I’m a young adult author who writes in various genres. I have contemporary, paranormal romance, fantasy, and science fiction published, but my two main series include a Dark vs. Light paranormal romance that takes place in the small Midwest town of Hayworth—The Timely Death Trilogy—and a science fiction duology—Bad Bloods—about children with hindering abilities fighting against an election that decides if they will continue to be executed or not. While The Timely Death Trilogy takes place in modern Kansas, Bad Bloods takes place in an undisclosed southern city bordered by the ocean and locked in by walls in the year 2089. Despite having different locations, time periods, and genres, these series are connected.
What? How?
Well, let me tell you without spoiling it for you: the characters.
If you read The Timely Death Trilogy and you also read the Bad Bloods Prequel (FREE on Wattpad), you will get to know a little girl named Violet. She is the key to the connection. But that’s all I’ll say for now.
Why did I connect these two, seemingly unrelated stories? Because they ARE related, and they always have been in my mind. I mean, they existed in my mind at the same time, after all. And so do all of my stories. Which, basically means I connect all of my novels in some way or another.
Consider it a wink to all those readers who follow every book by an author.
But how do I do this?
I’m not sure there’s a method, necessarily. I always tell aspiring writers to follow their gut, and this is often why. For instance, I definitely don’t know every book I will write in my life time, but by keeping my mind and heart open to the characters (and honest), I guarantee they’ll reveal a weird twist of how they got to know each other while hanging out in my mind space.
As an example? Many readers were dying for a continuation of The Timely Death Trilogy (or a happily ever after epilogue), but the truth of it was, whenever I attempted to tackle a shiny, pretty ending, I only saw my characters lives becoming more and more complicated as they grew older. (A reality, really.) And while I wanted to leave everyone on a happy note, Violet’s character in Bad Bloods is so powerful to The Timely Death Trilogy, I couldn’t deny what she wanted to say: the truth. And that truth became the connection, and to me, these connections remind us an important truth to every story.
Connecting books across genres shows that a character’s story never ends, even when the pages do.
~SAT
I have new author photos! Check out my right side tool bar to see it, and of course, special thanks to Huntress Photography!
My publisher is also hosting an August Back to School Giveaway! You can win a $25 gift card to Amazon, CTP mystery boxes, November Snow, and many other books!
Bad Bloods: November Rain
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Bad Bloods: November Snow!
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Shannon A. Thompson 
Sounds cool. For me, I’ve never really wanted to have every book be connected. I tend to have the idea, and then the characters and setting, and each is individual. Once I finish that story, I’m done.
However, I do sometimes find that I’ve finished a book and not fit everything in. Or my publisher will tell me a book has been popular and request a follow up. Basically, though, sequels aren’t my thing.
But I think your point is very interesting, that you got your story ideas at roughly the same time, and the characters sort of grew together.
Yeah, I would never force it. It’s really just a fun thing that I think happened naturally. ☺
~SAT