I Take The Topic of Debt In A Completely Off the Wall Tangent

“Harry Potter created a generation of readers in an era when kids could have disappeared into the depths of the Internet. That's no small feat. Every book series owes J.K. Rowling a debt of gratitude.” Gary Ross

So our topic this week is debt and I have to tell you, writing a post about finances is so not my thing. I admire the approaches the other Whores have taken to the topic this week but inspiration wasn’t stirring. My Muse isn’t amused, intrigued or made productive by the subject of debt. Paralyzed maybe!

I knew I couldn’t serve up another set of quotes again this week, fun as they are to assemble, but I went to the quotes lists for inspiration for the post. The one listed above struck me because I have yet to write a series but I’ve been mulling it over lately. I used to think as a seat-of-the-pants writer I could never do a series. I admire the people who can, including but not limited to, J. K. Rowling, Anne McCaffrey for Dragonriders of PERN, John Scalzi, Nalini Singh (you can read my interview with her this week over at USA Today HEA – shameless plug!) and our own Jeffe Kennedy. (Well, actually probably all the Word Whores except me LOL!)

But I thought it would be beyond me to know what was going to happen over the course of multiple books, plant little seeds in the earlier books that would blossom into lovely flowers much MUCH later and bring All the Plots to a satisfying conclusion down the line. I was a one book at a time writer, even if my novels do occur in a connected series by virtue of being set in one Universe. (I write science fiction in the future world I call The Sectors and I write paranormal romance set in 1550 BCE Egypt, during the reign of my mythical Pharaoh.)

However, I must tell you, series are sneaking up on me! I just wrote my first ever direct sequel, where MAGIC OF THE NILE follows onto the story I told in PRIESTESS OF THE NILE. I’ve been jotting down notes for two or three different series possibilities, set in ancient Egypt, set in the Sectors, even – gasp! – set in modern times. I’m thinking that if I take things in a three book arc and I know who my heroes and heroines will be, I CAN DO THIS. Actually, I find I want to do this.

I’m on the second draft of my third Sectors novel and I have the next Egyptian paranormal plotted, with a few scenes written but my Muse really likes the idea of stretching her wings (I did tell you she apparently has gorgeous feathery wings, didn’t I?)  and launching into a series forthwith. Planning to finish the Sectors WIP and the one remaining standalone paranormal since it has momentum and then we’ll…just…see.  I do think it’s good for a writer to try new things and tell new stories…the only limits on me are the ones I set, after all, since currently I’m self-publishing and can tell any story I want.

Soooo, going back to the subject of debt, here was the other quote I liked but that’ll have to be a post for another day!

“Worrying is like paying on a debt that may never come due.” Will Rogers