Why We Love Series

I read a lot. And I read fast. Thankfully I've built up my TBR list to such a huge scale that I'll never run out of books.

What I love the most is book series. Most readers feel the same way. As a writer, I can't help but wonder why people love series so much. Stand alone books can be fantastic reads, but series of books attract me much more.

First, and most obvious, is that we can't get enough of what we love. We want more. Series of books fill that need. Finding characters I love make me want to follow them through their whole lives. Exploring wonderful new worlds can have me reading for hours, and I get excited when new parts of the world are revealed as the series goes on.

I get deep into plots that slowly unfurl over time. With a story just in one book, it all has to be tied up at the end, but in a series, there is a longer buildup for the over-arching plot. I want all the details, to wonder what might happen next, and to be taken on all sorts of twists and turns.

Another reason we love series is familiarity. We know the characters and the world. There's comfort in that, and when the author manages to surprise us with something new in our favorite series, it reinforces the adoration.

Choosing from the countless shelves of other books can be overwhelming. Something in the same series makes our next read an easy choice. Less stress is good for us all.

What are your favorite things about reading a series?

I'm celebrating my urban fantasy series, Totem, with the release of the 8th and penultimate book today!

Some say the moon is for lovers, but wise folks know to fear it.

Kinley Dorn must be strong for her family in these dark times. Sometimes she feels she’s all that’s holding them together. But when the frightening Moon Man attacks and bestows a burdensome gift upon her, Kinley might have to do more than simply help her family. She will have to battle a god, but which one? If it’s the sly man hunting her in the astral plane, Kinley might not make it out alive.

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Writing Effective Non-Human Characters

In the genre of speculative fiction, we see many non-human creatures. Yes, most of the time the supernatural creatures are humanoid and/or living in a human world. But there are also those beings from other worlds or those monsters hidden in the unseen depths of our reality that aren't human in any way.

How does a human writer go about effectively portraying such a character then? Here are five tips for writing believable non-humans.

1) The character's physical traits will affect a lot of how they behave. Your non-human may be an arachnid or an alien with no bones. No matter who we are, we are limited by our physicality and the environment we live in. What advantages and disadvantages would your character's body give them? Have they enhanced their strengths? How do they cope with their bodily limitations? How does that all work in their environment?

2) The ways the character deals with their physicality will help build their culture. Our human world is build for fragile warm-blooded beings who walk on two legs and have opposable thumbs. Most things center around the visual. What if your non-human doesn't have that sense? What sort of civilization will they have built? What if there was a world built completely upon the sense of smell? All information would be carried upon scents.

3) With culture evolves ethics. Non-humans aren't going to have a black & white view of the world. They might not even have a concept of good and evil. Your character's morals could revolve around their physical traits or some divine magic. It will be central to how that character thinks.

4) Non-humans aren't going to have emotions as we know them. How they react to a situation will depend on the three things above. It is possible they don't know fear or love. Figuring out the emotional state of your character (or the non-emotional one if it's a robot!) will guide you with how they will act and react within the plot.

5) Even considering all of this, our readers are still human. We must make them relatable to humans. We need something for the readers to hook on to, even if it's just one trait. See that sea dragon above? She wants to fly in the sky. We can all relate to a desire to be more than we are.

Have you ever written non-human characters? Care to share any tips?