I love discovering a wonderful book series! The thrill of racing through each book in succession in the quest to find out What Comes Next easily pulls me away from stand-alone books and periodicals. And when it’s a nice, long series- –

 

Like The Chronicles of Narnia?

Or The Once and Future King?

 

Exactly! A series can take weeks, even months, to read. But what if the series isn’t complete yet?

 

That sounds like torture!

 

That’s exactly what it felt like when I finished book eleven of Susan Elia MacNeal’s Maggie Hope historical fiction series last week. The series follows British-born, American-raised Maggie Hope through a stunning career as a British spy during World War II. Though the author gives every indication that this is the last in the series, The Last Hope ends in the spring of 1944 with a handful of intriguing loose threads.

 

 

 

But that war didn’t end until 1945!

 

I know, Lily, and it’s driving me crazy! Aside from dying, how is it possible for an author to leave the world of a series unfinished? Doesn’t the rest of the story reside in their heads, clamoring to be told? On the other hand, who can blame MacNeal for needing a break after eleven meticulously researched books that follow an established cast of characters?

 

But- –

 

I hear you, 9, but I am also remembering the pressure on another author who wrote an extremely popular series about the Tudor era politician and lawyer, Thomas Cromwell.

 

I despised him in The Six Wives of Henry VIII!

 

Hilary Mantel gave him a nuanced and sympathetic backstory in her trilogy, one that made it possible for me to empathize with this real person who was a human being, just like you and me. But when Mantel took longer than expected to complete book three, readers struggled to find empathy for her. It became widely known that she suffered from severe endometriosis, which caused her great and sometimes debilitating pain most of her adult life. Some series fans were posting things like “She’d better finish it before she dies!” She did redeem herself in their eyes, completing The Mirror & the Light before a stroke killed her at age 70.

 

 

That sounds mean.

 

In retrospect, I agree with you, 9. And yet. . .enter another British author, Philip Pullman, and his Book of Dust trilogy. I purchased book two as a sixtieth birthday gift to myself soon after its release.

Five years ago?

 

Yes! Last fall anxious series readers like me heard book three is completed, and just has to go through final editing. Online queries have stopped asking if the author is in good health. . .

 

 

 

 

They say patience is a virtue. I hope this virtue is shared by the readers of my fantasy-mythology Big-G City series. I submitted book five last September. The last word from my publisher: books currently pending review (including Justice in Big-G City), if accepted, will be published during the 2027-28 cycle.

 

So I guess a several month pause while Philip Pullman and his editor (or possibly editorial team) work through the final isn’t all that much time in book publishing terms.

 

At least our next book might come out in less than five years. In 2028 your age will be- –

 

In the meantime, what, as a writer, will I do? Many things! Weekly blogs, maybe a short story or article published here and there, researching and writing the script for a new Living History portrayal. And, of course, writing book six in my own series. I’m already 10,000+ words into the first draft.

 

Because I now know it will be a seven book series. Fingers crossed that, at some point, someone will be eagerly waiting to read it!