Today I am so pleased to welcome Annabeth Albert to Joyfully Jay. Annabeth has come to talk to us about her latest release, Tight Quarters, Out of Uniform #6(which I recently reviewed and loved). She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Writing a Long Running Series

Greetings! I’m so excited to be here on one of my favorite blogs—so many of my autobuy authors have come from this blog! I’m here celebrating the release of TIGHT QUARTERS which is sixth in my Out of Uniform series, but stands alone fine. It features Bacon, a freewheeling SEAL sniper, and Spencer, a silver fox journalist who embeds with Bacon’s team. As the sixth book in the series and with book seven in edits, I thought it might be fun to talk a little bit about the evolution of the series and what goes into writing a long running series like this.

First, I contracted my gaymers series to Carina Press as a three book trilogy. However, as I wrote CONNECTION ERROR with its former SEAL hero, several secondary characters started demanding stories. I’d wanted to do a military romance series for a very long time, and it just seemed to make sense to spin off from gaymers with a military series starring Ryan’s friends. So, I worked up a three book pitch for OFF BASE, AT ATTENTION, and ON POINT and submitted it, fingers crossed that they would love the idea as much as I did.

I could see all three of those first books very clearly, and at the point that I submitted the idea, I had a good start on OFF BASE, a full outline for that book, and blurbs and partial outlines for the other two books in the series. Carina Press took the series, something I will forever be grateful for, and I hunkered down and churned out those first three books. I used scrivener to help me keep track of recurring characters and timelines.

However, something funny happened during writing book two. That book features Dylan and Apollo, and Dylan’s brother Dustin, a SEAL, stood up and demanded a book. Four books? I usually operate in groups of three, but this plot bunny was so strong that I couldn’t say no, and I submitted a proposal for a fourth book, which was picked up and that book became WHEELS UP.

I thought the series might end with WHEELS UP, but as I wrote ON POINT, book three, I fell in love with Wizard, the team’s medic. Rather than sub a proposal just for him, I decided to take a leap of faith and submit blurbs for three new books—SQUARED AWAY, TIGHT QUARTERS, and ROUGH TERRAIN. At that point, I kept thinking about Isaiah, a secondary character in AT ATTENTION who made a brief appearance but kept asking for a SEAL of his own. I started asking him some questions and determined that he and Wizard had a past, so that became the foundation of SQUARED AWAY, which also let me write the insta-family trope I was dying to explore.

I was on the cusp of writing WHEELS UP, and I knew a secondary character there would get TIGHT QUARTERS as I really wanted to write an embedded journalist story. For ROUGH TERRAIN, I’d wanted a book for Canaan who stars in *that* scene in ON POINT since I first wrote the opening of ON POINT. I didn’t want him to just be a throwaway character, but it took some time for me to find the perfect hero for him. It wasn’t until I wrote TIGHT QUARTERS that Rooster really took shape for me and showed himself to be the perfect foil for Canaan (which caused some need to adjust the blurb I originally submitted).

Now Rooster’s book, ROUGH TERRAIN, is in edits, and I’m honestly not sure if it will be the end of the series or not. If it’s it the series ender, it’s something I’m intensely proud of—longest book in the series, one of my most favorite couples, super romantic, and a great note to end on. However, I’m definitely not done writing military romance. There are too many stories out there that need telling, too much to explore, and I love the genre too much.

Tell me, what long running series are your favorites? Authors, do you enjoy writing series? Do you usually think in groups of three? Four? Ten? What’s the perfect number of books for a series? Share your thoughts in the comments! Thanks so much for having me, and I hope you enjoy TIGHT QUARTERS!


Blurb

Petty Officer Bacon, a navy SEAL and ace sharpshooter, has been on the front lines of more than his fair share of dangerous ops. Yet when a minor injury relegates him to the beta team, he’s tasked with what may be his riskiest assignment yet: the silver fox journalist he’s babysitting is the hottest, most charismatic man he’s ever encountered.

Award-winning journalist Spencer Bryant may have been named one of Pride magazine’s most eligible bachelors of the year, but he’s not looking to change his relationship status. He’s a consummate professional who won’t risk his ethics or impeccable reputation by getting involved with a source. Even a sexy-as-hell military man. But while Spencer can resist his physical attraction to Bacon, he has less control over his emotions—especially when the mission goes sideways and the two men are trapped alone.

Getting out of the jungle alive turns out to be easy compared to facing the truth about their feelings for one another back in the real world. And whether or not they can build a future is a different story altogether.


Bio

Annabeth Albert grew up sneaking romance novels under the bed covers. Now, she devours all subgenres of romance out in the open—no flashlights required! When she’s not adding to her keeper shelf, she’s a multi-published Pacific Northwest romance writer. The #OutOfUniform series joins her critically acclaimed and fan-favorite LGBTQ romance #Gaymers, #PortlandHeat and #PerfectHarmony series.
To find out what she’s working on next and other fun extras, check out her website: www.annabethalbert.com or connect with Annabeth on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify! Also, be sure to sign up for her newsletter for free ficlets, bonus reads, and contests. The fan group, Annabeth’s Angels, on Facebook is also a great place for bonus content and exclusive contests.
Emotionally complex, sexy, and funny stories are her favorites both to read and to write. Annabeth loves finding happy endings for a variety of pairings and is a passionate gay rights supporter. In between searching out dark heroes to redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles two active children.

Connect with Annabeth:

Twitter | Facebook  | Facebook Group | Newsletter | Instagram | Website


Giveaway

Annabeth has brought a Reader’s Choice of any Out of Uniform book in paper + surprise swag pack!to give away on her tour. Just follow the Rafflecopter below to enter. 

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