This Book = Too Much of a Good Thing?

Once in a great while you come across an author who writes a fantastic book. The plot is full of twists you didn't expect and the characters are, well, WOW. But then something really bad happens. The author decides to make a series out of that one terrific story.

Ms. Kenyon's first few books in her Dark series had a unique take on vampires and vampire hunters. Although they were well written, they were predictable, and I kept reading them. By the time Book 5 rolled out, I hoped that something would happen to recapture my waning attention. Not a chance, bucko.

Then came Book 6, and ditto. Which brings me to Seize the Night, Book 7 in the series. After the build up from the author's website and the anticipation of meeting a different kind of hero, I went to the bookstore and flipped through the pages.

Oh no, it was from the same cookie-cutter. Again. It was the same storyline ... set in the same city as all the others ... with the same tragic hero and feisty heroine ... same villians ... and the same rescue the hero so they can live happily ever after ending. I nearly gagged.

Needless to say, I did not buy Book 7, nor any book she has written since then.

I'm sure Ms. Kenyon's loyal fans are at this moment taking up arms in preparation to storm my door, but I ask them to take a moment and think. The storyline might be great once, maybe twice, but enough is enough. What ever happened to a writer's imagination?

As an author myself, I wrack my brain trying to come up with unique plots in order to keep things fresh. Even the characters in my three-book miniseries evolve from book to book. My publisher tells me not to try so hard, to find a "formula" and stick to it. That if I did, I could be on the NYT Bestseller List like Ms. Kenyon and all the other writers who stick to a theme ad infinitum.

No thank you. I will continue to write my own stories, each of them its own little gem (even if it's only in my mind) so that in years to come someone will not be blogging about how my Book 7 was a disappointment.