Same Territory

You know that adage "write what you know"? I do follow that for the most part. I write about colorful fathers, and loyal siblings. I write about NYC. I write about people who don't take no for an answer. I write about the people and places I know. And sometimes, though the characters change from book to book, I do return to the same SORTS of characters.

I am working on a new proposal . . . and there are ELEMENTS--bits and pieces--that remind me of territory I've covered. As we on this blog call it, if I hop on The Couch, I might say that perhaps I return to those elements because there are still parts of my life, my past, my present, my psyche that haven't put to rest some of those themes. On the other hand, I might also say the themes I write about . . . I love them. So I write what I love. I might also think that I find my groove as a writer when I write about grief and betrayal and family secrets and bonds and the clan of dysfunctional love.

And I wonder . . . At what point do you put "those kinds" of books to rest? At what point is a writer just rehashing the same old sh*t, and at what point is it still fresh and creative? Why do some writers return to the same sorts of stories over and over successfully? And some it seems stale? How are some authors able to keep recurring characters fresh and some ho-hum?

AND . . . drum roll . . . why do some readers get angry to see a writer branch out . . . or vice versa . . . get irritated by the familiar? Can a writer with a successful series ever win?

Thoughts?