When I published the prologue and first chapter of John’s story on Planted Flowers series website, I had no idea how much work was coming. The first draft as it came through every week is available in the members-only section of the website. The membership section also contains a forum to discuss the books and set up online Bible studies based on the books. But what about creating John’s story?
My experiment with serial fiction began with a rough outline and an ambitious goal. I wrote one chapter every two weeks until I’d completed twelve chapters. I finished in November.
What’s unique about this serial story is I invited readers to help me write the story. At the end of every chapter, I added a link to a quiz. The readers took the quiz after reading the chapter and tell me what they think should happen next.
Based on what the quiz results told me, I wrote the outline for the next chapter. Because of the suggestions, I added a new main character I fell in love with, Jerome!
John’s story begins before Planted Flowers series have their first meeting. In the larger storyline, it happens just after Christmas and New Year’s Day. John becomes entangled with Matthew’s Matchmakers and the sinister intentions of a shadowy villain.
Through it all, we meet the characters from the Planted Flowers series as they interact with John. And we meet a new woman! We also learn more about the person, John, and his spiritual life.
John’s story morphed into “The Detective,” as the title of the book. It is currently being reworked into a better book before being published later this year. Stay tuned for more updates on John, his story, and his heart.
