LUCY BURDETTE: We love having old friends visit and we love watching their careers blossom. Today Sherry Harris asks a question that is dear to my heart--how in the world can a writer keep a long-running series fresh? I can't wait to hear her ideas...Welcome Sherry!
SHERRY HARRIS: Thanks, Reds for having me back to celebrate the release of Absence of Alice the ninth Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery. I still have to pinch myself and ask if this writing/publishing adventure is real. I met Lucy, Hallie, and Hank through the New England chapter of Sisters in Crime back when being published was just a glimmer in my eye and a hope in my heart. I’ve been lucky enough to meet the other Reds along the way and all of you are such amazing supporters of other writers. Thank you for all you do for the writing community.
As any series author will tell you one priority is keeping things fresh. The series starts out with Sarah reeling and wounded from a recent devastating divorce. Her relationship ebbs and flows with her ex. Also for the first few books (I know some of you hate love triangles) she’s also involved on various levels with the county district attorney. She’s also living in a small town without a lot of friends, but builds relationships through the books.
That brought me to book nine. How could I change things up in this book? In the first book in the series Sarah is at odds with the police. They don’t trust her and she doesn’t trust them. But since that book she has developed a good relationship with the police. It grew slowly over the series until the police eventually ask for her help in the murder of a young Air Force spouse in the eighth book, Sell Low, Sweet Harriet. They know Sarah can go places and hear things that they can’t.
Sarah has developed deep friendships with not only a couple of police officers, but with the people of the town of Ellington. She has a deepening relationship with the county district attorney, Seth. She’s also turned to Mike the “Big Cheese” Titone, a mobster who also has a good side, for help. So at this point in Sarah’s life, she’s in a good place.
That’s when I asked myself “what if?” It’s how many writers start a story. We see or hear something that makes us ask ourself what if. What if that woman jogging through the woods is really running for her life? What if that woman sitting in her car crying just killed her husband? What if that man yelling at the store clerk just lost his job and is desperate?
My big what if for Absence of Alice was “what if Sarah couldn’t rely on all the people she’s come to rely on over the series?” As soon as that thought hit me, I was itching to write the story. When Sarah’s landlady and friend is kidnapped, the kidnapper calls her and gives her three rules to follow if she ever wants to see her landlady again. The first one is that she can’t contact the police, Seth, or Mike the “Big Cheese” Titone. He will know if she does.
Sarah tests the rule soon after to devastating consequences. The next questions I asked myself were “what will happen to Sarah when and if the police, Mike, and her boyfriend find out she’s been lying to them. Will they ever trust her again? Can she repair the damage that’s been done? Sarah ponders these things even as she races to find her landlady.
Do you ask yourself “what if” when you go about your day?
Sherry Harris is the Agatha Award nominated author of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery series and the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mystery series set in the panhandle of Florida. She is a past president of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America. Sherry loves books, beaches, bars, garage sales, and Westies — not necessarily in that order. Sherry is also a patent holding inventor. Sherry, her husband, and guard dog Lily are living in northern Virginia until they figure out where they want to move to next.
Blog: Wickedcozyauthors.com
Twitter: @SHarrisAuthor
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