I try to answer that on the Kobo Writing Life blog today. Let me know what you think…
By Libby Fischer Hellmann
My latest thriller, Jump Cut, is the fifth Ellie Foreman mystery, and it’s been ten years since the fourth one came out. Ellie will tell you she’s been on an extended vacation, but I wasn’t so sure. I had to evaluate whether it was possible to bring back a series, a lead character, and her “supporting cast” after so long. Obviously, I went for it; here is some of my thinking.
The Benefits
On the positive side, bringing Ellie back was like reconnecting with an old friend. I quickly rediscovered Ellie’s voice, and the writing was familiar, even easy, something for which I was grateful. Despite the passage of time, she’s still essentially the same person: producing videos, interested in the world, worrying about her family. She still has a self-deprecating sense of humor and the need to see justice done that can put her in dangerous situations. At the same time, however, she has matured. Which surprised both of us. She is unwilling to take the same risks she did in previous novels, and she’s doesn’t act as impulsively. She tends to think things through. I hadn’t expected that.