Readers have strong opinions.
About favorite books.
Favorite authors.
Favorite genres.
Favorite drinks, favorite snacks, and whether a book counts as “cozy” if the body count gets out of hand.
To-ma-to, ta-mah-to, let’s discuss the whole thing until someone needs a snack.
I started thinking about this because of a discussion on one of my writers’ email loops about standalone books versus series or connected books.
Writers have strong feelings about that question.
Readers do, too.
And it made me look at my own reading preferences.
Are Series Really New?
At first, I thought, “Series are kind of a newer thing.”
Then I remembered Nancy Drew.
So, no.
Series are not new.
They only feel new sometimes because publishing periodically rediscovers them like someone found the wheel in the attic and decided it might still roll.
When I was growing up, my reading habits were simple.
If I found an author I liked, I went looking for more books by that author.
I did not care whether the stories were connected by characters, connected by setting, or connected only by the person who wrote them.
Standalone novels?
Fine.
Series?
Fine.
Loosely connected books?
Also fine.
I enjoy a loose connection. It is fun to bump into favorite characters again and find out what happened after “the end.”
But my main question has never been, “Is this story connected to a bunch of other stories?”
My main question has always been, “Did I love reading this?”
Followed closely by, “How many more books has this author written?”
The Authors I Found at the Library
Libraries helped me meet many of my favorite authors.
Georgette Heyer.
Elizabeth Cadell.
Mary Stewart.
Alistair MacLean.
Helen MacInnes.
And yes, Nancy Drew.
I know Nancy Drew is a character, not an author, but she was an important reading gateway, so I am giving her a seat at the table.
Possibly with a flashlight and a clue.
I loved discovering an author and then hunting down more books. It felt like a treasure hunt.
No algorithm needed.
Just shelves, book racks, recommendations, and the joy of finding another story by someone whose books had already made me happy.
Where Series Can Get Tricky
I like series.
I like connected books.
But I also have a few tiny issues.
Issue A: Small towns can only hold so much romance and murder.
If a series is set in a small town, the romance rate and death toll can begin to stretch even my generous willingness to suspend disbelief.
I call this the Murder She Wrote effect.
There is also the related Romance She Wrote effect.
At some point, I start wondering how many dead bodies, visiting villains, secret heirs, hidden spies, and emotionally available heroes one small community can realistically support.
Issue B: Some characters need peace.
If a long-running series follows the same main character, I can get tired if they do not grow or change.
I feel bad about that.
But if they never get closure, never get a happy romantic ending, or keep getting dragged into trouble forever, sometimes I think “the end” needs to mean the end.
Let those poor characters have a nap.
Issue C: Backstory can become a family reunion.
Even if the series is not set in a small town, the circle of characters can get crowded.
After a while, the first few chapters may feel like a family reunion where I am trying to remember everyone’s names, marriages, children, traumas, favorite sandwiches, and book numbers.
I freely admit I sometimes skip backstory.
There are only so many ways to present the same information before my brain starts looking for the snack table.
When Standalone Books Feel Like They Should Continue
Of course, there are standalone novels I have wished would go on.
I have reached the end of books and thought, “Wait. I am not done with these people.”
So I am conflicted.
I understand both sides.
Not long ago, I got an email from a reader who had just finished Out of Time and wanted to know if there was another book with those characters. The reader said the ending felt like there was more.
That reader was right.
I had fully intended to write another book about Mel and Jack.
Life happened.
Writing happened.
Other books happened.
But that email stayed with me because it reminded me that readers do not always sort books the way publishers, retailers, and writers do.
Sometimes readers want the next book because they love the characters.
Sometimes they want the next book because they love the world.
Sometimes they want the next book because they love the author’s voice.
Eventually, Out of Time did become part of a trilogy, though not in the exact “same couple has another adventure” way I first imagined. The books became connected by time, danger, romance, and related characters.
That felt right for that world.
Following an Author Across Genres
I fell in love with Mary Stewart’s books after seeing The Moonspinners. Once I realized the movie came from a book, I went hunting for her backlist and read everything I could find.
When she turned toward the Merlin books, I followed her for the first two.
I do not remember why I did not read more. Maybe timing. Maybe mood. Maybe another book waved from a shelf.
But I tried them because I loved her writing.
That matters.
Voice matters.
Trust matters.
The feeling of being in capable storytelling hands matters.
When I took a right turn out of romantic suspense and into science fiction romance, I do not know how many readers followed me.
It surprised me, so I imagine it surprised some of them, too.
One minute, I was writing danger and romance on Earth.
The next, I had starships.
As one does.
The Thread Through All My Books
At their core, all my books are still very much my books.
They come from who I am.
How I see story.
How I play with words and plots.
How I mix peril, humor, romance, adventure, and people who have to become braver than they thought they were.
The genre may change.
The scenery may change.
The danger may involve spies, murder, time travel, cyborgs, aliens, or a suspiciously high number of bodies in New Orleans.
But the author is still there.
So, of course, I always hope readers will be a little like me and look past the genre to the thing that unifies all my books.
Me.
Their author.
No pressure.
Well, maybe a tiny bit of hopeful pressure.
How Do You Choose What to Read?
So now I am curious.
How do you pick what you read?
Do you follow an author wherever they wander?
Do you stay within your favorite genres and wave politely when an author takes a personal side trip?
Do you hope they come back to your favorite genre someday?
Or do you have enough books and authors waiting that if one wanders off, you simply wish them well and choose the next book on the stack?