Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the way all my books connect with one another. When I say ‘connecting’, I don’t mean somebody wanders through the background of another novel so readers can point and say, “Hey! I know that character! They’re from the other novel!” Rather, I mean things that happened in one series can completely change the way you understand something in another series.
There are now multiple doorways into what I call the Berryverse, and depending on which doorway you enter through, you can have a completely different experience. You might start with the historical CLAW Emergence novels and meet certain characters in the nineteenth century. Or, perhaps you start with the present-day CLAW series and encounter pieces of that history from a different viewpoint.
You might enter through ABANDONED, meeting Lively Deadmarsh and Minerva while trying to figure out what happened at the Sinclair Resort. Or, you might have walked through the front door when I released my debut, CLAW, met Austin, Christine and Trip, and read everything chronologically as I wrote and released it.
There really isn’t a wrong doorway. Depending on where you begin, the revelations change. One reader might recognise a character immediately and wonder why they’re there. Another reader might encounter the consequences of something mysterious and then discover what actually happened several books later. Someone else might read a certain event first and, years from now, encounter its aftermath and suddenly think, “Just a minute! That’s something I read about in another Katie Berry book!” Someone else might encounter that same thing through a different novel, perhaps one yet unwritten, and have just as much enjoyment as reading the original sequence. Different door, same Katie Berry goodness.
A lot of these connections are a consequence of the way I write. I’m a discovery writer. I don’t normally outline an entire novel chapter by chapter before I begin. I know destinations. I know some major scenes along the way. I know things I desperately want to happen, and I generally know how it will end. The fun is all in how you get there. When I’m hacking away at the block of marble that represents my story, sometimes a detail I wrote six years ago because I needed a little character backstory suddenly turns out to be very important and becomes the driver of an entire novel.
Which brings me to the latest novel I’m writing, BESIEGED. Those details from six years ago I mentioned were the genesis of that novel. When I wrote ABANDONED, I established that Minerva had just finished an investigation at the Slaughtered Sheep just before arriving at the Sinclair Resort Hotel, while Lively was off experiencing horrific things on a ‘cruise’ he’ll never forget. At the time, the intention was simply to establish something they had been doing. Eventually I started wondering: What exactly happened on those investigations?
Now, you are getting even closer to finding out. BESIEGED has connected itself backward into other stories, characters, and mythology I’ve written in the past, and even into future books I haven’t yet written. At some point, I plan on creating a spinoff prequel series involving Doc Brown, Kitty Welch, and Sandy from the CLAW Emergence novels. There are things happening in BESIEGED right now that will directly connect to the adventures those characters haven’t even experienced yet (but boy oh boy, do I have plans).
Speaking of plans, there’s a lot more CLAW coming. Once I finish BESIEGED, as you might know, I’ll be starting CLAW Retribution. But there is also another title I’ve been keeping mostly to myself, the fifth in the present-day series tentatively titled CLAW Reunion. That one is intended to bring some very large pieces of the present-day CLAW series together with elements brought to light in Lively Deadmarsh’s adventures, including plot threads from CLAW Emergence.
With all that out of my system, I should give you a quick update on BESIEGED. I am within a couple of chapters of completion. Currently, BESIEGED stands at about 115,000 words, and by the time I’m all done, it should be close to 120,000. That’s a nice size and should result in a novel of about 500 pages or so. When I finish this first draft, I will give myself a few weeks to let things settle and then begin the second draft—and that’s where the real excitement begins.
Speaking of excitement, I’ve decided to try my hand at cartoons instead of cat-themed movie posters this month. So please enjoy this month’s debut installment of Katie’s Kartoons. Its origin is related to my recent visit to the local automobile dealership for my regular service, which sadly hasn’t occurred all that regularly. I was sitting there, hoping not to have bad news, and this humorous image popped into my head.
Finally, we need to have our regular audiobook draw. This month, our two lucky winners are darknas85@XXXXXX.com and suebeckwith861@XXXXXX.com. I hope you both enjoy your audiobooks. Remember, you can’t win without being an Insider. You can join my email list for the monthly newsletter and your chance to win, right here: https://katieberry.ca/become-a-katie-berry-books-insider-and-win/
Though future doors are not yet open, I hope you enjoy the ones that already exist in the Berryverse. Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends, and I hope the rest of you across the globe who celebrate spooky things have a great Halloween. I will be back again with more updates on All Saints’ Day.
Good health and great reads to you all,
-Katie B