My newest series kicks off in nine days with the release of Hunter, the story of how Sunshine Walkingstick became a monster hunter slash paranormal investigator.

Sunny and I have been discussing this story for a while, but it wasn't until I ran it by readers of the Facebook group that I decided to buckle down and write it.

It may surprise some people that readers can have such a big influence on what writers, well, write.

In my mind, though, if writers aren't listening to their readers, they're making a huge mistake.

For one, readers signal when they want more of a certain world. Now, there are plenty of reasons for writers not to continue a series or branch out into different series set in the same story universe. I've ended series for a couple of reasons, one because it wasn't selling and another because writing in that story world drained me to the point of not being able to write. I've got two more series that will come to an end in the next couple of years, both because they've reached their planned ends once the final books are published.

But the other reason writers should listen to readers is because we're too close to the stories; we can't always see the glitches. Readers come at stories from another direction, and so they notice things that writers may not.

In the Sunshine Walkingstick Series, take Sunny's relationship with Riley, for instance. I was all set to continue the (really) slow build of their romance for a couple more books. Then I happened to check the reviews of Book 3, Cemetery Hill (I think it was), and readers were getting tired of Sunny dragging her feet. So I switched things around so that the relationship moved at a slightly faster pace. Readers really enjoyed that, too, judging by the feedback I've gotten.

Another example is Sunny's relationship with Belinda. It's always going to be a touch antagonistic just because of their background, but readers have noticed the (deliberate) contrast between the two and they don't always like it.

Now, I'm not going to soften a story for anyone; that's just not going to happen.

But in that case, I thought it would be advantageous to Sunny's growth as a character to have her and Belinda interact in a more positive manner. They have to grow out of their high school days at some point, right? So some of that foundation was set in Book 5, Devil's Branch.

And finally, there's the continuation of the series itself. I was all set to give up after Cemetery Hill's release because the books just weren't selling as well as I'd hoped they would. It takes a really long time for each one to earn out its costs, far longer than it should by indie standards. Plus, Sunny can be a difficult character to work with, though she's always interesting.

However, readers wanted more stories, and it was because of their encouragement that I continued the series with Witch Hollow (Book 4) and Devil's Branch.  Right now, Sunny and I are planning for the series to end at nine books, but I am only committing to writing the next one (an as-yet-untitled sixth installment) because of what's going on with my main pen name.

That said, when readers really liked the idea of Sunny's origin story, it was easy enough to expand on that idea and include other characters' origin stories, too, while I'm waiting for Book 6's plot to evolve enough for a full novel. Readers exhibited enough interest to make writing the Magic, Mayhem & Monsters: Origins Series worthwhile. And when readers like an idea, that can be the incentive writers need to jump on a story and make it happen.

Not always, no. Writers usually have valid reasons for not committing to the writing of a story readers really want.

But sometimes, it's good to listen. I'm certainly open to that as long as readers understand that I have the final say in what I do with my writing time.