Many readers enjoy characters who continue from book to book. Look at the popularity of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, and many of Debbie Macomber's and Nora Roberts' books, for just a few examples.
As a writer, I enjoy continuing characters, too. Writing my
Harmony Circle miniseries -- published within the Harlequin American Romance line -- lets me enjoy their personalities over a period of years as life throws them curve balls.
I learned a lot from reading topnotch series, and also from a few I wasn't so crazy about. What bothered me were the cookie-cutter beautiful/handsome best friends and siblings obviously plopped into stories to set up future books. In Harmony Circle, I build heroes and heroines with special qualities, issues and occupations to make them memorable.
For example, in The Family Next Door and Baby in Waiting, a subplot concerns a wealthy young woman named Sherry LaSalle who buys a cottage in the neighborhood to tear down and replace with a mansion. Her haughty attitude antagonizes many of her neighbors, especially auto mechanic Rafe, who lives across the street.
In my January 2009 release, Million-Dollar Nanny (which earned 4 ½ stars from Romantic Times magazine)¸ Sherry has been conned out of all her money. Broke, she's forced to live in the cottage and discovers she can't even land a minimum-wage job. Rafe, who adopted his orphaned niece and nephew, needs a nanny, and Sherry decides the job would be perfect for her. He, on the other hand, doesn't want her anywhere near his kids or his heart. Because I'd developed their antagonism in previous books, their tangles and growing attraction were especially fun to write.
Doctor Daddy, to be published in September 2009, features Dr. Jane McKay, an obstetrician who longs for a baby of her own. Jane was the heroine's best friend in
Baby in Waiting, and now her story will be featured in Harlequin's Men Made in America promotion. Jane harbors a secret passion for heartthrob physician Luke Van Dam, who moves in next door and joins her medical practice. Unlike Jane, he attracts babies and the opposite sex without trying, but hasn't a clue how to find happiness. She's about to enlighten him.
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Over the course of creating interlinked novels, keeping track of the characters is a challenge. As I start each new book, I review the characters we've met before and look for ways in which their lives can grow and develop just as real people's do.
But then, to me – and I hope to my readers – they are real. I only wish we all had a guaranteed happy ending!
