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Wrapping Up a Series with Giveaway

Rhonda Blackhurst • Apr 16, 2022

Today I welcome a dear friend and outstanding author, Rhonda Blackhurst, as she shares about writing and then wrapping up a series. Keep on reading, because she's offering  a chance to win a free eBook of Shear Misfortune.


Rhonda, tell us what you know about finishing up a series.


Accompanying characters on their journey through a series is quite the ride. You grow with the protagonist, sympathize with their hurts, and celebrate their successes. And by the end of a series, a certain mourning process happens from losing characters who have become like friends. And that was true with the protagonist—and the entire salon crew—in the Melanie Hogan Cozy Mysteries. The books are set in a hair salon, and having been a hairstylist who managed a salon in a past life, writing each book was akin to reliving those years, except visiting the salon atmosphere through the creative written word was far more fun! And there is no better place to gather gossip for a storyline. On more than one occasion, the conversation between the salon patrons dictated the book’s forthcoming action.


Typically included in the cozy mystery’s cast of characters is a police detective, and this series is no different—Detective Levi Wescott and Melanie’s love interest. My husband is a retired police chief and one of my beta readers to approve—or disprove—the police procedural issues. Though I listen to most of his suggestions, there are some things from which I stray from the correct procedure a wee bit “for the sake of the story.” I’ve reminded him a time or two that it’s still far more accurate than most television shows we watch, to which he cannot disagree! All this said, Melanie Hogan has run her course, and book seven—and the final—in the series, Shear Misfortune, was released April 11th and is available on Amazon.

When a fitness center is a locale for both health and murder,

exercise enthusiasts must weigh their odds of the outcome.

 

Beauty salon owner, Melanie Hogan, decides an exercise regimen is long overdue and joins a gym, but she gets more for her money than sore abs. Not only does Melanie find a body, but she also finds herself at the center of the investigation. Again. Instead of improved muscle tone, Melanie gains a lesson in the perils that lurk beneath the surface of the health industry.

Along with best friend and salon co-owner Claire Davis and Melanie’s beau Detective Levi Wescott, they set out to clear her name while Melanie practices resistance training—resisting going to the gym to investigate. When the police eventually zero in on a salon employee, the team joins forces, getting a life-or-death workout. Will they all survive?


Moving on to the Next

While the Melanie Hogan Mysteries were fun to write, I’m beyond thrilled to begin a new series, The Spirit Lake Mysteries. I’ve been plotting storylines, laying out the town, and creating the characters for the past year. Crushing that daunting first page of the first book this month was a victory, and the book is underway, reminding me of how much I love writing the first draft!


Visit my website, my author Facebook page, or my Instagram feed for updates.


Rhonda is the author of: The Inheritance, a Hallmark-style fiction stand-alone; The Melanie Hogan Mystery Series; and the Whispering Pines Romantic Suspense duology. She has a non-fiction book, Finding Peace Through Gratitude, under her pen name Alexandra Benn. She is also an indie author consultant and a certified life coach, teaching clients how to master their life rather than life mastering them.


Post a comment for a chance to win a free eBook of Shear Misfortune.

 

 

First page of Shear Misfortune:

 

 I was dying. I was absolutely sure of it. My muscles strained like never before as I forced myself to stay upright, convinced cardiac arrest was imminent, and I’d never see another day.

I watched as Claire, my best friend, worked effortlessly on the rowing machine, her muscles glistening. Trying to keep up with her was going to put me six feet under, not make me healthier.

I looped a hand towel around the back of my neck, grabbed an end, and wiped my forehead as I headed over toward Claire. Sitting down, she was still almost as tall as I was while I was standing. Well, maybe not quite, but I didn’t have to look down too far.

I hovered over her and waited, catching whatever cool air I could from the fan on the rowing machine. Small beads of perspiration glistened on her forehead.

“You do that on purpose, don’t you?” I said, shaking my head as she came to a slow finish and set the rowing handle in the cradle.

She looked at me and laughed. “Do what on purpose?” she asked with ease, not in the least breathless. “And stop looking at me like you want to wrap that towel around my neck.”

“I kind of do,” I said.

 

 


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