Once you have successfully completed, launched, and marketed your first book many authors start a new fresh book that is not anything like the last - other than the genre. Some are adventuresome and decide to try that new genre or go from fiction to non-fiction. The novelist doing a sequel may have the hardest job yet.
When writing a sequel you will be taking your well-known characters on a new journey. Usually you will have lost a few characters in your first book and will introduce some new friends, but for your readers sake you will keep the nuances of your old book, to satisfy your loyal reader.
Darlene Quinn is in the final edit stages of her sequel “Twisted Webs”. Like most authors, although Darlene is familiar her characters, sometimes new situations cause a character to show a new depth and dimension to their personality that went unchallenged in “Webs of Power”. So for both the reader and author reprising characters can be quite an adventure.
As an avid reader myself I believe sequels are one of the finest ways authors can garner loyal fans. Besides giving the reader a new opportunity to relive the experience of a beloved story, they feel a bond with the characters. Whether they loved or hated the character, at least for the hours it took to intimately share their lives, there is a wonderful feeling of being at home within the story and the characters.
Readers of ‘Webs of Power” will soon have the joy of delving into the sequel “Twisted Webs”, which will be released in September 2010. Like a familiar song, or a lovely scent that revives a fond memory, “Twisted Webs” will take you away from your current reality, just for a little while, and rekindle the relationships and friends you have missed.
~Kathy Porter