Writing a series, part 1

When I sat down to write Echoes, I never intended to make it the first book in a series. It was the story of young Joshua Adams. That's all.

I lived in Kansas City at the time and got together regularly with my friend, Najiyah, who was also working on novel. Najiyah helped me in many ways to make Echoes stronger. When she finished reading my manuscript, she asked me what came next for Joshua.

I turned it over in my mind for a few weeks, and another story developed. Joshua and Aisha eleven years later. The changes in their family. The development of other characters. Resolution of conflicts carried over from Echoes. The result was Rebounding.

When I finished Rebounding I asked my son Musa, who is also a writer, to read the ending and see if he could find a way to extend it into another book. He make a great suggestion and I started working with it. The next book, Turbulence, will come out early in 2007, insha Allah.

While I was writing Turbulence I decided to extend the series to five books. The fourth, Ripples, has already been written. Now I need to revise.

The fifth book, Silence, will be the hardest to write. I've already written about 80 pages of a very rough draft. But I've decided to go back in a few months and start again. I know, basically, what will happen in that book. But I have a feeling the characters may take the story in a different direction.

It will be satisfying to finish the Echoes Series. But I will miss my characters. Especially Joshua. I've seen him grow and mature. I don't think I'm ready to say goodbye.


Tomorrow: The benefits of writing a series