So, maybe you’ve heard me talking about the Edgewater series on social media, via Discord if you’re on my ARC team, in my newsletters, etc. Probably seems I’m totally unhinged with how far I’ve planned the series in advanced, and you’d be completely right. 😘
Let’s have a little breakdown on some stuff I might talk about or terms I might use.
Prepare yourself, because you’re about to get infodumped on HARD.
Quickfire info:
What is Edgewater? My small town romance series set in the fictional coastal small town of Edgewater.
How many books are there so far? So far I’ve released two books in the Edgewater series. There are dozens to come.
Do I have to read them in order? No. More info below on “chronological” vs. “tangential,” but Edgewater is somewhere between a series and a series of interconnected standalones. You can read them out of order, but you’ll get a long more enjoyment out of reading them in order/having all the context (in my opinion, because they are DEEPLY interconnected).
What can I expect? Small town found family vibes, spicy open door romance, swoony HEAs, but I’m gonna hurt your feelings first because there’s definitely high angst, there’s usually a third act breakup (not sorry), but even if there isn’t don’t let that lure you into a false sense of security because there will still be a third act conflict. Core chronologicals tend to be heavier than the tangentials, which lean more toward lower stakes/cozy vibes. Core chronologicals are novels, tangentials could be novels or novellas. Again, more info below on chronological vs. tangential.
HERE WE GO:
Gens/generations: the way I’ve planned Edgewater, the stories take place in generations. Gen 1 is the one I’m writing now. That’s Harper’s Landing (Lexi and Cole), The Blooming Tide (Nina and JD), The Black Dove (Emma and Theo), etc. Gen 2 is the generation after that, and those are the children of the gen 1 characters (like JD’s son Jack), gen 3 are the kids of gen 2, gen 4 are the kids of gen 3, and so on.
Sidebar question! How many generations have you planned, Evita? So glad you asked, bestie. Here’s a lil breakdown…
| Generation | # Chronological Stories | # Tangential Stories | # Stories Total | Canonical Start Year | Canonical End Year | # Named Characters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PPG | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A but earliest DOB: 1944 | N/A but latest DOB: 1946 | 2 | Stands for “pre-pre-gen.” A generation that doesn’t get any stories (for now, lol). Grandparents of gen 1/parents of pre-gen (e.g. Penny Harper, Marge Reeves). |
| PG | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A but earliest DOB: 1958 | N/A but latest DOB: 1981 | 31 | Stands for “pre-gen.” A generation that currently doesn’t have any stories (it’s me though, never say never). Parents of gen 1 and that generation (e.g. Jim Harper, Jenny and Jackson Tucker, Darlene Evans, etc.). |
| Gen 1 | 20 | 12 | 32 | 2025 | 2034 | 79 | Our first generation of Edgewater stories! This is the generation of Lexi Harper, Cole Dawson, JD Tucker, Nina Calloway, Emma Tucker, Caleb Novak, Carter Evans, Kal Church, etc. |
| Gen 2 | 27 | 10 | 37 | 2053 | 2070 | 89 | The children of gen 1, and all those of that generation. E.g. Jack Tucker, Reef Munroe, Carrie Novak, etc. |
| Gen 2.5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2076 | 2077 | N/A (since it’s a gen of stories not characters) | A weird half-step generation between 2 and 3. It’s less a generartion of characters and more a short generation of stories. Basically three instances of a younger gen 2 “oops baby” ending up with one of the older gen 3 kids, creating a crossover gen. |
| Gen 3 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 2083 | 2089 | 141 | The children of gen 2, and characters of the same generartion. There are a lot more outsiders coming to Edgewater during this generation (though there are some in gen 2 as well), because we don’t do incest bestie. 😭 |
| Gen 3.5-4 | 35 | 17 | 52 | 2093 | 2110 | 130 | A wider spread of characters who are descendents of gens 2-3. Since I do generations mostly based on time jumps, that’s why it’s ended up like this. Mostly likely to change, obviously. It was at this point I started making my database (explained below) because I was losing the threads and a spreadsheet was not cutting it anymore. |
That brings us to the next thing – what’s a core/chronological story and what’s a tangential story?
So, Edgewater is a series of interconnected standalones, but they do happen chronologically. Generally, each story takes place over a three to six month period, unless there’s a specific story mechanic which necessitates a longer storyline (e.g. pregnancy).
In each generation there are two types of story: core chronological and tangential.
Core chronological: these are the main stories that happen one after the other within a generation. Lexi and Cole’s story is Gen 1 Book 1. Nina and JD’s story happens right after, so it’s Gen 1 Book 2. Emma’s story comes after that (although there are parts of her story that occur before her main arc), so that’s Gen 1 Book 3. Etc.
Tangential: these are stories that happen concurrently to the main stories. Basically, I’ve never met a side character I didn’t want to give their own story, and for the most part, it happens completely against my will. If there’s a character mentioned by name, chances are, they get a story later on, so feel free to get attached. A good example of this would be Cleo Bennet (Cole’s therapist) who interacts with Luke Carter in The Blooming Tide. Cleo and Luke’s story is Gen 1 Tangential Book 2 – because it happens alongside Nina and JD’s story. It’s happening during their story! That’s why that interaction seemed a lil tense, lol. Big Brain Setup™.
Fun fact: I have a database to keep track of all the Edgewater characters, stories, relationships etc. I also coded a frontend webapp called the Edgewater Oracle. You may have been offered a sneak peek of it. It will be paywalled content in the near future.
Each story has a unique “book code” to help me find them, and it corresponds to the generation, whether it’s a core or tangential story, and which one it is, then it also has the character ID numbers attached to it (because sometimes there are multiple tangential stories so then the code wouldn’t be unique).
E.g. Nina and JD’s story is G1BC2_41_63 (Gen 1, Book Chronological 2, [Nina’s ID], [JD’s ID]). These track across generations, so JD’s son Jack, for example (yes, he gets a story), is G2BC3_122_140 (Gen 2, Book Chronological 3, [Jack’s ID], [Jack’s FMC’s ID]).
It works for triads/poly relationships too; it just has three numbers on the end. E.g. If you queer-coded Ben Reed during his tattoo cameo in The Blooming Tide, you were totally right. Ben gets a triad romance in book 10: G1BC10_72_84_11 (Gen 1, Book Chronological 10, [Ben’s ID], [Ben’s MMC’s ID], [Ben’s FMC’s ID]).
So, yeah, those numbers in that table up there look pretty unhinged right? You’ve planned stories up to 2110, Evita? Check your meds.
Yeah, I have. Obviously it’s all speculative. I find having a timeline helps me to keep things straight, and not to stroke my own dick, but I’ve had lots of positive feedback about how the Edgewater series/setting/characters seem really thoughtfully planned – and it’s because they are.
But because I’m a nerd (duh) and I love numbers, here’s another table, because I mentioned there are time jumps between generations, so let’s work that out relative to my current publishing schedule, and see how far I might get into the Edgewater series before I die, hmm?
Note: this is all totally hypothetical lmao, I don’t even know what I’m having for dinner tonight I’m just playing around lol.
Please don’t call for a welfare check hahaha.
| Gen 1 Start Year | Gen 1 End Year | Time Jump (Years) | Gen 2 Start Year | Gen 2 End Year | Time Jump (Years) | Gen 2.5 Start Year | Gen 2.5 End Year | Time Jump (Years) | Gen 3 Start Year | Gen 3 End Year | Time Jump (Years) | Gen 3.5-4 Start Year | Gen 3.5-4 End Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canonical | 2025 | 2030 | 19 | 2053 | 2070 | 6 | 2076 | 2077 | 6 | 2083 | 2089 | 4 | 2093 | 2110* |
| IRL** | 2025 | 2031† | 0*** | 2032 | 2062†† | 0*** | 2063 | 2065 | 0*** | 2065††† | 2071 | 0*** | 2071 | 2095∆ |
| How old will I be? | Early thirties | Late thirties | Late thirties | Mid fifties | Mid fifties | Mid fifites | Late fifties | Early sixties | Mid sixties | Late eighties |
*caveat for 2110 end year for gen 3.5-4: that’s just what I’ve planned so far.
**”IRL” is assuming that I continue to release at least the core chronological Edgewater books roughly twice a year.
***I’m assuming I won’t take breaks between generations, but you never know, so I’m assuming a “time jump” of 0 years between gens IRL.
†This is “off by a year” because I actually have my publishing schedule for Edgewater gen 1 planned to the publication of chronological Book 20 (July 2031, lol) with deadlines for first drafts, second drafts, copy edits, proof reads, and publication.
††Seems “off” by five years but it’s because gen 2 has a couple pregnancy storylines, hence the extended timeline of 17 years to cover 30 chronological stories (when it should be 15 years at two books a year).
†††Since gen 2.5 only had three stories, that’s 1.5 years, so the first of gen 3 will publish the same year as the last of gen 2.5. This tracks for gen 3 into 3.5-4 because of the uneven/middle of the year starting point.
∆There’s one pregnancy storyline in gen 3.5-4, hence the slightly wonky numbers.
Lol the above table is so fucking stupid I love it. You’re welcome! 😭
NAQ (like an FAQ, but it’s for questions nobody asked, lol)
How long have you been writing/planning Edgewater?
Since September 24, 2024, when I had the first idea for Harper’s Landing, which was meant to be a standalone (hahahahaha). Five days later, I had already decided Nina and JD would get a story. The rest is history. So, to the date I’m writing this page (August 20, 2025), less than a year to 141 stories planned to varying levels, almost 500 named characters across six generations, and a full RDMBS with tens of thousands of data points, with a frontend webapp coded in Python to convert natural language questions to SQL to query the database.
Are you okay?
Yeah bestie, I’m thriving, lol. I just like to follow the threads in my head, and I think it’s neat that I’ve built a whole made up small town. That shit’s cool, you can’t change my mind. 🎉
How far have you got with planning/drafting/writing?
So, when I say that I have a “planned” story for Edgewater, that means that the bare minimum is there are two (or more) named characters that I have paired together. That’s the barest bones that I require to consider a story to be planned. It doesn’t mean it’s planned out, or anything more than I’ve just decided they’ll be together.
For some of the gen 1 stories, I’ve got full prose first drafts. E.g. for Kai Rodriguez. He doesn’t get his story until Chronological Book 12, but I’ve got almost a full first draft. Similarly with Fox Sinclair, who doesn’t get a story until Chronological Book 17 – I actually have his story mostly drafted in prose.
There are stories as late as gen 3 for which I have written honest to goodness prose. There are gen 2 stories I have literally already cried over. Conversely, there are still a couple gen 1 stories which are planned but don’t have any prose attached to them yet (off the top of my head, the only gen 1 stories I have absolutely 100% zero prose for are G1BT13 and G1BT14).
Where can I get more info or behind the scenes stuff?
Click here to go to my Patreon! There’s a specific tier where you’ll get all the early access goodies, plus a login for the Oracle (see below).
I still have questions, can I ask you?
Sure, just ping me an email or fill out my contact form.
Please be aware that I’ll share information at my own discretion, and that what you ask for may be paywalled on my Patreon.
Your girl’s gotta eat. 🤷🏻♀️
Do you want even more behind the scenes info?
Check out the Edgewater Oracle.
Evita Wren | Romance Author 