Here's the list with the online fiction, anthology stories and YA
series included. This does not
mean the stories are intended to be read in this order or that all
are necessary for following the series! This is just for
readers who have asked where a certain story or novella falls and
where the YA work falls.
People ask me whether they can jump right to the witch books, or skip
from Stolen to Broken. Yes, they can. The books are written
so you can (I hope) pick it up anywhere and not be totally confused.
Mildly confused, feeling like you've missed something? Yes.
But you can follow the story.
Although the narrator changes, the books take place in chronological
order, in the same universe with the same cast of characters. A
narrator from one book will appear as a character in another.
Events from one book will be referenced in others. Some subplots
carry on from novel to novel, bridging narrators.
For example, if a reader skipped from Stolen
to Broken, a character named Jaime will join
the Pack in Toronto, and the reader will be wondering "what's a
necromancer, who is this woman and why is she acting so oddly around
Jeremy?" Eventually it'll become clear and, at no time, should
that missing knowledge affect a reader's understanding of the main plot.
I never intended Bitten to be the beginning of
a series. It was conceived as a stand-alone book, with all the major
plot questions resolved. After the book sold, the question of a sequel
arose. My reaction was honestly ambivalent. As much as I enjoyed the
werewolves, I feared that writing a second Elena book would mean locking myself
into an Elena series. It wouldn't take long before I'd start losing steam,
eager to try something else.
I decided to write
a sequel that I hoped could indeed launch a series, but not a series
strictly about werewolves. I introduced other supernatural
"races" and a character who took over narration of book 3.
For me, then, changing narrators isn't a marketing ploy—I'm told
repeatedly that I'd sell better if I didn't! Instead, it's all
about keeping it fresh and challenging, which is very important
to me as a writer. I love what I do, and I don't ever want
to lose that.
The narrators may change, but the cast of characters doesn't diminish.
If you liked a narrator, she's certain to return as a secondary
character and—if enough readers liked her—as the narrator of a future book.
