by Kassandra Lamb (to begin with, at least) ~ Kirsten Weiss is about to release a new prequel for her Witches of Doyle series, and that inspired me to suggest that the misterio gang do a group blog post on the joys and challenges of writing prequels.

Here’s Kirsten’s answers to the questions: What did you enjoy most about writing a prequel, and what was most challenging?

Kirsten Weiss ~ Prequel: Rune, for the Witches of Doyle series

Writing Rune, the prequel to my Doyle witch series, was a delight, because I got to add in all the backstory for Lenore that I didn’t get to include in the series. It’s important for an author to understand a character’s backstory so you can write a character that behaves consistently and just makes sense.

But sometimes it doesn’t make sense to write the backstory into the actual book—it might slow the pacing or just not be necessary to the story. But when writing a prequel, the backstory IS the story, so I finally got to take the info about my shamanic witch/amateur detective, Lenore, and use it.

The challenge was… I wrote the early Doyle witch stories years ago. So yeah, I forgot some of the details. And I’m ashamed to say that when I wrote the early books, Bound, Ground, and Down, I wasn’t as diligent about writing down critical details like the kind of music Lenore listened to or the clothing she liked to wear. So I had to do some research into my own writing to get the details right!

Still, the exercise was well worth it, and I hope everyone will enjoy this new Doyle Witch cozy mystery, Rune (see below for details re: the book).

Kathy Owen ~ Prequel: Never Sleep, the Chronicles of a Lady Detective

NEVER SLEEP isn’t exactly a prequel, but it takes a secondary character from one series and makes her the protagonist of another, but about a decade earlier.

I remember feeling a bit hemmed in by what I’d established about this Pinkerton lady detective in the early books of the Concordia Wells Mysteries. But I was also excited by what potential I had to work with, as I fleshed out this very interesting character.

Kassandra Lamb ~ Prequels: Sweet Sanctuary, the Kate Huntington series and The Tell-Tale Bark, the Marcia Banks and Buddy series

I love writing prequels. I have prequels for each of my previous series. I’d say that what I like most about them is that they can be a bit more lighthearted than a book in the series. And they are usually shorter—a short story, novelette, or novella—which makes them easier to write, for me at least.

In Sweet Sanctuary, I also really enjoyed fleshing out the romance between Kate and her late first husband. It is indeed very sweet.

The challenges, as others have said, are the constraints created by the events of the books in the series and remembering the details about that character from those stories, some of which one might have written years before.

And also for me, it was a bit challenging to imagine what these characters would be like in their youth—their 20’s—when I was in my 60’s at the time I was writing these prequels.

Candace Carter ~ Prequel: For What It’s Worth, the Henry “Whispering” Smith Mysteries

A prequel can help fill in gaps in a character’s background. Each person’s history shapes who they are in the later books. It may also take away constraints that may be on a character later. A less mature version of them might be freer or more impulsive, for example.

The challenge is creating that earlier version of a character in a way that would logically progress into who they are later. And making sure you don’t create new constraints that will affect future stories.

Vinnie Hansen ~ Smoked Meat, An Accidental Prequel for The Carol Sabala Mysteries

When I wrote “Smoked Meat,” I didn’t set out to write a prequel for my Carol Sabala series. Rather, there was a contest where participants had to include six specific items in a short story, one of them being a red dress. Rather than invent from scratch, I used my Carol Sabala characters and pulled ideas from backstory elements I’d introduced in the series. I didn’t win the contest.

However, many years later, some authors were putting together a collection: Sleuthing Women II: 10 Mystery Novellas. (The first book in the Carol Sabala series, Murder, Honey, had been in Sleuthing Women I.) At that point, I pulled out this story and rewrote it to expand it to novella length. Because I’d used backstory elements, “Smoked Meat” made a great prequel to the series. Although it comes first chronologically in Carol’s life, it was the last published Carol Sabala work.

There you have it, folks…the joys and challenges of writing prequels. But how do you all, as readers, feel about prequels? Do you enjoy finding out more about characters’ backstories?

And here’s Kirsten’s new book…

Rune, A Doyle Witch Prequel, by Kirsten Weiss

In the shadowed Sierra town of Doyle, Lenore hides from a world she distrusts, seeking solace in books to escape the visions she denies. But when she finds a man’s body in Doyle Creek and her beloved aunt becomes a target of suspicion, Lenore is drawn into a web of small-town secrets and old grudges.

Pursuing a killer, she risks unraveling Doyle’s enchanted core. Can Lenore, long wary of her shamanic gifts, embrace her magic to save herself?

Poem spell in the back of the book!

PREORDER today! Releases tomorrow on: AMAZON ~ APPLE ~ KOBO ~ NOOK ~ GOOGLE PLAY

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