If you’ve been following Velvet Raven Books for a while, you probably know two worlds pretty well.
There’s Samantha Hayes, where investigations lead into the darker corners of human behavior.
And there’s Willow Creek, where Claire Anderson somehow manages to find mysteries between batches of cupcakes and life in her small town.
But those aren’t the only stories I want to tell.
Welcome to Beyond the Series.
This is a new space where I’ll share the standalone novels I’m developing outside the Samantha Hayes and Willow Creek series.
These stories give me the freedom to start completely fresh.
New characters.
New places.
New mysteries.
And sometimes, an idea that’s a little too unusual to fit neatly into one of my existing worlds.
From an Idea to a Book
One of the things I want to do with Beyond the Series is bring you along while these books are being created.
Some weeks you might see the earliest spark of an idea. Other times I’ll share research, settings, characters, plot problems I’m working through, or a peek at a story already taking shape.
You’ll get to see some of these books long before they’re sitting on a shelf.
And there are already several ideas waiting their turn.
A true-crime podcast convention where someone decides they can commit the perfect murder.
A killer hiding behind the chaos of a devastating tornado.
And one very strange murder investigation where the detective gets another chance every time the day begins again.
That last one isn’t just an idea anymore.
It’s the first project we’re going to follow here.
Coming Next Week: The Killing Loop
Next week, I’ll introduce you to The Killing Loop, my first standalone thriller currently in development.
We’ll talk about the idea that started it, the unusual rules behind the story, and what happens when a detective trying to solve a murder wakes up to discover…
the same day has started all over again.
Welcome to Beyond the Series.
We’re going somewhere new. 🖤