Tuesday 17 May 2016

How Endless became the start of a trilogy - Misha Gerrick

I'm in the middle of some very in-depth edits at the moment, so it's with pleasure that I welcome Misha Gerrick to my blog to take over for a while... Take it away, Misha...


I have a confession to make.

My mind is naturally geared to longer stories. If you want to see me stress about my writing, tell me to limit my word count to 5000 words or less.

I’m serious. At school, I was that kid in English class that haggled my creative writing word-counts up. (Yes, I was really popular in my class.) I don’t like being limited in my writing. I want to write a story until it’s done.

If it takes ten books, so be it. Don’t worry, my longest series following on each other—as supposed to a series of standalone books—will probably consist of six books. Endless has a bit more of an interesting story behind it, though.

See, I had just finished rewriting a 120k word monster that would go on to be books one and two in the above-mentioned series. Then I wrote an emotionally wrought start to a romantic series.

So when the idea finally solidified into “One immortal suffers from amnesia and falls in love with another, not knowing they used to be enemies,” I was actually excited to finally have an idea that could actually be contained in a single book.

It would be like a break. A nice holiday from constantly worrying about how what I’ve written would impact the rest of the books in the series.

I finished the rough draft with a sense that I had actually succeeded in writing an actual stand-alone.

About a year later, I re-read the book and realized I was woefully incorrect. I had in fact written the foundation for two books. After banging my head on my desk a hundred times or so, I took another long look at my rough draft and realized that even if I wrote two books, the overall story probably still wouldn’t be done.

And like a house of cards, my goal of writing a stand-alone collapsed. The rest, as they say, is history.

Kidding.

It’s actually just an idea for the next two books.

How do you decide if you’re going to write a series? If you don’t write series, how do you stick to only writing stand-alones?



About the Book
“First, do no harm.” Blake Ryan swore that oath to become a doctor. Ironic, given that he spent most of his thousand year life sucking souls out of other immortals.

Things are different now. Using regular shots of morphine to keep his inner monster at bay, Ryan has led a quiet life since the Second World War. His thrills now come from saving lives, not taking them.

Until a plane crash brings Aleria into his hospital. Her life is vibrant. Crack to predators like him. She’s the exact sort of person they would hunt, and thanks to a severe case of amnesia, she’s all but defenseless.

Leaving Aleria vulnerable isn’t an option, but protecting her means unleashing his own inner monster. Which is a problem, because his inner monster wants her dead most of all.




About the Author
Misha Gerrick lives near Cape Town, South Africa, and can usually be found staring at her surroundings while figuring out her next book. 

If you’d like to see what Misha’s up to at the moment, you can find her on these social networks: 









33 comments:

  1. Thanks for letting me take over your blog! :-D

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  2. Hi Misha and Annalisa - having one book lead on to the next seems to make sense ... so good luck and I'm glad you've got your ideas ... cheers Hilary

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    1. Thanks Hilary. I also thinks it makes sense to keep going until the story is done. I just don't like when people create a sequel just for the sake of creating more money.

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  3. Being deep into edits sounds lovely. I love how prolific you are, Misha. And your characters deserve more than one chance to live richer lives :)

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    1. Hehehe I'm not as prolific right now, but I'm getting there. ;-)

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    2. My edits are stressful and difficult, Shell, but I love it :-)

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  4. I need to learn how to write long....seems I'm a flash fiction, under 500 words. Just always self editing. Congrats on your work........excellent

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    1. Hehehehe and here I am, trying to write short every now and then. :-P

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    2. Me too, Joanne. I'm sure there's a novel in both of us, we just have to look really hard :-)

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  5. I think my brain is geared toward short. I just managed to make each of my four stories into book length.

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    1. Hahahaha my rough drafts are terribly short, but I know they're not done until I added at least 40k words.

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  6. I think it's a bonus for the rest of us. More good story!

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  7. I also didn't intend to write a series. But the first draft of The Amaranthine was 148 000 words, so I had to split it in two. After I finished the first draft of the second one, I knew there were more stories in that series to write. I also tend to be geared towards longer works. All the best with your blog tour.

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    1. That's happened to me too. Thanks for the good wishes. :-)

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  8. Honestly, 120K isn't bad. That's my norm, until I stress out by trying to cut 20K. I love the cover and the synopsis. Great job on both.

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    1. I've cut 18k from a 120k book. Most of it was "that" and "was". ;-)

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  9. Hi humans, Annalisa and Misha,

    As pawmised, I have arrived here. Although, clicking through links using my paws is quite the feet, um, feat.

    You amaze me with all the words you want to write. In my case, I keep the word count down to a minimum. Besides, counting words gets difficult and I lose track. Also, typing words using paws is like you typing words with mittens on. Arf and seriously, well done.

    Yes, just like all the other pawsts, I shall take the liberty of sharing this one.

    Pawsitive wishes, your way,

    Penny!

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    1. Counting words can be tricky, so I created an excel spreadsheet to help me keep track.

      It helps me to know how much I've written. It keeps me motivated.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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    2. I used to work in an office that was so cold I learn how to type with gloves on, Penny. Does that count? :-)

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  10. You know, I used to write longer. The more I do it, the more I like shorter niches. (Flash fiction, short stories etc.) Maybe it's just because that's what I have time for right now.

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    1. It could be. Flash fiction etc. would give a writing fix without the involvement required by novels and the like.

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  11. I used to really stress about writing shorter stories too, but years of practicing with short stories has helped. Though my mind still thinks in series.

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    1. Yep you seem to be doing REALLY good on the series front.

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  12. Lovely to learn a little bit more about your methods and 'crazy' word counts :):) So pleased things are going well for you Misha!!! Many congratulations on all your accomplishments.

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    1. Thanks Nicola. The word counts might sound crazy, but I've worked my way up to those goals almost like body builders learn how to lift crazy weights.

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  13. I started with one book and by the time I finished, I realized the secondary characters also had stories to tell. Next thing I know, I had outlines for four more books.

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    1. Glad to know I'm not the only one this happens to. :-P

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  14. That sounds so familiar. I do have one story idea that might (maybe) work as a stand-alone, but I haven't finished it yet . . .
    Congrats on Endless!

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    1. Thanks Tyrean! It's good to know I'm not alone. ;-)

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  15. Hey everyone, thanks for visiting and supporting Misha. You're all awesome :-)

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