Today at the YA Indie Carnival we’re talking about our experiences either reading, writing or reviewing sequels. I’m writing my first series now: The Teen Halloween Series & The Starjump Series. In the dozen or so years that I’ve been writing fiction, I’ve always written stand alone novels, so this is all very new to me. Here are a few challenges I’ve found in writing the sequels.
A very practical matter is how to design the covers. I didn’t set out to write a series when I penned 13 ON HALLOWEEN. It all came together organically at the end of the story. At that point, I knew that the scope of Roxie’s story was bigger than one book. Never having written a series before, I didn’t really think about the book 2 cover when I designed the cover for 13 ON HALLOWEEN. I fell in love with the quiet strength of Roxie, the main character, portrayed on 13 ON HALLOWEEN’S cover. I saw the image and just new she was the perfect Roxie for 13 ON HALLOWEEN. In 14 ON HALLOWEEN Roxie has grown up a little bit, and she’s got a lot on her plate for a 14 year old. There’s a lot of growth that happens in a teenager’s face from 12 to 16. So I knew that I didn’t want to use the same model over and over.
I have two favorite pictures that hang in my house. In each frame I’ve put the school photos of my girls from kindergarten to senior year in high school. They are the photos that get the most attention when visitors come over. That so many years of a life is housed in one single frame is incredible. Breathtaking.
So I want the covers for the series to reflect Roxie’s physical growth, but also her growth in confidence and strength. This is something that is so important to me as an author and I never anticipated it would take so much of my time and attention. But I do truly love it. I couldn’t imagine not having control over this aspect of the story. I’ve designed lots of versions of the 14 on HALLOWEEN cover. I sort of fell in love with one of the versions and thought that was it, but after I got lots of feedback it just didn’t work for a variety of reasons. I kept at it and I’m really excited with the turn the cover took and I hope you are too. I plan on revealing the cover mid-May.
Of course, it would be nice to have a book to go with it. LOL! That’s been the real hard part. In fantasy there is so much to keep track of, I find. The limits to the worlds I’ve created. Keeping track of seemingly millions of little details. How this world grows and changes from 13 ON HALLOWEEN to 14 ON HALLOWEEN has been my biggest challenge in writing the sequel. Taking it and adding to it in ways that make sense for the characters and the fictional world that they occupy. This has been my greatest challenge as a writer so far. I love it, but it also keeps me up nights too.
As a matter of fact the other day I had to get out all of the details swimming around in my head, so I asked hubby if he was ready for a philosophical conversation about the world that our alter egos inhabit. LOL! It was fun and intriguing, but most of all it was great to actually talk about the story out loud with another person. This has helped most of all in my process. A little chat now and again about the fictional worlds I’m trying to create. This has become part of my process.
Thanks for stopping by Laurasmagicday today! Be sure to stop by the the rest of the carnis who have much more experience than I in this particular realm:) I hope you enjoy their take on the sequel!