Fulfilling a Promise
There was a moment in the writing of The Evil that Men Do that I remember so clearly. There was a plot twist in front of me—one I hadn’t expected to happen when I sat down to write that day. But it was so perfect, so surprising, that I had to take it.
And man, at that moment, I thought to myself This is fun.
The Jackson Donne series has always been like that to me, when I wrote them. They are dark, often sad, thrillers. They are violent and brutal. But there are big swings in them, twists that even I didn’t see coming—and I think that makes them a lot of fun.
And, I think it’s what gets readers to come back for more.
When you’re writing a series, you owe it to yourself to fulfil a promise to your readers. Whether you are an author who sells billions of copies, or someone who has 8 loyal fans, you owe it to them to bring it.
People who love your books usually wait a year—or in my case even more than a year—to see what happens to these characters next. They spend a week or so with them and then put the book down and wait a year or more for the next one.
You, as an author, owe it to them to make that week count. Take the big swing. Surprise them, and surprise yourself.
I am in the early, early stages of writing a new book in my series. I hadn’t planned on writing it, sitting on the idea for it for a few years. But now that I’m back visiting with these characters, I’m thinking about fulfilling that promise.
There is someone out there who has been waiting for this book.
So, I owe it to them and myself to give them something memorable. I love a big story. The creators of Breaking Bad always talked about this. You can have small moments, episode after episode of characters eating breakfast, but you have to pay it off with something cool. You have to show off a little bit.
This book doesn’t have that moment yet. It’s too early in the draft, but I know it’s coming. I promise you, I’m going to give you something that ends with a bang. I won’t pull any punches.
What I’m Reading
Nelson DeMille passed away last week. I used to read his John Corey books in the early 2000s, but haven’t revisited him in a while. Feel like this is as good a time as any. I picked up The Lion from the library and read the first chapter today.
Excited to see where it goes. To see if DeMille pays off his promises.