The first book I ever wrote became the Red Letters series because I couldn’t learn when to stop telling that story. Still can’t, but at least it’s shaped right now, and the staying in world gives us plenty of Fiction Friday content.

So, today’s Thought for Thursday is about Book Hangovers. That feeling when you read a book’s ending, close the book, but it’s still with you. It’s in your head for days. The character voices, the humor, the emotion, or even the unanswered parts or elements that upset you. This book, those words on a page, spun enough magic to linger with you.

Can we talk about that? What are your books that lasted like a hangover? Is that why you got into a series?

Some of my favorite authors wrote standalone series. Meaning that it was all part of the same story line and world, but each book was it’s own story. Like Bridgerton, a TV series now, but also a book series by Julia Quinn who is a favorite author of mine. You fall for the characters in a book and see them pop up in sequels, not as the centers, but as side characters. So they aren’t forgotten even if you can’t see them in all their internal thoughts again.

Some of my other favorite authors that wrote either books that I laughed at days later or felt like a character stuck with me? Adrienne Basso, Lyndsay Sands, and Teresa Medeiros.