3 Rules to Writing A Good Series: Guest Post & Giveaway by Lola James

Guest post with Lola James, touring now with her second installment in the Spellbound Series, Unbound! Welcome Lola!

Guest post by Lola James

The Rules of a good Series

When I wrote my first book I thought to myself I cannot write a series, for one I get bored super easy and two that’s a lot of writing. Well, here I am the author of two series and I still don’t know how I do it.

I do know that I outline my stories to death, so I have come up with the rules to follow for the thought process behind a series.

Rule one: Create compelling characters

These characters can be human, vampire, werewolf or otherwise but just make them interesting. I recently read a story that had a main character was a werewolf with a bum leg. What made the story interesting was the fact that she persevered with her bum leg to become the leader of the pack.

Rule two: Create a gripping story

In paranormal stories, you have to spice it up. Let’s not just have the typical human and the paranormal being story. Add an element power or mystery that will make the story pop. In my Spellbound series, I added the Greek Mythology element and I continuously get complements from readers that they love that element of my book. It made for a attention-grabbing story.

Rule three: Cliffhangers

Ok my opinion but I LOVE cliffhangers! So my theory is make them hang BUT don’t cut them off mid-sentence… no one likes that! Let the story end well enough to have the read anticipate the next story not toss the book, kindle, or nook across the room.

As simple as the rules may seem these three rules are important for any good series, in fact I challenge you to look for them as you read my story and/or others. I followed this method and here I am. I will admit that some writers don’t always follow these rules, but the story comes out great. So it’s up to you as the reader to have your say.

Aside from my rules, what do you think makes a great series?

Unbound, Book Two of the Spellbound Series

Toni went from being a doctor, to the lover of a god in an instant. Remembering who she was, she's now torn between her past self and her current love. Ben is stunned when Toni leaves and at the arrival of his long lost love, Catherine, but her arrival doesn't eradicate Toni from his mind. Unlikely allies will team up to get Toni back from the Lord of the Underworld, Hades, but it's not Hades they need to worry about.

Excerpt 1

“She knew I was a vampire.” I dropped my head as astonishment casted over Kevin’s face. “It is my fault she is with Hades, I’ll take that blame.” I swallowed the lump in my throat that formed around my next words. “Do it, take me this pain away from me!” Kevin pressed the stake hard to my chest, and I closed my eyes, preparing to die.

In a flash, Catherine tackled Kevin to the ground, knocking the stake out of his hands. Dawn screamed and I picked up the stake with the swiftest of movements and drove it through Catherine’s back. She turned to ash while still atop Kevin whose eyes widened in shock.

We looked at one another, both bewildered, in the moment before I offered my hand to help him from the floor. Dawn eased closer toward us. As Kevin brushed Catherine’s dust off him; then he picked up his stake, and returned it to his back pocket. Kevin stared at me for a long moment before he gave a nod. "For now, vampire."

Lola will be offering a $25 Gift Card to readers choice of Barnes and Noble or Amazon at the end of her tour. To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter below.

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Lola James has been reading romance novels since her teens, and fell in love with the paranormal after discovering Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Her love of the dark worlds of vampires and witches, as well as her fascination with Greek mythology led her to create the Spellbound Series, an ongoing Paranormal Romance combining all of the above into tales of suspense with a little bit of humor in an Urban Fantasy setting.

A long time lover of reading and writing with a passion for a great story, James became discouraged by the complicated and arbitrary publishing process, James had initially set down her laptop and her hopes of being a writer. However, with the purchase of her first e-reader, James became re-energized by the new possibilities for an undiscovered author to reach the masses. Dusting off her keyboard she finally finished Bound to Remember, the first book of the Spellbound Series and self-published it. Energized and ambitious, James is now hard at work on both the Spellbound Series as well as the Fate Series, a paranormal romance about dreams and what happens if they come true.

Living in Southern California with her two beautiful children, James finds time to write in between her full-time job as a mother as well as her other full-time job as an HR manager, as well as her academic schedule as she studies for her Master’s degree which she hopes to complete in 2013. With the success of Bound to Remember, James hopes to continue to reach an audience that will allow her to leave her HR job and focus on her writing as a full time career.

Lola James, Author  
Website: www.lolajames.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/1lola_james
Blog: http://lolajames-author.blogspot.com
Fate Series Blog: http://thefateseries.blogspot.com/
Spellbound Series Blog:http://spellboundseries.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLolaJames
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/lola_james
Buy Books on: Amazon and Barnes & Noble