I know, yesterday I talked about mornings… but this post is going to be about my Nights Series that I’m writing.
I have no idea how many books there are going to be in the Nights series, just that I know that each book is going to be a stand-alone novel with the same central cast of characters, and always in a different location. As a lot of you know, Tijuana Nights is already written. The next book, Venetian Nights was planned about two years ago, and has now been started… I’m a couple of thousand words in, and it seems to be shaping nicely to start with – and that’s always a good thing. I can’t wait to get it written! This coming long Easter weekend, I’m hoping to really get into it a bit – time permitting.
I’m pretty sure the next book after that is going to be called Parisian Nights, and I have started to jot down a few ideas about the plot, and I’m thinking it could be a fun one to write.
To give you some idea of what these books are about – Mack, my central character – used to be a historian, until she hit some serious financial difficulty. River and Chase, a duo of trained assassins – with their geeky sidekick – Gabriel, offered Mack the opportunity to make some fast cash if she helped them out on a job in Tijuana. Without too much forward thinking, she agreed.
And so, Mack’s story begins with Tijuana Nights, as she delves into the world of assassination, Mexican Cartels, and a whole lot of trouble.
You see, to begin with when I had the idea to write a series of standalone novels, I wanted them to be fun, and smart, and thrilling and witty. But as I have written the first book, and delved into a heap of research about the Cartel operations all over South America, I really wasn’t finding it witty or funny. The Cartels have some serious business going on, and to be frank, it scared the crap out of me. And so, I made it so that Mack loses quite a bit of her snark throughout the book as things got more and more serious.
I think that there are moments where you have moments of wittiness, and moments for seriousness. That is going to be the challenge in these books – maintaining that balance.
I’d like to start a series like this (i.e., standalone novels with a recurring central cast) sometime. In fact, I have an idea, and even a couple of novella-sized works that would be a start. I hope to work on that soon. Your series sounds interesting, Leigh. I can understand your dilemma, trying to make the story humorous while dealing with something as heavy (and scary) as a Mexican Cartel.
All the best to you! 🙂
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Thanks Colin!
And I think you should write a series of standalones. I really love it. Book two is now being written, and it’s fantastic, as a lot of the character development stuff is already done, and it’s just a matter on lightly brushing over what has come before.
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Good luck with the series. It sounds entertaining. Has Tijuana Nights been published yet? Where is it available?
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Nope, not published yet, but I’m hoping to release it in the next few month after a good solid revision, and of course a professional edit 🙂 but I’ll definitely keep everyone up to date with progress and dates!
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Good luck Leigh!
Liz http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com
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Thanks Liz! 🙂
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