Cliffhanger

This is a fun one! And a literary one, as well!

You're writing a popular book series, loads of action and adventure. You want to keep the action going, so you set up a cliffhanger ending to carry you to what you'd assume to be another book. This can also apply when someone wants the book series to end, but then gets another brilliant idea and wants to pick it up.

The following is merely an example, and the basic premise can be used in most any setting.

The hero has defeated the villain, foiling his plans to conquer Japan with his explosive Tamagotchi. The hero, happy he has put the villain to rest once and for all, decides to drive off into the sunset. Sure, there are a few loose bits of BAD GUYS Inc. lying around, but they're harmless.

Suddenly, the car's steering locks, and the car drives without and accelleration. Someone has remotely taken control of the car, and is headed to drive the hero off a cliff! The hero tries to escape, but the door is locked and the cliff is fast approaching!

He plunges off the edge, hurtling towards the water below! The book ends.

The next book the writer produces, while hundreds of fans rage at the author for ambiguously killing off the hero with no explanation, is something completely different. It's a story about the mole people.

A nice mole person slowly discovers his entire life has been manipulated by the evil mole people emperor, and starts up a rebellion! The battle is fierce, but the good guys triumph in a large, dramatic climax, and the emperor, along with his palace, are blown out of what is revealed to be a cliff. The good guys win!

Epilogue. The palace smashes into the side of a car, sending the door flying off in pieces. The car momentum is reduced, and plunges to a deeper part of the ocean. The driver, injured, is able to climb out of the newly formed hole, and jumps into the ocean freely, surviving what would have otherwise been a fatal accident.

Yep. That's right. Solving a cliff hanger at the end of an otherwise irrelevant book.