Relay Races and Legacy Writing: My Experience Writing for the Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler Novel Franchises

I’ve enjoyed the extraordinary privilege of writing for both the Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler franchises. It’s a humbling honor to see my name on the covers of those bestselling novels, but I’m not kidding myself. The names “Tom Clancy” and “Clive Cussler” emblazoned in oversized font above the title are what propels them to such dizzying heights. Still, I suppose it takes a smidgin of skill to navigate both within and between the franchises.

(The Challenge of Keeping a Novel Series Fresh.)

Novel writing is rightly compared to running a marathon, but series writing is better understood as a relay race. You jog forward in a semi-crouch with an open hand, your eyes fixed on the dashing brilliance of the writers who preceded you in the race. They’ve already bolted out of the blocks, blazed around the curve, and streaked like greased lightning onto the next stretch. They’ve set the pace, broken records, and proven themselves world-class in every sense of the word. No wonder the adoring crowd cheers them on with wild approval.

Suddenly that baton slaps into your sweating palm. You’re the anchor—the lynch pin between a storied past and an unknown future. The race is now yours to win or lose. Will you face plant? Or will you push beyond your limits and split the tape with a final, exhausted thrust across the finish line? (And suit up again next year to do it all over again.)

Le Petit Caporal once said he preferred a lucky general to one who was merely good. Since I’ve been struck by literary lightning twice, I suppose I qualify as luckier than most. I’m certainly blessed.

I signed my first contract with Putnam in 2013 for my original Drone series. Like nearly every other techno-thriller writer, I cut my genre teeth on Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October, so I naturally launched my first novel into the same genre space. Four books later, with sales plunging faster than a hypersonic missile, the publisher decided to end the series.

But Fortune once again flashed her pearly whites in my direction when Tom Colgan, the legendary senior editor of the Tom Clancy franchise, rang me up one day and offered me the summer Clancy series. It was the greatest and most terrifying call of my literary life. My first reaction was, “They want me to write a Tom Clancy novel!”

Then I suddenly realized to my utter horror, “They want me to write a Tom Clancy novel!”

For a techno-thriller writer like me, that was the functional equivalent of the King of England asking me to add a few lines of iambic pentameter to the Saint Crispin’s Day speech in Henry V.

So of course I jumped at the chance. The worst I could do was fail. Failing to try seemed a far more ignominious defeat.

Somehow it all worked out. After four Jack Ryan Jr. novels, the series was wisely handed over to the incredible Don Bentley, and I found myself once again in the wind until Juan Cabrillo threw me a rope and hauled me aboard the Oregon. Hopefully, my upcoming Cabrillo adventure, Ghost Soldier, won’t get me tossed back into the drink.

I’m often asked what the difference is between writing for the two franchises. The Clancyverse is more political and thriller oriented, whereas the Cusslerverse spans the realm of action and adventure. I thrive in liminal space where the two worlds converge, relying on my academic and research backgrounds to forge my own unique path. Drone may have failed as a series but it kitted me out with what I needed to thrive in my new environments.

Writing for an existing franchise is a hugely rewarding experience. Perks include an incredible fan base, a series editor, and a steady paycheck. Both the Clancy and Cussler franchises offer a moral clarity that cuts through the gloom of our current cultural confusion. I like that. So do my readers.

But series writers also face a number of challenges.

Like the medieval maps of old, Cave! Hic dragones! (“Beware! Here be dragons!”) should be emblazoned on the margins of every series author’s contract. Here’s why:

You better know your stuff—or else. My first Oregon Files novel, Hellburner, was #15. That meant 14 terrific books and several incredible writers preceded me. That’s a lot of ground to cover before I even wrote my first word. A ginormous and adoring readership knows the series characters and story world often better than you do. A single mistake in the history or facts will throw them right out of the read.

A vast audience that has devoured dozens of previous series novels eagerly awaits your next offering. The challenge is to give them something that completely satisfies their genre and series expectations but also offers something completely unexpected. In other words, the golden rule for any writer—creating a “uniquely familiar” experience—holds true here, in spades. Failing to do the former will disappoint your series readers; failing the latter will bore them. Both are unforgivably fatal.

Aiming for this paradoxically sublime target is no easy task especially when previous writers have seemingly explored every nook and cranny of your literary universe. The added challenge for me is that there are actually five Cussler series. On more than one occasion I’ve stumbled into the perfect story idea only to discover that one of the other gifted series authors had already produced a terrific draft on the same subject. (Yeah, I’m looking at you, Graham Brown!)

The length of a series is often its greatest burden, like the overhanging branch of a venerable tree that’s too long for the trunk. The series will die if the readers think there’s nothing new to be had. More importantly, for the series to thrive the writer can’t just meet expectations but must exceed them time and time again.

Over the years I’ve collected a few nautical instruments to help me navigate the turbulent waters that define this kind of wonderful work. These include:

Writing for a legacy series like the Oregon Files is an honor and a privilege. It’s also a sacred trust placed in your hand by the family and the fans. If you’re ever offered the daunting opportunity to take one on, grab it—and hold on tight. Run fast, run smart, and maybe you’ll win the gold. Remember: a literary legacy is at stake. Theirs.

And yours.

Check out Mike Maden's Clive Cussler Ghost Soldier here:

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