Today I’m going to address the question of questions: Is Walking Shadows a series?
Yes and no.
It’s a series of standalone novels.
Each novel is told by a different character’s POV (Point of View). Each novel is its own story with a beginning, middle, and end. Each novel is set in a different time and place. Each book has its own vibe or feel (For example, Alarum has a bit of a classic American Western feel to it while book four in the series will be much more dystopian sci-fi).
Will there be any overlap of characters? Only a smidge. Is it necessary to read one book to read another? Do you have to read them in order? Technically the answer to both of those questions is no. I’m writing these so that you should in theory be able to pick up whichever book tickles your fancy and you can enjoy it by itself. However, I am calling this a series because they all take place in the same fictional post-apocalyptic U.S. that I created, the books go in chronological order, there are glimpses or mentions of a few reoccurring characters throughout the books, and once you read the entire saga you’ll have all the pieces and perspectives of this fictional fractured future put together at last.
So to answer/explain this simply, the Walking Shadows Saga is a five-book series of standalone novels. But the more you read, the more you’ll know.
These books are character-centered, however if the setting/world-building intrigues you and you’d like to know more then you’ll simply have to read all of the books to complete the puzzle of how this world came to be.
Anyway, I figured I’d write a quick post on this since the concept seems to confuse people but I personally like the idea. Originally I’d planned on writing Fury’s story as a trilogy, then it became a duology, and then suddenly during the writing process I realized it was just to be a single novel. I love Fury and I hate books stretched into unnecessary series more. There’s nothing worse than beginning a journey you love and then begging it to end. I still think I could have made her story into a duology but I’m happy with how it turned out and maybe if there’s enough interest I’ll write a novella to fill in a few blanks she wasn’t up to sharing at the time (there’s a 3-year gap in Alarum that leaves out a lot of cute moments between Fury and Riker as well as some fun outlaw mayhem that you might be interested in hehe).
Also, funnily enough I wrote what will now be the fourth book in the saga second. I only went into this planning for Fury’s story, then another idea snuck up on me set in the same world and then the next thing I knew I had an outline for a 5-book series with a conspiracy to boot. And while I could release this book second instead of fourth (seeing as I just wrote this whole post explaining how they’re all standalones anyhow) I’m rather particular and prefer to release each book according to its place in the timeline, fictional though it may be. So I’m sorry to tease you but you’ll just have to wait to meet Ares. I’m hard at work on book two though and I plan to have the first draft finished for NaNoWriMo this year!
I’ll be alternating releases with my fantasy trilogy, Otherworld, and after that’s through I have a couple other unrelated standalone novels I’d like to write. I’m staggering the release dates because I like to release a variety of genres per year instead of limiting a year to just one genre or series, and also to make sure I have time to make these series the best they can be. No rush jobs. As a hardcore reader I always want the books NOW but I can also appreciate authors taking their time. Quality over quantity (although as a self-published author quantity is also vital hence why I aim to put out three books a year rather than the standard, uh, one. Gotta afford food, ya know?).
So that’s this week’s little post. Not super exciting but I wanted to go over it anyway. Alarum comes out in just a few days (Tuesday, October 30th) and I’m SO excited for you to finally be able to read Fury’s story. I hope you’ve been enjoying the little teasers and excerpts I’ve been sharing all month! I can’t believe in a mere week you’ll have Alarum in your hands!
Stay tuned…
HALLOWEEN BOOK SALE!
🎃
If you haven’t read Crooked Raven (Otherworld #1) yet or if you’ve got the paperback but have been debating on whether or not you should also buy the Kindle eBook so you can have it to read on the go then this is a great time to say ‘yes’! October 26-30 I will be joining a few other talented authors in a special Halloween Book Sale generously organized by author Caroline Peckham! Crooked Raven will be available on Amazon Kindle for only $0.99 and I’ve extended this offer until the 31st/Halloween!
Don’t worry, I’ll be sending out the official info and promo reminder soon so you can also check out these other books that will be participating in this limited time offer!
BOOKMARKS
I personally love bookmarks and I definitely have too many to use haha. But I feel so excited to have bookmarks customized for my own books and would love to share them with my readers, librarians, bookstores, book clubs, etc.! If we meet at a book event, if you write a review for one of my books and shoot me an email, or if you buy a signed copy of one of my books, then please, have a bookmark for your collection ❤
Talis Jones 