3 Reasons to Write More Than One Book at a Time

It’s been a productive couple of weeks on the writing front. Happily, the grandkids have been healthy and going to daycare every day, which means I’ve had time to work on two of the three urban fantasy novels in my trilogy.

I’ve found it beneficial to work on more than one book in a series simultaneously. One reason is that events in book one are so fresh that I remember many more details. This makes it easier to insert new tidbits of flashback and build on subtle but important nuances or situations in book two. Secondly, it helps with the flow of both books. I’m less likely to create repetitive events and names. Third, I’ve found that while writing the second book, there are things I wanted, or needed, to change in book one for clarity and continuity.

The standard wisdom is not to write the second book when one is submitting the first book to agents or publishers. If you’re writing a trilogy, the recommendation is to only prepare outlines for books two and three. A complete manuscript could result in having to rework major components, so you’d be wasting your time.

For me, however, a first draft is like a detailed outline. It’s important to write the actual story to see if it even works, what the word count is, and if key elements have been introduced when they should be for pacing purposes. Because I don’t write quickly, I’ll probably only have a basic outline in place for the third book anyway, but we’ll see. The entire submission process could take quite a while and even then it might not work out. In that case, I can turn to self-publishing and release the books one after the other on my own timeline. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Meanwhile, plans are shaping up for a couple of spring events, one of which is a local event called Bookfest 2024. For those of you who live in the Lower Mainland, please check it out the details on the Tri-City Wordsmiths page HERE. There are still some details to tweak and things that might be changed.

Also, until February 19, I’m offering the fifth installment in my Casey Holland mystery series for $.99. Some of the participating authors in this BookFunnel event will be selling their entire series while others are offering a single book for you to try. Here’s a little bit about Knock Knock:

When a home invasion kills senior Elsie Englehart, security officer Casey Holland is devastated. She’s supposed to be watching over elderly bus riders in an area frequently targeted by thugs. Determined to keep others safe, Casey escorts a senior to his home, only to come under attack by an armed intruder. Hospitalized and angry, Casey struggles to regain control of her life, despite interference from family and colleagues, and the postponement of her wedding. Yet another home invasion compels Casey to take action, but at what cost to her health and her relationships?