Maybe It's Just Me

I have a thing about series.  As a reader, I can't seem to continue to read about the same characters for overly long.  Without fail, the quirks I thought were cute in the first books steadily become annoying.  I think it's a case of 'familiarity breeds contempt'.

One series I was reading... Well, the last book I picked up in it, all of the characters were irritating the hell out of me in the first few chapters. I closed the book with a heavy sigh and swore off any others that may come out.  I'd rather remember the joy I felt reading those earlier books.

I managed to make it all the way through the StarDoc series, but that was probably because I read them out of order and because the author threw a wrench into the middle and made the MC into a totally different person.  (Seriously damaged brain that takes even a super-healing person several books to get over.)  I stopped reading the Dresden Files at book 11 (meant 12... shoulda looked it up).  Don't look at me.  He's the one who wrote it the way he did - like he was sick to death of writing Dresden and wanted it all to be over.  Except it wasn't.  I think I went a bit farther with the The Cat Who books, but I'd bought a collection of them and was determined to read all the ones I had, even though those last few were meh for me.

Oh, it's not that I don't like series.  Usually, I want to know more about the characters after the first book.  Up to a certain point.  Once I pass that point?  Meh. 

As a writer, I find myself getting to a point where I just don't care enough to continue to write in the same world with the same characters over and over.  Which is why Once Upon a Djinn stopped at four.  I was done with that world.  And it's also why the SCIU series is only a series because of the organization and some mentions of characters or events in other books.  I was done with the Jace and Ben storyline.  Moved on to the Teri story and was done with that.  And Ned.  I'm almost kind of done with the whole SCIU organization.  Maybe one more book.  I'm still planning at least one more book in the Dennis Haggarty mysteries, but who knows when that'll happen.

You see, I get bored.  Probably why I can't seem to want to write anymore Sleeping Ugly books.  SU was loads of fun to write, but carrying that idea further?  :yawn:  This may change once I've put some more distance between me and the characters, but I'm not promising anything at this moment.

I know the readers aren't bored with my series.  They've told me.  And they seem to be clamoring for more.  And as I said the other day, I don't want to disappoint them.  But I think writing in a world that's no longer that interesting to me would be doing them a disservice. 

Except readers like series.  Series sell books.  It's a quandary.

I have absolutely no intention of making Evil Space Bunnies a book 1.  When I'm done with it, I'll be done. :Fingers crossed:

How about you?  Do you have the same problem with series that I do?  I guess a lot of people don't because series are so popular.  So maybe it's just me.