At least that's what I'm calling it for now. While BEAUTY SECRETS is being read by my lovely beta readers, I've decided to start research on a sequel - LIP GLOSS & LIES. I don't know about you, but I love sequels. Especially reading them. I think that saddest thing about finishing a novel is having to say goodbye to the characters. With sequels you're able to delay the inevitable. That and as a writer, I'm always interested to see how the author will introduce the plot. Especially with murder mysteries. Sometimes I find myself saying "Seriously? Another dead body? How many can a person possibly stumble upon?!" But then there's other times when I'm like, "Wow, that was cleaver." I want to be that "Wow."
Which is why everything I write is grounded in reality. I want to be true to the human emotion. The human experience. I think that makes writing more challenging. You can't just "make something happen" because you want it to. It has to make sense, be honest.
So I'm off to dive into my research. I already have a rough plot outline, but there's just so. much. to. do. I love it. This is the exciting part. The creative part. Yeah, I'm thinking about plot cliches, marketability, and all that other creative-sapping, dream-destroying goodness that is the publishing industry - but that doesn't stop me from writing the story I want to. I'm just aware of the facts. Not controlled by them. Or consumed by them. It's part of being a writer. A part that I'll accept any day if that means I get to publish my novels.
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This week in books 7/14/17
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This week! Books!
But first, a programming note. Posts will be a bit sporadic in the next few
weeks as I am headed to San Diego for the wonderment known ...
7 years ago
2 comments:
"I think that saddest thing about finishing a novel is having to say goodbye to the characters"
Amen to that statement - Lots of folks in the business warn against sequelitis, but readers, if they really like your characters, want another chance to 'hang out' with 'em. As a writer - this'll sound weird - you don't want to abandon them forever - heck, they're like family (do I need a shrink?). I mean - we do create these folks from thin air. In my sequel I added a couple of very important new characters & so far, it's working (a dead pirate & a homeless girl - strange combination for sure).
I'm sure my author / genre preferences differ greatly from yours. My favorite authors carry their protagonists thru from one book to another. Lee Child's = Jack Reacher. Ted Bell's = Alexander Hawke. Harlan Coben's = Myron Bolitar. Clive Cussler's = Dirk Pitt & Al Giordino. These authors make a pretty good living finding new ways to get their guys into & out of scrapes. So it's not literary.... oh well.
Have a great weekend. DE
Exactly. That's what I like about sequels - carrying the protagonist through from one book to another. Their stories don't end just because the novel does. At least not in my mind. Why not continue to share that on paper?
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