I started writing the Hanover Girls series one year ago. Hard to believe it’s been a year. I just published the second book in ebook formats. And the print edition of the second book is under review, to be released shortly. I’m working on Book 3 and Book 4 (yes, book 4). I’m wrapping up several storylines in Book 4, but it’s hard for me to see an end to the Hanover Girls.

I’ve wanted to be a storyteller for a while, fascinated with movie scripts, but never felt I had a story to tell, that hasn’t been rehashed a thousand times. The idea of writing fiction, and romance, for that matter, never occurred to me until last year. Just write. I got to that point where I wanted to get down these thoughts. Start with a loving family, loving kids. An ever-expanding group of loving friends. Yes, complete fiction. Put them in an environment like no other, and let them go.

The conversations the characters have is, to me, organic. They each have a personality; they each have a way of looking at things. Sometimes, their conversations surprise me. I know, that sounds weird. But true. Four books into the characters and their story have made me get to know them very well. I strive for consistency and continuity with the characters. The characters are entities of their own. Wholly intelligent and self-aware.

Since I’m new to all this, not a trained writer, and very dependent on the third-party tools available today and the world’s worst speller, I wonder how other authors view their serial characters. Great stories have great characters. I’m just trying to have a good story with good characters.