You have to tell the new story within a highly structured framework, and you can’t rewrite history along the way. On the other hand, all those “givens” present the writer with different challenges.
#Gay xxx story books series#
Because a series develops standing characters and stock settings, I suppose those aspects of the storytelling become easier because you don’t need to reinvent the wheel each time. Do they get easier and easier to write every time?Ĭraft: No, not at all. Keehnen: Bitch Slap is your seventh book in the Mark Manning gay mystery series. Here’s a clue: he’s not retiring from writing. In December 2004, I had a chance to talk with Craft a bit about the Manning series, the art of mystery writing, keeping it all fresh, and what lies ahead for him. His fourth title in the series (you guessed it, Desert Summer) is coming in August 2005. In addition to writing the Mark Manning books, Michael Craft is also the author of another successful mystery series featuring straight 50-something sleuth Claire Gray ( Desert Autumn, Desert Winter, Desert Spring). Not content to rest on his laurels, Craft ends the series with his best-written book to date that also features a doozy of a surprise that blindsided me completely! Saying goodbye to the series is not only saying goodbye to Mark, it’s also saying goodbye to a group of old friends. Mostly set in the sleepy (though certainly homicide prone) Wisconsin town of Dumont, these solid and enjoyable mysteries feature journalist-protagonist-narrator-sleuth Manning, his partner Neil, and a bevy of recurring characters that have deepened and grown over the course of these seven books. Gay mystery master craftsman Michael Craft has decided to end his wildly successful Mark Manning series, which includes Flight Dreams (1997), Eye Contact (1998), Body Language (1999), Name Games (2000), Boy Toy (2001), Hot Spot (2002), and Bitch Slap (2004). An interview with Bitch Slap mystery master Michael Craft