As a reader those are my favorite because you get invested in these characters and want to learn how they evolve and what they’re up to even after the first book/conflict is resolved.

So I’ve started/written two series. One is a cozy mystery/paranormal and the second is a small-town women’s fiction series.

For series one, A Medium with a Heart series, the idea came to me because while I don’t have the types of powers that Joanna has in the book, I have had a few paranormal experiences. This was just the inspiration for writing this type of story, plus I thought it would be fun.

And, it has been! I’m working on book two (well sort of… procrastinating at the moment) right now. I’m excited about this one two and I have book 3 roughly outlined.

The hard part for this is writing “the rules” of how and why and when she sees the ghosts/spirits. And if she can just easily talk to the victims, why can’t they just say “So-so killed me”… Well they can’t because… and that’s the mystery of it and also the challenge in writing the books.

Then we have my Glenn Lake series. This is about strong women and their daily struggles with life. Each book will focus on one of the women and their story. This was inspired by my own life as well. All my life I was told that I came from strong women, especially when I was faced with a challenge in my life.

Two of my great-grandmothers had amazing stories of survival. The one left an abuse first husband back in the day when that was just not done. She had 4 children and worked hard to provide for them, but did get remarried a few years or so later.

The second suffered from severe depression and anxiety. She got to the point she couldn’t/wouldn’t leave her house. Then one day she made up her mind she wasn’t going to be a prison to herself, and each day made goal to get a little further out of her house. The first day she stepped out of the front door, the next one step onto the porch, the next stood at the top of the steps… and soon she was walking around the block.

I have more stories of the wonderful women in my family, and why I wanted to write this series. However, the women in my books have different stories to tell. Surviving childhood, surviving alcoholism, coming to terms with spending her life alone/without a partner, protecting her child from an abusive partner, learning late in life that she a lesbian, and so many more…. I can’t wait to write them all.

At current, I have no other series in the works but I do have a few standalone books that once I get a few of these series books out, I will go back to.

Do you love a series? Or do you prefer standalones?