Three is a powerful number. Great things come in threes.

Stories have Beginnings, Middles and Ends.

Plays have Act I, Act II and Act III.

Meals have Appetizers, Entrees and Desserts.

But what is it about trilogies that hold such power? I know that authors like to write them and readers gobble them up, but why?

I started thinking about this as I drafted questions for my chat tomorrow with Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) on my Facebook page (4PM PST/7PM EST…join us!). Amanda will be discussing QUICKSILVER, the second book in “The Looking Glass Trilogy and I’ll also discuss BENEATH THE COVERS the last book in my “Ladies of the Pen” trilogy (naturally I’m typing this while trying not to laugh because, in truth, we’ll discuss wherever the readers want to know).

Now the reason for Amanda’s trilogy makes perfect sense. She writes under three different names (Amanda Quick, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Jayne Castle) that span three landscapes.  When she did her “Dreamlight Trilogy” she created a beautiful arc in the lives of the Winters’ men, allowing us to see them in the past (AQ), present (JAK) and future (JC). This strategy allowed readers, who may be skittish about trying her other names, to give them a try.

Of course I needed no encouragement. I’ve liked all of her works even when she was Amanda Glass. But that’s another story.

As a gifted storyteller, Amanda wanted a way to tie in readers to other aspects of the Arcane Society universe.

I, on the other hand, had no such brilliant strategy. I just wanted to write about three friends (and that almost didn’t happen). It’s that simple. I was attracted to the idea of a trilogy because as a writer it allowed me to slowly delve deeper into each character. Category romance has strict guidelines. Instead of creating an oil painting I usually have to do watercolor. However, what I enjoy most is that with each book I’m able to develop layers so readers who read each book can see a bigger picture. For me trilogies offer a sense of completion and I can only hope that readers feel the same.

Do you enjoy reading trilogies? Why?

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