This series began with a thought -- Wouldn't it be nice to be able to magic all of my potatoes out of the ground?
For those that might not know, harvesting potatoes from a half-acre field without a harvester machine tends to be a labor intensive -- that is back-breaking -- chore. This thought led to the first chapter of Potatoes, Come Forth! and the creation of Everett de Schaell. The thought being whimsical, the novel of course had to be the same.
Everett's world is one that I've characterized as "southern-fried steampunk." Technology exists, but not actual-world technology. I have made no attempt to adhere to genuine scientific principles when writing about the various machines in this world. I view the guns, airships, steam tractors, and such as simply another form of magic and take numerous fictional liberties with their function. No reader should expect that any of the machines that I describe would work in the real world.
The food depicted in the series -- Everett likes to eat -- tends to be plain, southern fare, the sort of everyday beans and potatoes meals that I grew up with. It often depicts things that are currently growing on my garden patches.
At first, I intended Potatoes, Come Forth! to be a stand-alone novel, but found Everett and his world to be too engaging to terminate and so did not write a final ending to his story in the first book, leaving room to continue if the notion struck. Readers did express some interest in a sequel and I let ideas simmer until the premise for Magic, Unfettered? formed.
All of the novels in this series will represent completed episodes. While there is an overall narrative, there will be no cliff-hangers in Inconvenient Magic. Aside from the basic antagonism between Everett and the beings on the non-corporeal plane, I do not intend to insert any global challenges that carry over from book to book. Consequently, there will be no set number of books in the series and I will return to it as often as a good idea presents itself.
At this point, I have a glimmering of an idea for the next book, but I have not yet found the title or premise. I think it possible that I will begin work on the book in 2014. I intend to follow the naming convention that I have established -- the title of the next book with be a spell and will include a punctuation mark. Unless I can't figure out something that will work, in which case the title will be something else entirely.