchell's Turnipseed/Parker series, I can go on and on and will probably immediately wish I'd included another favorite. So many!!! (You asked!) ;-) (These do not include the new series I've learned about and started following since being on goodreads, but there are many!

Probably 75% of my reading is series. 90% of the time it's because of the characters. A VERY partial list:

Harry Bosch (Connelly) Lucas Davenport (Sandford), Eve & Roarke (Robb), Alex Delaware (Kellerman), Peter Decker (Kellerman), Kinsey Milhone (Grafton), Sharon McCone (Muller), Goldie Bear (Davidson), Spenser & Susan; Jesse Stone (Parker); Elvis Cole/Joe Pike (Crais)

I also read connected books where the characters shift from main to secondary, and vice versa. Allison Brennan, Brenda Novak, Karen Rose, Jordan Dane.

The lists keep growing. I always have mixed emotions about discovering a new-to-me author with a backlist, because it means more books to read, and it means ... more books to read.

The Forgotten Worlds Trilogy by PJ Hoover. The first two are out with the third one set to come out Fall 2010, I think. These are MG fantasy, not adult. But pick them up, they're very good. The voice is distinct. I write for this age so I'm reading it too.

I love series...it is always the characters that pull me in. Recently I read 10 books in The Guardian Series by Ruby Moon-Houldson in just over a week. By the time I was nearing the end of those I had, I knew the characters and what they would and wouldn't do! I also read J. D. Robb, most CSI books with a series, Faye and Jonathan Kellerman, and just about any trilogy or series I start on--I keep reading until the conclusion. If I have a second book, I will get the first book to read if at all possible--even asked for it with a recent author I worked with...and, of course, did reviews on both!

For me, I enjoy the continuity. In fact if it is not there, then the author has not done the job, in my opinion. I was a first-reader on a second book in a series recently and the main character did not come across the way I would have expected her. The author acknowledged that she knew something was off, but her other readers had all loved it...I did too...but the character did not act as she had in the first book, so the author gratefully rewrote based upon my analysis!

Not bragging, don't get me wrong! However, it does prove my point, I think, that readers get to know series characters very well and would be upset if they changed drastically without some reason...

Patrick and Terry...A question. The last time I read a Jesse Stone book, I was really turned off. Not only did Jesse sound like Spenser, but many of the characters talked in the same manner... I was very disappointed because Robert B. has been a writer I have recommended for dialogue for many years. Have either of you noticed that his characters are no longer diverse in their speech manner?

Glenda - Parker is a good example of reading for characters. His dialogue style drives me nuts, but I like to follow what's going on with his characters.

Sometimes voice is enough of a turnoff (anyone but me think Catherine Coulter's FBI series characters not only all sound the same, but sound like they're six years old?) but I'm often willing to put up with a lot (like the omniscient POV in JD Robb's series) because I like the characters.

JA Jance is another 'mixed-bag' for me. I love following JP Beaumont, but the Joanna Brady series with their omniscient POV bothers me and Joanna isn't compelling enough to make me follow that series.

My husband really like series; I suspect it's because he doesn't get much time to read, so he wants to know what he's getting when he commits to it. I guess that means consistency counts a lot. He particularly likes things set in areas that he knows.

When we lived in Cambridge, England, he collected all the CP Snow (Masters, Corridors of Power) etc, followed by JIM Stewart (Madonna of the Astrolabe...). When our son went to USC (LA) he started collecting Harry Bosch.

I loved CP Snow and JIM Stewart. Harry Bosch I've not really got into yet. I think I have to get more involved in the characters rather than place. And I don't like the feeling that if I took the trouble to know the place better I'd understand more. (My husband is a much more careful reader than me.)

Thanks, everyone for your comments. Sherrie, I saw the Minnesota Crime Wave at an area library event--they're great! I'm glad you're enjoying my book--appreciate it.

In my earlier posting I got so carried away with which of my many series favorites to mention, I forgot to say why I like the series I do. Most of them are the characters, but in one I'm more drawn into the series by archaeology. I listed mostly cozies, but I do also read series of the not-so-cozy kind. Again, it's the characters, but more gripping writing is a mainstay. In fact, the biggest thing in all these is the writing, otherwise there would be no connection with the characters.

Mysteries seem to lend themselves particularly to series, as you can have a clever sleuth character to solve a multitude of murders. I read a lot more series mysteries as a younger person, but the last ones I read for setting and detective were "Brother Cadfael," who launched the history/mystery genre, still growing by the minute. I find many to be simple and formulaic. I tend to follow authors, not characters. Lately, in the mystery genre, I've been reading Arturo Perez-Reverte who writes what might almost be called "literary mystery." His books are heady mixes of art, history, crooked antiquities dealers and daring thefts of ancient treasures which lead to murder(s). If the name is unfamiliar, his "The Club Dumas" was transformed into a stylish horror movie, "The 9th Gate."

Sounds like someone I'd like to check out! I'm not a fan of Brother Cadfael, particularly, I'm not sure why. But I think this series sounds very interesting. Thanks for the tip.

I follow the Shopaholic series.

I fell in love with Becky Bloomwood and have been a fan ever since.

When an author taps into the collective consciousness of a culture, in this case consumerism, you get a devoted following.

Angela, I follow the Shopaholic series as well! My hubby even went to Sophie Kinsella's book signing on my behalf when I had to work and video taped the whole thing. I think she's a genius, and she always makes me LOL :)

I'm mostly a series reader as I love to keep up with family lines. The Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn is one of my favorites, and both hubby and I really loved the Gardella Vampire Series. We're also big fans of Harry Potter and Twilight. I know there are a ton more that I read, but those are my favorites :)

For me, it has to do with the quality of writing and whether I find the characters interesting. I love Kathy Reichs' books (I'm forensic anthro major myself), just for example. I also enjoy Stephen Coonts' "Jake Grafton" novels.

I am working on a sequel to my own In The Eye of The Beholder A Novel of The Phantom of the Opera because my characters aren't through talking yet. ;->

Glenda wrote: "I love series...it is always the characters that pull me in. Recently I read 10 books in The Guardian Series by Ruby Moon-Houldson in just over a week. By the time I was nearing the end of those I ..."

I don't really read Robert Parker novels now. I do feel he is writing a bit thin like James Patterson, and relying on his only writing skill and name to sell his book. Maybe my tastes changed with age...

If the first book 'hooks' me - I am all for reading a series. But if the author gets complacent as the series goes along and spends an inordinate amount of time reiterating events from the previous book(s) (to educate new readers of the series - I guess), and the characters and the plots weaken, I will stop reading a series and try to come back to it later when I have more patience/stamina and/or will to read it all the way through.

What draws me in is a well crafted story. What keeps me are well rounded, full characters; good plot; and continued good writing.

I read too many series. I love Philip DePoy's Fever Devlin series and Ariana Franklin's Mistress of Death series but there are boatloads more I love and while most of them are mysteries there are many excellent historical fiction series. I get hooked on an author and then once that happens tend to read everything in they write whether it's a series or not: Deborah Crombie, Charles Todd, Barbara Cleverly, Tasha Alexander, Sandra Worth, Beverly Swerling, the St. Cyr mysteries by C.S. Harris, Deanna Raybourn, CJ Sansom, Margaret Lawrence, Jacqueline Winspear, Gil Cunningham, Kenneth Roberts.... oh dear, I should stop now.