MFA Fiction Alumnus Patricia Crisafulli on Writing a Series: From One Character Arc to the Next
“This should be a mystery … Could you make it a series?” The advice came a few years ago from an editor with 30+ years in publishing.
Frankly, this was not my initial vision for my novel-in-progress featuring protagonist Gabriela Domenici, a librarian and authenticator who leaves her dream job in New York City and returns begrudgingly to her hometown where a medieval artifact turns up in a community rummage sale. However, the editor showed me how the setting, the inciting incident, and the quirky small-town characters lent themselves to a mystery.
That was my MFA literary fiction thesis turned into a mystery novel, The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor, which was published in 2022 by Woodhall Press. Subsequently, I had to contemplate how to expand character development and create plotlines compelling enough to make a series.
From one book to the next, my protagonist needed to reveal more of herself—the regrets she harbors, the pressures of caring for her young son and her aging mother, her limiting beliefs about herself, and the vulnerabilities of falling in love. Gabriela never loses edginess or her stubbornness, but that sharpness softens from book to book as she connects with others and experiences community.
Equally important, I needed to create plots that stood on their own, ending each book with a satisfying conclusion. From one book to the next, however, I wanted the plots to connect. For example, Gabriela’s authentication expertise in book one leads to her being sought out to identify another artifact in book two. And the big reveal in book two opens new professional possibilities as an adjunct in the community college history department, which sets up book three.
My new and third book in the Ohnita Harbor series, The Secrets of the Old Post Cemetery, opens with Gabriela relishing that new role as she teaches students about artifacts and authentication. She assigns them a final research project of a Revolutionary War-era artifact known as the Traitor’s Map, which depicts the local shoreline. A few days later, the body of one of her students is found and his death is ruled a homicide. Gabriela feels deeply responsible, knowing that if she hadn’t assigned that map, the student never would have been killed. And so, the third book begins…
Through the series, I’ve created a longer, broader character arc exploring my protagonist’s growth and setbacks, longings and disappointments, and emotional breakthroughs. Along the way, I’ve created absorbing plots that I hope will keep readers engaged and wanting to come back for one more story.