Daily Archives: September 3, 2019

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Ending a Novel Series: Calling it Quits by Janet Elizabeth Lynn

September 3, 2019 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as hardboiled mysteries, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Series novels, The Skylar Drake Murder Mystery Series, Will Zeilinger

My husband, Will Zeilinger and I co-write the Skylar Drake Mysteries, a hard-boiled detective series that takes the reader to 1950s Los Angeles and other areas of the west. Our new book, GAME TOWN, is set in Hollywood and exposes a scandal that rocks the toy industry in Los Angeles. GAME TOWN is the fifth and final book of the series.

Ending the Skylar Drake Mystery series was a heartbreaking decision for us. After all, the series has been in our lives for five years. It was difficult to end the relationship not only with Sky but his partner Casey Dolan, FBI Special Agent Olivia Jahns, and their secretary Lory Carrington. However, the time was right to let them find their own way.

So, the question we had to face was do we do a sequel or spin-off?

Doing a sequel would bring back the characters and more glimpses of 1950s Hollywood. Spin offs, re-orienting the characters we fell in love with and the villains who pushed the twists and turns of each book are still possible. I think it’s important that as writers and creators we assure our readers that everything turned out okay for the characters and they moved on.

book cover of Game Town shows silhouette of man with gun and a woman in a long gown with palm trees in the backrougnd

For now, we have no plans for a sequel or spin off.

Some series can standalone. Others may be ruined by a sequel because the readers wanted to remember the characters the way they were.

Whatever the future holds for those in the Skylar Drake Mystery series it’s been fun creating great characters, clever plots, fun subplots and making up the twists and turns, and devious red herrings too.

What’s in the future for us? We’ll be writing more books, short stories, and more separately and together.

For now, we are a little depressed. We understand that this is par for the course when ending a series. And the best cure for the depression, they tell me is to move on and keep writing. So, stay tuned…there is more to come.

GAME TOWN is the fifth in the series and yes . . . we are still married!

Website: Janet Elizabeth Lynn

Website: Will Zeilinger