Friday Fun Facts: Tackling a Sequel

Yesterday I started playing around with a second novella to follow Tequila Sunrise, my 23K word story about 2 people who meet on a cruise ship and have to go back to very different worlds after 4 days at sea. Early on in that one, I thought it might be fun to write a second story using some of the minor characters. It's the first time I've ever done that, though readers often ask if/when I'll write a sequel to one of my novels.

It was interesting, to begin chapter 1 when I already knew a lot about the characters and the setting and the situation. Actually, it gave me some freedom to just jump into the first scene completely in the middle of action that was happening in the first book. Eliminated all that introductory stuff (the way you're supposed to, ideally), even though I know I do have to fill in a few blanks if people haven't read the first one.

Still, it was fun...in the opening pages, anyway. I know series/trilogies are very popular with readers, so it will be interesting to see where this goes. I'll keep you posted!

Writers' Wednesday: Sign up for the Symposium!

Two weeks left until Savvy Authors' Summer Symposium begins! Have you checked out all the offerings? My workshops, Prose Tightening 101 and Crafting the Query, will both run for 2 days, with chances for on-going discussion and Q&A from all participants. There is a huge variety of discussions/workshops from which to choose all week long, in addition to raffle prizes for all registered participants. Hope you'll take advantage of it! great way to jump-start and/or refresh your own writing :)

Monday Mentionables: Finishing, Researching, and Waiting for "The Help"

Finished my current WIP today, "Beacon of Love"!! Well, finished the first draft, anyway. But at 72K words, I'm thrilled with the way it turned out, especially the ways in which the characters developed. I have to give credit, again, to this page on agent Donald Maass's website. Every so often if I was feeling stuck, I'd peruse one (or a bunch) of his suggestions to deepen the scene/emotion/character/conflict, and inevitably it got me through some writer's block moments. Once I get some kind of blurb written for it, I'll share it here so you can get the gist of the story. I'm really happy with it :)

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In other news, the RWA Golden Heart (unpublished) and RITA (published) winners for 2011 were recently announced, and in the name of research I downloaded a few sample pages on my Nook of some of them. What better way to see what's selling and what's being loved by readers than to check out some big-time winners, right? Besides, I'm going on vacation next week and also have a couple of long plane rides coming up in September, so I need my Nook fully loaded! Any must-reads you'd recommend?

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Speaking of must-reads, I'm so excited that the movie version of "The Help" is coming out this week! Best book I read this year, hands-down. I can't wait to see how it translates to the big screen. Here's the trailer:



Happy Monday!