Book Two Blues -- Why I'm not writing the second in the series
Why I’m not writing book two of my first published novel:
This might be one of the dumbest things an Indie writer can do, especially in speculative fiction. Shoot I’d advise an indie writer to have at least three ready to be publish books (in a series would be best) if you are looking to have a chance to break into the market. And I’m not doing it.
Oh! Believe me, I’ve started (about 5 years ago before I thought about indie publishing). Pretty good start too: Yema is recovering from a heart attack and tells Anthony she has talked to her dead husband (Anthony’s father), Robert Foxx has gone back to being Tickler, and Anthony runs into a Santeria group. I have plans for Curses, not your typical Vampires, and really silly Paranormal Investigators. All our favorite characters will hold some kind of role in the story. Not too bad of start.
So what’s stopping me? I’m not smart enough. When you come to the realization that all your characters are smarter than you are, this becomes a breakthrough in any therapy session a writer might be involved in. Seriously. The amount of research I have to do to give Georgia Peach a one line quip at times takes hours, let alone me describing some philosophy about the way to play poker.
For me, piling the research on top of marketing aspect of trying to be a relatively read author, completely throws me into a loop of dread. Simply I want to do Anthony proud. I want him to like my book in the end� How often is book two a disappointment even in a lengthy series? I don’t want the book two blues. I don’t want Anthony to hate me (and hence the therapy session—fearing hate from a fictional character).
Does this mean I’m not writing? Of course I am. I’m a third of the way done with a High Fantasy novel that has every cliché I could possibly dream of in such a book, (kinda proud of the sex scenes though). It’s rough, it has knights and demons, it has training sequences and Chivalry, it has everything I love in a book. And I’m still doing research and I’m still having moments of “This won’t do.� But you want to know something? I don’t feel stupid (And believe me Anthony and his friends make me feel moronic). I feel excited.
Am I saying I will never finish Anthony’s next book? Not at all. I’m still planning on it. Maybe once I get used to this Indie thing, once I figure out how to deal with the time/technology lag of 10+ years, when I know I have the time to research things important to characters which may not be so important to me, and once I know the book I finish will be one Anthony is proud of then I will finish book two.
How do you deal with Book Two Blues?
This might be one of the dumbest things an Indie writer can do, especially in speculative fiction. Shoot I’d advise an indie writer to have at least three ready to be publish books (in a series would be best) if you are looking to have a chance to break into the market. And I’m not doing it.
Oh! Believe me, I’ve started (about 5 years ago before I thought about indie publishing). Pretty good start too: Yema is recovering from a heart attack and tells Anthony she has talked to her dead husband (Anthony’s father), Robert Foxx has gone back to being Tickler, and Anthony runs into a Santeria group. I have plans for Curses, not your typical Vampires, and really silly Paranormal Investigators. All our favorite characters will hold some kind of role in the story. Not too bad of start.
So what’s stopping me? I’m not smart enough. When you come to the realization that all your characters are smarter than you are, this becomes a breakthrough in any therapy session a writer might be involved in. Seriously. The amount of research I have to do to give Georgia Peach a one line quip at times takes hours, let alone me describing some philosophy about the way to play poker.
For me, piling the research on top of marketing aspect of trying to be a relatively read author, completely throws me into a loop of dread. Simply I want to do Anthony proud. I want him to like my book in the end� How often is book two a disappointment even in a lengthy series? I don’t want the book two blues. I don’t want Anthony to hate me (and hence the therapy session—fearing hate from a fictional character).
Does this mean I’m not writing? Of course I am. I’m a third of the way done with a High Fantasy novel that has every cliché I could possibly dream of in such a book, (kinda proud of the sex scenes though). It’s rough, it has knights and demons, it has training sequences and Chivalry, it has everything I love in a book. And I’m still doing research and I’m still having moments of “This won’t do.� But you want to know something? I don’t feel stupid (And believe me Anthony and his friends make me feel moronic). I feel excited.
Am I saying I will never finish Anthony’s next book? Not at all. I’m still planning on it. Maybe once I get used to this Indie thing, once I figure out how to deal with the time/technology lag of 10+ years, when I know I have the time to research things important to characters which may not be so important to me, and once I know the book I finish will be one Anthony is proud of then I will finish book two.
How do you deal with Book Two Blues?
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