As a reader I love a good series. They are like having a good friend you can call when you need to talk. You know what to expect but there are still some surprises.
Now that I am starting my second series, the Leo and Arnold Mysteries of the Vinyl Village, I am enjoying some of the freedoms for the writer.
There are 50 pages of back story, character maps and anecdotes in my Vinyl Village notebook. Yet this morning, while I started chapter 2 and plotted out future chapters, I didn't feel any pressure or anxiety to force all of that good material into the book. Eventually all those little nuggets will find their way into one of the volumes. Never fear.
Writing a series lets me kick back and grow the text. It's kind of exciting to see where the chips will fall. Here's a few teasers:
Grandma Lily loves hunting thrift stores for furniture and refinishing it. Yet she will not give up her red Miata convertible nor will she let Grandpa Bob have the truck he has always wanted. Instead, she calls one of her daughters, much to Rachel and Susan's chagrin, with their oversized SUV's every time she finds a new treasure.
Arnold's cat Cali hates Leo's dog Bobo so much that eventually her feline reason snaps and she tries to bury the dog where it lies sleeping on the kitchen floor. The ultimate picture of impotent hatred: a cat scratching the floor in front of a dog who just keeps snoring.
Arnold has a neighbor who is a self proclaimed urban homesteader, swears that the slow food movement can save us all while preaching the gospel of whole food and recycling. The boys catch her coming home one day with sacks full of Bojangles fried chicken. I'll have to change the name of the restaurant chain, but you get the idea. I love hypocrisy in adults.
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| This is not a vinyl village. |
Ok, enough teasers. I'm off to write some more on Chapter 2.
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