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Welcome, lovely May!
Once again, it’s time for the montly blog hop of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Founded by author Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group offers support for writers and authors alike. It provides an online database; articles; monthly blog posting; Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram groups; #IWSGPit, and a newsletter. https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/
The awesome co-hosts for the May 5 posting of the IWSG are yours truly, Erika Beebe, P.J. Colando at https://www.pjcolando.com/blog/ Tonja Drecker, and Cathrina Constantine!
Dark Matter: Artificial
An Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology
Discover dark matter’s secrets…
What is an AI’s true role? Will bumbling siblings find their way home from deep space? Dark matter is judging us—are we worthy of existence? Would you step through a portal into another reality? Can the discoverer of dark matter uncover its secrets?
Ten authors explore dark matter, unraveling its secrets and revealing its mysterious nature. Featuring the talents of Stephanie Espinoza Villamor, C.D. Gallant-King, Tara Tyler, Mark Alpert, Olga Godim, Steph Wolmarans, Charles Kowalski, Kim Mannix, Elizabeth Mueller, and Deniz Bevan.
Hand-picked by a panel of agents, authors, and editors, these ten tales will take readers on a journey across time and space. Prepare for ignition!
Get your copy of Dark Matter today!
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Check out the next IWSG anthology contest!
See the IWSG website for more details: https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/
May 5 question – Has any of your readers ever responded to your writing in a way that you didn’t expect? If so, did it surprise you?
Image by Pete 😀 from Pixabay
I’m going to turn today’s question around and respond as a reader. We’ve been going through a lot of turmoil and worry at our house–Hubs’ health problems have delayed our move to Las Vegas, and we have no choice but to hang in there and wait. Speaking of hanging in there…
I HATE CLIFFHANGERS!
I’d heard readers and romance podcasters rage against this practice, but I’d never encountered a cliffhanger ending until this past month when three authors, two of them my former favorites, left me hanging!
I abhor this practice, especially in romance where the promise to the reader is an emotionally satisfying ending to the romance plot by book’s end. When an author leaves me hanging in hopes I’ll buy the next book in the series, I feel betrayed, manipulated, and I damn sure won’t buy the next book!
Lesson learned: no more one-click purchases. No matter how much I enjoyed an author’s previous work, I’ll never again buy a book without checking reviews to make sure it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger.
Is this practice more accepted in other genres? Sci-fi, fantasty, and detective/thriller stories I’ve read may have an over-arching Big Bad plot that doesn’t resolve until the final book in a series, but each book provides a satisfying ending to that episode.
Maybe my strong reaction comes from my bone-deep aversion to being manipulated? In any case, I’ll NEVER perpetrate this kind of fraud on my readers. I’d love to hear your thoughts on cliffhangers.
I’m with you on this. I need some kind of resolution. Sure make a series, but each book should be complete enough in themselves. Life isn’t ever ‘complete’, but we have pauses between the dramas (usually, lol).
Hi Sadira, I hope you’re well 🙂 I’m racking my brains to think whether I’ve ever read a book that ended with a cliff hanger. Films – yes, all the time. Box sets, programmes – same. But I don’t think I could stomach that with a book. I like a nice mix of Happy Ever After and a little bit left open, it makes it more life like.
Couldn’t agree with you more. I think authors who end with cliff hangers have taken a page out of TV serials. It doesn’t work there and it doesn’t work in books either. I don’t care enough to return to a story like that after months.
Thanks for co-hosting and stay safe.
Sorry you’re unable to move just yet.
I don’t like cliffhangers either. Even in a series, each book needs an ending.
Thanks for co-hosting today!
Thanks for co-hosting this month. I too dislike cliffhangers. The only one I’ve been able to tolerate was one where the author at least resolved the major conflict of the current book. The cliffhanger was more of a teaser for what might come later. The one I dislike the most is where the author stopped the book in the middle of a fight scene. I still don’t know how that story played out. Never read the next book.
Totally agree! I feel cheated. It’s like watching a TV show that ends unexpectedly in a “too be continued.” WHAT? No! I’m careful to have a satisfying ending with each book in a series even when the same characters continue in the next. Anticipation for the next book should be a love of the writing and characters not an annoying ploy. Thanks for co-hosing this month, Sadira! May all your endings be satisfying . . . especially with your husband’s health and your move.
That’s the thing about this pandemic, it’s affected the entire world. I keep hearing stories like yours. So sad. We’re in Mexico and can’t get back to Canada because we only have a summer place there. We didn’t jump on the first plane back in March 2020 because we had no home to go home to. The repercussions have been shocking. But that’s another story for another day. Thanks for co-hosting, Sadi. Hope everything straightens itself out soon.
I can’t say I have encountered a “cliffhanger” unless I count the books that set up for the next in a series. If there is not a sense of closure for the conflicts and arcs in a specific story, I would imagine the author just ran out of time or went over the wordcount! That would be frustrating for sure!
I’ve never found a book with a cliffhanger yet. I can see why writers of series might use them, otherwise, using one is like not finishing the book. Thanks for co-hosting today.
I hate when a book ends on a cliffhanger setting things up for the next book! It’s fine to plant suggestions of possible future story threads in another book (e.g., a character eventually discovering she’s adopted, a potential romance between two characters), but not to outright start a whole new storyline and then abruptly end it, or end without resolving the major plot points of the book.
Hi,
I agree. I don’t like cliff hangers. Even in a series, I feel that each book in that series should also be a standalone.
I hope your hubby gets well soon.
All the best and thanks for co-hosting.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
Thanks so much, Pat.
I so understand how health problems can disrupt plans. It happened to us, too. We have lived in Mexico since 2011 and are considering moving back to States. Possibly, Las Vegas.
A writer friend of mine wrote a series and the first book ended suddenly. Nothing seemed to be resolved. I felt so let down, I can’t force myself to read the next in her series.
I’m OK with the over arching challenge being unresolved, but please solve the other conflicts. Good idea to read the reviews, first.
Lynn La Vita @ http://la-vita.us/write/
I’ve been told cliffhangers are perfect at the end of a chapter, but never, never at the end of a book. Your reaction of never reading the author again is the consequence for such a horrible ending–series or not.
Oh, you are not alone. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
It really depends on the genre, and ideally, the book order in a series. I’m not a big fan of cliff hangers, but I have created a few as a writer…yes, guilty as charged. I am a bit embarrassed about one of them, but overall, they can serve a purpose in fantasy and science fiction. Ideally, the biggest cliff hanger in a fantasy or scifi trilogy comes at the end of book 2 – remember how Empire Strikes Back ended, and we had to wait 2-3 years to find out if Han Solo was going to get unfrozen, tell Leia he loved her, etc? Yep. Cliff hangers and scifi/fantasy are generally more accepted.
Romance though…when it comes to pure romance, I expect the characters to at least get in a kiss near the end of a book in a series.
Thanks for co-hosting. I get why people don’t like cliffhangers, but they are pretty common in trilogies. Hope your husband heals quickly.
I’m not a fan of cliffhangers either, but not so much that it will turn me off of ever buying from that author again. Now, a love triangle on the other hand….
Thanks for co-hosting! I haven’t been immediately anti an author after encountering a cliffhanger, but it does usually make me swear.
Agreed. I don’t mind a satisfying story with a lead-in to the next. That’s a whole ‘nuther thing.
Sure, a lead-in to the next story is fine, but if the author doesn’t wrap up the primary plot in a satisfactory way, I won’t go back for Book 2.
Arrgh, yes! Cliffhangers are the worst. (Fellow romance reader here.) If I see “part 1 of the electrifying story!” in the blurb I click right past. No thank you. Rarely, when I really love the author, I will read their cliffhanger story but only when it’s finished and I can read all three parts to get to that ending. I need that nicely wrapped up happy ending!
I remember when the The Fellowship of the Ring ended in the movie theatre. So many people groaned and exclaimed, “What the hell. Are you serious?”. They clearly hadn’t read the series. I don’t mind cliffhangers as a subplot, but I do want a clear resolution of some kind at the end of a novel. My last novel (the first in a new mystery series) had a vague wrap up my publisher fought me on. I wish I had listened.
Happy IWSG Day. Thank you for co-hosting!
Oh, cliffhangers. Yeah, I’m not a huge fan either. I don’t mind a few things left undone at the end if the story is continuing in following books. But it can’t be anything huge, anything this particular book used as leverage throughout the story.
Thank you for co-hosting!
I guess it depends for me. I have enjoyed some series that ended in a cliffhanger sort of way, and in others it only frustrated me. I know my own first volume of the Menopausal Superhero series has been called a cliffhanger by some readers, even though I thought it was more like an installment in a comic book, with the initial danger solved and the next one rearing its ugly head, all at the same time. But like you said, different genres do have different expectations regarding how much closure is enough. Interesting topic! @samanthabwriter from
Balancing Act
I hate cliffhanger endings too. A book should have an end. Period. I almost never buy the next book if the author ends the previous one as a cliffhanger. But sometimes, this approach is not an author’s fault at all. Publishers make those decisions often enough.
I say this with love…
Please don’t buy my book, Fractions of Existence.
The ending is kind of a cliffhanger. Where it leaves off (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER — the antagonists win — SPOILER SPOLER SPOILER). And the next book picks up about three months later to deal with that.
So you might like the urban fantasy / paranormal romance for 99% of the story, but the end would leave you screaming at me.
If you do ever read it for some reason, here’s an alternative ending:
“3…2…1… The ball dropped, the year lit up, and Wend landed in Xavier’s arms. They smooched on the big screen. Heath spotted the villains in the crowd and turned them to stone. In space, the comet hit a moon and was destroyed. And everyone lived happily ever after. The end.”
There. That will make absolutely no sense at all, but it prevents the nasty cliffhanger and removes the need for every other planned book in the series, and the planned series after that. One paragraph and suddenly there’s no need for ten books of writing. Wow. I never thought about that before. 😲
Now I wonder how many other books could kill a series with one small change.
“And then Harry decided what would really make him the most happy would be not only to have the stone, but for Voldemort to stop existing. So that happened. And then Dumbledore showed up and was like, “I’m supposed to be the greatest wizard of all time, but you just defeated Tom Riddle with a single thought. You graduate Hogwarts at age 11. Congratulations.” And then Harry ate chocolate. The end.”
“We’ve gathered this group of ring keepers to defeat evil. Gandalf whistled, the Eagles showed up, he flew over to Mount Doom and tossed the problem ring into the fire. The end.”
This is kind of fun…
Maybe we should have an IWSG game where we end book series as close to the opening of book one as possible. Because this has been really fun. 😎🎉😄 (Or maybe I’m bored, or exhausted.)
Anyway. Glad I read your post today and ended up making a game in your comments. Don’t mind me.
J Lenni Dorner (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge, OperationAwesome6 Debut Author Interviewer, Reference& Speculative Fiction Author
Completely agree! If I’m reading a series, I don’t mind if there are unresolved issues carried forward, but each book needs to have its central conflict satisfactorily concluded. Mystery, like romance, needs closure. Alexandra Sokoloff is a master of this in her Huntress series. The anti-heroine always gets away, but each book solves a crime. Cheat a reader, lose a reader.
Great Post! I don’t care for cliffhangers either. Or shows that are “To Be Continued” However, I don’t mind leaving/reading a hint that there could be more to come.
Thanks for co-hosting!
When I read you didn’t like cliffhangers, I thought you meant in general and I immediately took it personally, as I tried my best to end most chapters of my memoir (so, obviously true events) with cliffhangers to keep the reader engaged. I think that is good practice. But, I agree with you that a book shouldn’t end in a cliffhanger. I would feel cheated. And, like you, I hate to be manipulated.
Thank you for co-hosting this month. Will you submit a story to the new IWSG anthology (sweet romance)??
I don’t think I could write a sweet romance if my life depended on it! My characters are very amorous. And yeah, I see a huge difference between ending a chapter on a hook, always a good practice, and leaving the primary plot unresolved to get readers to buy the next book.
I don’t like cliffhangers when the next book isn’t out. I’ve learned that the hard way with Game of Thrones. I feel like books need definitive endings. You never know what could happen between books!
Thanks for co-hosting!
A story should definitely be complete even if part of a series. I would feel short changed otherwise, like I invested time only to not get a proper resolution. Thanks for the thoughts you offered on my blog.
I don’t mind if the book is part of the series, but still like to have some sort of conclusion.