For my series, I'm trying to blend something that's really breezy (think harry potter) with something that's gut-wrenching (think stephen king). Is this possible? Or if it is, is it a bad idea? Am I trying to mix two completely different audiences?
First, forget series. Write one novel, and put all your skill into it. Make it a complete story, nothing hamging for a sequel. Publishers don't buy series from unknown writers. They buy single novels, but not if the novels seem incomplete. And yes, you can mix a lot of hideous with a light element. Read any of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. Also, several of Alfred Hitchcock's movies blend comedy with terror.
To some degree, every book is required to have light and dark. You just want to make the extremes. . .more extreme. Whether or not you can pull it off depends solely on your writing ability, but it can definitely work. And I agree with Cogito, publishers never pick up first time authors who plan to write series, and rarely even publish long single books by first-time authors, to minimize risk and overhead costs.
