Guest Post - Amanda Scott, Author of Tempted by a Warrior

Today I am pleased to welcome best selling author Amanda Scott who has written on one of my favorite topics.

Writing a Series

By Amanda Scott

I have often connected books, either in pairs, series, or trilogies. Some have evolved from the first book without my intent. For example, Highland Treasure evolved from Highland Secrets simply because, having thought that I had created my villain, Black Duncan Campbell, I learned that the present owner of Barcaldine Castle, where I had set Highland Secrets, actually had a favorite ancestor to whom he had devoted a room in the castle. That favorite ancestor was one Black Duncan Campbell. When I told him what I had done, he said, “That’s okay, just make him the hero of the next book.” So I did. I still like to decide what I’m going to do while I’m writing the first book, but I do lay out a general outline for three now, if only to decide how I’m going to connect them. For example, with my most recent trilogy, TAMED BY A LAIRD, SEDUCED BY A ROGUE, and TEMPTED BY A WARRIOR (Forever, July 2010), I used an unpublished Scottish manuscript written in the sixteenth century by a Lady Maxwell about events in her husband’s family that took place in the second half of the fourteenth century. The friend who found the manuscript in Scotland called to ask if I’d be interested in a woman who nearly started a clan war. I was definitely interested. And when I discovered that the manuscript included details about her younger sister, as well, I knew I had a trilogy.

The first book, TAMED BY A LAIRD, is the tale of their cousin Bonnie Jenny Easdale, who is a baroness in her own right, as is the non-fictional heroine of the second book, SEDUCED BY A ROGUE. Jenny’s story lays the groundwork when she runs away with the minstrel troupe that is entertaining the guests at her betrothal feast. SEDUCED BY A ROGUE, the main story from the manuscript, is that of Lady Mairi Dunwythie of Annandale and what happens when Robert Maxwell abducts her to force her father to submit to certain Maxwell demands. The newest book, TEMPTED BY A WARRIOR, is the story of Lady Fiona Dunwythie, Mairi’s younger sister, whose brutal husband has been missing for two weeks and rumors suggest that Fiona killed him. The hero of TBW is Sir Richard Seyton, Baron Kirkhill, whom Fiona’s dying father-in-law names as trustee for Fiona and her husband’s estates. The problem is that even Fiona does not know whether she killed her husband or not.

As for keeping track of the details for any series, I use character grids and detailed information about settings and characters, so that I’m using the same information for all the books, albeit emphasizing different points in each.


TEMPTED BY A WARRIOR will be published on July 1. You can learn more about me and my other books at AmandaScottAuthor.com. Thank you for having me on your site!

xxx

Check out the Giveaway for your chance to win this book.