Whew! I finally finished the rough draft of my latest book, IF ONLY. This is a crossover novel with characters from both my Sam Westin Wilderness Mysteries and my Neema Mysteries. When readers kept asking when the next book in these series would be published, I got the wild idea to write one mystery that would fit into both series, thereby making my life easier.
I must have been drinking when that inspiration struck, because as it turned out, nothing could have been less easy. Now, if you have different series but similar locations and goals, writing a crossover novel might be relatively simple. But the only way I could figure out how to make a wilderness adventure story (Sam Westin series) fit together with signing gorillas (Neema series) in two different locations was to write each story separately, and then stitch them together.
Well, I sort of forgot that I’d have to keep strict track of the passing time in each story so I could switch back and forth without making readers feel like they were on a time-travel merry-go-round. That was a bit of a nightmare, somewhat similar to when I cook and try to get all the dishes to be done at the same time. (You don’t want to watch me when this happens.)
And then there was the issue of figuring out a mystery that can be happening in one locale that will have something to do with the mystery in the other locale. If I wrote thrillers, I could have come up with scattered terrorist cells or something like that, but neither of these series include those kinds of books. A terrorist cell in the mountains of North Cascades National Park seems implausible, and terrorists having anything to do with captive signing gorillas even more so. The issue I finally came up with is illegal migrants seeking asylum in the United States.
I’m not going to give away how I wove the plots together, but I hope the resulting story will be satisfactory to readers of both series. I called the book IF ONLY, because it’s about having the bad luck of being born in a violent, poverty-stricken country instead of in a relatively safe, prosperous one like ours. And it’s also about the wonderful and horrific things that can happen when wilderness lovers choose to take the trail less traveled.
Some may conclude, especially since my novel Borderland included issues at the southern border, that I believe our borders should be open to all. That’s not true. But I do believe the United States should have a reasonable immigration program, and there are parts of our country that need more workers. I would personally like to see a program in which immigrants would be assigned to such areas and such work for five years, and in which communities and employers would agree to sponsor immigrants and ensure affordable housing and at least minimum wage salaries, and agree to periodic inspections and interviews so that abuses don’t take place on either side. But so far, nobody has let me run the country.
Many times while I was writing this novel, I thought to myself, if only I hadn’t planned to do a crossover novel, I could be out hiking right now. And there’s still a long way to go from rough draft to publication of this novel.
Ladies of Mystery 
You were talking about this book when we met at Left Coast Crime. I’m glad you finally figured it all out. I can’t imagine meshing the two different series. I’m lucky with my series, the characters are near each other and their families mingle so it is easy to do a cross-over book.
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This is an interesting post. I always enjoy watching TV series do crossovers – seeing how the characters act and react in different environments. This might be a good thing for you. I’ll be interested in reading it – but first, I’d better read one or two in the separate series. I’m sorry it’s taking you longer than expected, and you aren’t out hiking, but it’s a writer’s life. haha.
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Pamela, I did a similar thing in my Casting Call for a Corpse, book 7 of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries. Only I decided to use characters I’d created from a non-finished play and put them into an ongoing mystery series. I, too, must have been drinking at the time. However, as I look back at it, it did add a freshness to the series and I suspect you have done that with both your series. There’s nothing like shaking things up at the core. Yes, it was a lot of work but ultimately, the reevaluation of everything was worth it. Please keep us posted on the progress. I am going to want to read this book!
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Despite the alcohol, you were brave to come up with the idea and then see it through. I like your support for immigration and the well-thought-out plan. We do need more people just about everywhere in this country. Those Help Wanted/Now Hiring signs aren’t for decoration.
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