Thursday, May 30, 2013

New Release: Spin The Wheel (Vegas Series) by Mimi Barbour




Title - Writing a series – should you?


Sure - why not? They're a lot of fun.



I started writing my Vegas series because of a set of circumstances that led me to this outcome. I never started off with the plan to do so. This seems to be the way of a writer’s life in many occasions –unforeseen opportunities.



Our IBC promoter, Carolyn McCray, had an idea for a suspense anthology called Bullets, Brass & Babes and offered the group a chance to submit up to 5,000 words to join her in this endeavor. I was thrilled with her idea and quickly wrote my first romantic suspense, a short called “You Shot Me”. I waited with bated breath, nervous but hopeful all at the same time. 



You might say I was a mite surprised (floored!) when she told me that my submission should be a full-length book and she now wanted me to write the introduction to the characters and their conflicts. And… I had three days to do so.



Never wrote so fast in my life (edits followed later..…gulp!), and she included in the anthology what was to become the 1st book of the Vegas Series called “Partners”. When I actually wrote the full-length book to follow, I changed the title from the “You Shot Me” to “Roll the Dice” and the series had begun.  



Of course, even I know you don’t have a series with just two books and so there had to a third. Of course, I’d planned the next one to be a full-length, because after all, it would be fine to have a short for the introduction, yes. But didn’t all the rest have to be novels with higher word counts?



Nope!



Again Ms. McCray revised that old-fashioned thinking by saying this. “Why make the readers wait for months before the next book comes out? Keep them up-to-date in the lives of your characters and give them a bridge short to keep them interested.” I liked the idea and “Vegas Shuffle” came next.



It seemed to satisfy then fans of the series and gave me longer to produce the next manuscript called “High Stakes Gamble”. Funny thing, I was now so invested in the lives of my characters that even I loved finding out more about them myself. How they’d grown and developed because of their struggles. This was pure enjoyment that flowed beautifully and I think it shows in the story. 



I was into the rhythm now. And enjoying being able to fill in back story by framing it into a brief tale to keep the readers involved. When Book #5 called "Spin the Wheel" came about, another bridge that will be released at the end of this month, it was if it wrote itself. Now even I’m hooked. And I can’t wait to get into the final full-length, "Let it Ride". 



***Except, is it the final? I don’t know? I cringe whenever I think the fun has to stop. I might leave a thread in case I want to hook into the series again. I should, right? Never shut the door to opportunities. RIGHT??



But I do have another series waiting on the back burner…hummm!!


Mimi Barbour - is the author of The Vicarage Bench Series, Angels with Attitudes and the Vegas Series - hot romance with fast-paced suspense. She lives on the beautiful east coast of Vancouver Island and writes romance with tongue-in-cheek and a mad glint in her eye. It's the great characters she creates that make writing so much fun.  

2 comments:

  1. Margaret,thank you very much for welcoming me to your blog. It's a treat to be able to reach other readers.
    xo Mimi

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  2. It's always interesting to see how a writer come up with ideas for a book or series.

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