Pesky Little Sisters…

Writing a series is like living with sibling rivalry. And I was never good with sibling rivalry.

Why? Easy. Because my sister wins. Hands down. No contest. Every time.

You see, I'm the oldest. The responsible one. The one who always had the hand-me-downs until I learned to sew and make my own clothes and then started to work and buy them myself. The one who was expected to take care of everything (cooking dinner, babysitting, keeping my room clean) and follow the rules.

I'm not a very good oldest. I was a rebel and fiercely independent, resenting any attempt to force me to follow the rules or pigeon-hole me into a caretaker role before I'd even had a chance to figure out who I was. Left home at 17 and pretty much didn't look back for a long time.

You'd think I'd paid my dues. I earned scholarships to college, then worked all through medical school and became a doctor, taught at a prestigious academic medical center, almost died twice on helicopters flying out to get patients in bad conditions, saved lives, comforted the sick and dying….

Doesn't mean a thing. My little sister, the baby, the one handed everything on a silver platter including $100 designer jeans, the one who stayed close to home…..she wins.

Not only did she meet and marry a really, really great guy; not only is she a wonderful person who, despite all the stuff that happened when we were young (honest, sis, it wasn't me who shaved your Barbie's head, scout's honor), is now my best friend in the whole wide world; no, all that isn't enough.

My sister had kids. Two of them. Nope, no snotty nose brats for her. She had to go off and have the two nicest, smartest, most wonderful kids in the universe….really, they are!!!

Know what else my niece and nephew are? Grandkids for my mom.

Sigh. I'll never win.

Funny thing is, the same kind of rivalry plays into writing—at least writing a series like mine.

First born was LIFELINES (released March, 2008) Typical of the oldest, it's a bit more serious, the main character tries to take care of everyone and everything—which of course gets her into mega-trouble!

It had all my love and attention for a while, but now, bad mommy that I am (did I mention my sister also inherited ALL the maternal instincts in the family?) I can barely remember what it's all about. Poor baby. It needs some good family to buy it and take it home and give it some loving.

Next up was WARNING SIGNS, the sequel, released in February. The main character in WARNING SIGNS has sibling problems of her own: she's the baby, the only girl in the bunch, and her older brothers are trying to run her life. She's a bit of a rebel (just like me!) and that both helps and hinders her as she tries to find her way.

WARNING SIGNS is the perfect middle child—approachable, accommodating, a natural born peace-maker. Especially compared to the baby of the family, the third book, URGENT CARE, out this week. Ahh….my problem child.

Months of pouring my blood, sweat, and tears laboring over how to deal with a sensitive subject and still provide entertainment, how to allow my characters to grow they way they need to but still do what I want to with the plot, how to keep the tension high without tipping over into melodrama…..well, after all that labor, it's finally here.

Although it definitely belongs to the same family, URGENT CARE is nothing like the first two. It's dark and edgy, delves into dark recesses of the human mind and heart. Thriller pacing, suspense intensity, it screams for attention.

Hmmm….wonder how it will get along with its siblings?

If you read series books, what kind of changes do you enjoy seeing as the series progresses? What do you hate?

Thanks for reading!
CJ

About CJ:
As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels. Her debut, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), became a National Bestseller and Publishers Weekly proclaimed it a "breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller." The second in the series, WARNING SIGNS, was released January, 2009 and the third, URGENT CARE, is due out October 27, 2009. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net/

In honor of URGENT CARE's release, CJ Lyons is hosting a contest. One lucky winner will have their query package critiqued by her agent, Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Agency.Check here for more details: http://cjlyons.net/2009/10/08/cjs-query-contest/

Also, comment on this blog and you could win a copy of each of my first two books, LIFELINES and WARNING SIGNS.