The title of I Wish #3 is Wish You Were Here.
This story starts four months after Wishing for You ends--and focuses on Sara Tucker. If you've read the first 2 books, you know that Sara is friends with Lacey and Kimberley and the twin sister of Sean. Grant returns to help Sara through the hardest summer of her life.
The first draft is done, and I'm revising it now. The book will go through several rounds of edits--with several editors and a team of beta readers. I expect to have it published in May 2016.
More to come...
Showing posts with label sequel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sequel. Show all posts
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Distracted by shiny things
I'm writing the first sequel to Whisper Falls. Its working title is A Whisper in Time, which I think the publisher will keep but you never know.
Contractually, I was given about nine months to write the first sequel. That sounded moderately terrifying although, of course, I did agree to the terms.
I am now a few short weeks away from the due date for the first draft. I had my writing schedule perfectly poised to meet that date, with two weeks allotted for a well-deserved break while my freelancer reviewed my new masterpiece. [This is a warning about the fragility of my ego, Miss Free Lancer.]
'The best-laid plans of mice and men...'
Last Saturday night, just about bedtime, I smiled with satisfaction as I saved off my manuscript. It was on track. I was happy. All was right with the world. I would check my email one more time before sleeping.
There was a brand new email in my inbox: Edits for Whisper Falls.
My husband saw the message and said, "Somebody is not going to sleep now."
He was so right. I was up until the wee hours of the morning reading through those edits. A week later, I'm still making my way through them. And that beautifully-arranged schedule for Sequel 1—totally mangled.
Here's hoping I catch up this weekend!
Contractually, I was given about nine months to write the first sequel. That sounded moderately terrifying although, of course, I did agree to the terms.
I am now a few short weeks away from the due date for the first draft. I had my writing schedule perfectly poised to meet that date, with two weeks allotted for a well-deserved break while my freelancer reviewed my new masterpiece. [This is a warning about the fragility of my ego, Miss Free Lancer.]
'The best-laid plans of mice and men...'
Last Saturday night, just about bedtime, I smiled with satisfaction as I saved off my manuscript. It was on track. I was happy. All was right with the world. I would check my email one more time before sleeping.
There was a brand new email in my inbox: Edits for Whisper Falls.
My husband saw the message and said, "Somebody is not going to sleep now."
He was so right. I was up until the wee hours of the morning reading through those edits. A week later, I'm still making my way through them. And that beautifully-arranged schedule for Sequel 1—totally mangled.
Here's hoping I catch up this weekend!
Sunday, November 25, 2012
A Place of Confidence
I've always loved eighteenth century history. When I was in elementary school, that time period seemed so romantic with its pioneering spirit, elegant balls, travel by carriage, and tea parties staged to quench the thirst for freedom.
Before I wrote Whisper Falls, I researched that period of history for six years, visiting historical sites and reading historical tomes. Along the way, I discovered just how brutal, frightening, and uncivilized that Colonial and Post-Revolutionary America could be. Reality only intensified my curiosity. What mindset did it take for the upper classes to not see the human beings who served them? How must it feel to believe in an ideal so fiercely that the possibility of forfeiting life, family, or fortune was deemed worth the sacrifice?
By the time I began writing Whisper Falls, I had saturated myself with learning about the people of the 1790s. I'd collected reams of data on their clothing, daily life, food, religion, and jobs. The quest for information continued as I wrote. Susanna (the heroine) was an eighteenth-century indentured servant. Mark (the hero) was a modern-day mountain bike racer. I am neither, so I had to research both. Two luxurious years elapsed between writing the first-word and making the first-sale.
For the sequel, I've had to compress the schedule dramatically. A Whisper in Time1 must be written and researched in nine months.
In the historical part of the second book, even though a new century has dawned, I assumed that my previous research still held. Wrong. America evolved a great deal during the ten-year span between 1795 and 1805. Politics, fashion, architecture, attitudes—all were changing.
In modern-day part of the sequel, I gave my protagonist an obstacle that involves Federal laws with little precedent, a government official of little imagination, and the thin line between truth and fact. The protagonist's struggle to wade through the maze of regulations and governing bodies became my struggle. The process of discovery nearly crippled me.
I hit the jackpot late last night. After weeks of battling websites and dense content, I finally connected the dots and figured out how the system works. Not surprisingly, it is boring, time-consuming, and often stupid. But it is possible to navigate.
For an author, knowing the system allows me to alter it. Poetic license is possible now that I understand.
The book has resumed writing itself. Once I've done the research—once I have complete access to the facts—only then I am free to write from a place of confidence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 A Whisper In Time is the working title for book two of the Whisper Falls trilogy.
Before I wrote Whisper Falls, I researched that period of history for six years, visiting historical sites and reading historical tomes. Along the way, I discovered just how brutal, frightening, and uncivilized that Colonial and Post-Revolutionary America could be. Reality only intensified my curiosity. What mindset did it take for the upper classes to not see the human beings who served them? How must it feel to believe in an ideal so fiercely that the possibility of forfeiting life, family, or fortune was deemed worth the sacrifice?
By the time I began writing Whisper Falls, I had saturated myself with learning about the people of the 1790s. I'd collected reams of data on their clothing, daily life, food, religion, and jobs. The quest for information continued as I wrote. Susanna (the heroine) was an eighteenth-century indentured servant. Mark (the hero) was a modern-day mountain bike racer. I am neither, so I had to research both. Two luxurious years elapsed between writing the first-word and making the first-sale.
For the sequel, I've had to compress the schedule dramatically. A Whisper in Time1 must be written and researched in nine months.
In the historical part of the second book, even though a new century has dawned, I assumed that my previous research still held. Wrong. America evolved a great deal during the ten-year span between 1795 and 1805. Politics, fashion, architecture, attitudes—all were changing.
In modern-day part of the sequel, I gave my protagonist an obstacle that involves Federal laws with little precedent, a government official of little imagination, and the thin line between truth and fact. The protagonist's struggle to wade through the maze of regulations and governing bodies became my struggle. The process of discovery nearly crippled me.
I hit the jackpot late last night. After weeks of battling websites and dense content, I finally connected the dots and figured out how the system works. Not surprisingly, it is boring, time-consuming, and often stupid. But it is possible to navigate.
For an author, knowing the system allows me to alter it. Poetic license is possible now that I understand.
The book has resumed writing itself. Once I've done the research—once I have complete access to the facts—only then I am free to write from a place of confidence.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Hitting the road
Book 2 is due next spring. Half of the story takes place in 2016; the other half circa 1800.
I've had a brainstorming session with the brilliant Laura. But, as I found with Whisper Falls, delving into the history often unfolds the story. It's all there, waiting to be discovered.
So I'm heading on a couple of road trips. First, daughter #2 and I will be traveling through eastern North Carolina, seeking out historical sites--hoping the land, buildings, and keepers-of-the-past share their wisdom.
Two weeks later, I'm heading to Virginia. One of my eighteenth-century characters earns her living as a seamstress. I'll explore the life styles, fashions, and textiles of that period in Richmond, Alexandria, McLean, and Mount Vernon. My amazing husband has offered to drive.
The only thing better than learning about American history is to experience it with my family. I can't wait.
I've had a brainstorming session with the brilliant Laura. But, as I found with Whisper Falls, delving into the history often unfolds the story. It's all there, waiting to be discovered.
So I'm heading on a couple of road trips. First, daughter #2 and I will be traveling through eastern North Carolina, seeking out historical sites--hoping the land, buildings, and keepers-of-the-past share their wisdom.
Two weeks later, I'm heading to Virginia. One of my eighteenth-century characters earns her living as a seamstress. I'll explore the life styles, fashions, and textiles of that period in Richmond, Alexandria, McLean, and Mount Vernon. My amazing husband has offered to drive.
The only thing better than learning about American history is to experience it with my family. I can't wait.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)