Hey Keith,
Thanks so much. As you know from reading Head Games, I didn't exactly start my series in the expected way. Pretty much, quite the contrary; Head Games would more likely be most writers' last book in a series. So, yeah, I think the series format can be kind of deadening. For my part, I went in with a notion of a seven-book series, then intend to get out. It's a number that allows you to maintain quality, and if you know you're going to get out in a limited number of books, well, anything goes, in theory.

Interesting you mention Ray...I think his plan with Innes is similar to mine: write a really strong, short series that allows you to honestly focus on/portray the cumulative physical and psychological effects of violence and acute trauma on a series character and really carry that toward it's logical outcome. When Ray's guy takes a beating, he doesn't shrug it off like so many series characters seem to do.

All that said, I'm working on a standalone right now...