This Tuesday At The Tiki Hut - Nina Pierce

Today's special guest at the Tiki Hut is author Nina Pierce. Nina grew up in a house of readers. So falling in love with books was only natural. In her teen years she found her mother's romance books and became forever hooked on the journey of finding one's true love. Now, if you throw in a dead body and some mayhem, Nina is in reader nirvana.

A few years ago, reading about love wasn't enough. She is now driven to write stories of alpha-males with a chink in their armor and the kick-ass women who fall in love with them. And true to what she loves, more often than not, you'll find some suspense thread running through her plots, hopefully with enough twists to keep her readers turning the pages, staying up late, and burning dinner.

A native of Maine, Nina lives in what she affectionately calls "the great white North". She is fortunate to have married her high school sweetheart and true love twenty-five years ago. They share their lives with three grown children and a menagerie of pets.

To learn how you can win a free download of Nina's BLIND LOVE, head to AuthorIsland.com today and check out today's Book of the Day!

Visit Nina's Website *** Visit Nina's Myspace *** Visit Nina's Blog

Say That Again
by Nina Pierce

Like most authors, I was a voracious reader long before I decided to write my first novel. There is nothing I enjoy more than losing myself in a great story. Sometimes the writing is so vivid and the journey of the characters so compelling that I hate to get to the last page. I don’t want to read those two little words “The End”. NOOO! Tell me more! I want to find out what happens to the hero’s brother and the pregnant wife who left him for all the wrong reasons.

Enter series writing.

The first series I remember losing myself in was the science fiction Freedom series by Anne McCaffrey. I love those books. I picked up the first one at the local library, not knowing it was a series until I was half way through. I immediately went to the library and signed out the second, only to discover (argh!) the library didn’t have the third. I drove to the local bookstore and picked up the third book in the series that day! Anne McCaffrey had pulled me into her world and I had no desire to leave until everyone got their happy-ever-after!

James Patterson also hooked me into his “Alex Cross” series. I diligently read each book as they came out, excited to find out what Mr. Patterson would do next to this poor man. Then of course, there were all the families Nora Roberts wrote about, each brother, sister, and grandparent with their own journeys of love to catalogue and enjoy. So many authors I love to read have wonderful series. I can’t name them all, but suffice it to say … I just love series books!

Hmmm … maybe there’s something to this.

When I sat down to write my first novel I decided I too would like to eventually hook readers into a world and keep them there. My first erotic suspense book “The Healer’s Garden” (published by Liquid Silver Books in December 2007) stands alone, but it is purposefully open-ended and I already have outlines for books two and three.

There are many types of series writing, but the one I enjoy reading and writing the most are trilogies. There is a major plot running through the series, but the hero and heroine of each novel resolve a minor plot and find their happy-ever-after and the major plot isn’t resolved until the end of the third book. Usually the characters in this type of series are related in some way, either by friendship, a curse, location or blood bonds. (Nora Roberts’ “Three Sisters Island Trilogy” or Michelle Bardsley’s “Broken Heart” series) It is a challenge to keep the major plot line woven into the minor plot of each book, but the payoff is worth the work! I can’t put this type of series down until I’ve read all three books and I can’t stop writing them until I’ve given each character their happy ending.

But trilogies aren’t the only type of series available to a reader or an author. There are also the series where the author uses the same hero/ine in each novel. Each story resolves a major plot, but the arc of the main character is a slow progression. At the end of these books, you understand our hero/ine has much to learn and there is still so much more growth potential. (Janet Evanovich’s “Stephanie Plum” stories or Tess Gerritsen’s “Jane Rizzoli” series) In that same vein are the series where each book highlights a different character, the major plot is resolved, but new and old characters continue to pop up. (Sally MacKenzie’s “Naked” series or Suzanne Brockman’s “Troubleshooter” series)

These authors have all figured out how to hook their readers and keep them waiting on tenterhooks until the next book is released.

So, when you sit down to plot your next novel--consider writing a series. Your readers could be just one book away from falling in love with a whole new world of characters and waiting with baited breath for your next book!

Nina Pierce writes erotic suspense novels. Blind Love, the first novella in her Tilling Passions series was a liquid erotic release in April 2008 from Liquid Silver Books (http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/). The second and third books released in the summer of 2008. Visit her on the web at http://www.ninapierce.com/.