It's been a little while since I've blogged, but it's stuff I've been needing to tell you guys about. There are some changes and some news... so here we go!
Decisions on Sequels
After I wrote Here All Along, my first published story, a friend who read it said how much she would love to read more about Adrian and Hazel. When others voiced the same thing, it got me to thinking about what could happen next for them and I came up with an idea for a sequel. The same thing happened with More Than Words. I put the sequels up on on Goodreads and had plans to get to them soon.However, every time I would sit down to outline, the stories weren't working the way I wanted them to. Some of it would be good, fun, and amusing, but as far as the plot goes, it was falling apart. I felt like each story was being forced. The ideas themselves
weren't forced, but the conflict was. Since I have a strong dislike for forced conflict, it made me wonder whether the stories should even be written.
So, after much deliberation, I've decided that I will not be writing sequels to Here All Along or More Than Words. Both of the sequels (titled Here We Are and More Than Anything) have been removed from Goodreads.
This doesn't mean that I'm never going to write about the characters in these stories again. Some of the brainstorming I did for sequels was great. I've been considering writing short stories about them at some point, so there's a chance you'll still get the opportunity to read more about Adrian, Hazel, Dana, and Landon, just not in novella/novel form.
As far as the Resist series goes, those plans are up in the air as well. I've been going over ideas for what happens next, but still haven't decided where to go. I'm definitely not done with Allegra and Devlin (not by a long shot!), so you will see something, even if it's a short story.
Paperback Copies
Since the Glass City Author Event is coming soon (this October on the 8th!), I need to get paperback copies of my books to have at my table (since the only one I have is Unexpected). Right now, I'm saving up the money to get them all done. The original plan was to get Resist, Longing, and Can't Stay Away in paperback. I've now added one more: a combination of More Than Words and Here All Along. Since the two of them alone are too short to be individual paperbacks, I figured I might as well just put them both together. That way I can have ALL of my books available in paperback form, which is pretty flippin' sweet. The combination book of MTW and HAA will have the cover of More Than Words, with an added note on the cover that Here All Along is included.I'm crossing my fingers that I can have all of these done by the end of the summer. I definitely need to get them by the beginning of September to have physical copies in my hands in time for the event. So I will keep you posted on this in case you're interested in getting copies of one or more of the above in paperback.
Plans for the rest of 2016
Ahhh... 2016. I started the year with all these publishing plans in mind. I wanted to write a short story or two, get started on the sequels I mentioned above and publish one, and then get another story written and published either end of the year or early 2017. I tend to aim higher than I'm capable of, so I was completely fine with taking my time and seeing what I can do.The beginning of this year hasn't exactly gone as expected. Nothing major, just a few bumps in the road and issues with moving, adjusting finances... but the biggest roadblock has been me. I've been struggling with a little bit of depression. My motivation has kind of slowed down. I haven't written since publishing Can't Stay Away. Well, I haven't taken the time to sit down and write for even 5 minutes. I have made notes for stories in my phone, but that's it.
It's a major bummer because I LOVE WRITING and I hate that I haven't been able to write. I've been slowly starting to feel better, though. I'm convincing myself to set aside 10-15 minutes a day to write, even if it's just free writing. Hopefully that'll get me back into the groove again.
So, my former plan for 2016 has changed to aiming for a winter themed novella by the end of the year. Cross your fingers with me that I can do this!
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Well, that's all for now, my dears. Hope everything is going well for you! Take care! <3
Sorry to hear you've been knocked down.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty bummed over May (and June!) as well, but I spent the majority of that time pushing myself to at least take down notes for any stories that would spring to mind.
Crossing my toes and fingers (and braids?) for that winter-themed novella!