Another Reason Why I’ve Delayed My Sequel…

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authors, book sequels, books, depression, hell, job from hell, mental health, mental illness, sequels, vampires, writing, writing a book, writing a novel

Before I start, I just want to make a couple of announcements:

First off, I will be blogging every Friday for now on. This is to gain momentum for the sequel to my first book, which by the way, is coming along smoothly. I’ve recently finished the first draft to Chapter 7, and have begun Chapter 8. That means I am about halfway, or more, done with the first draft! If all goes well – and I think it will – I’ll have the book published by February 2018.

If I do, it would mean I let five and a half years go by between my first book and its sequel. That’s a long time for an author to take a break between books within a series. I’ve written a lot about my insecurities with writing this sequel, as well as financial reasons for not going forward with it. But I had other reasons for not working much on this book.

It all started when I first moved to Brooklyn in May 2013. From there, I got busy adjusting to life on my own, and job searching. I mentioned on this blog that my job hunt was taking away from my writing, but I had to do with what I had to do. Eventually, I did find a job in the spring of 2014. At first, I was delighted with my new job at this small arts school. But very quickly, I soon realized I was in the job from hell.

And I mean, hell. Everything you can think of that can go wrong at a job happened. For starters, it was a shady place with rumors of grant money being pocketed, parents not seeing their money going where it was supposed to go, embezzlement, you name it. The owners of the school were abusive – verbally, emotionally and psychologically. There was also harassment and slander going on. The turnover rate was very high, and there was always a wonder when the IRS would show up. I was there for 15 months before leaving, or rather, running away from the place. Soon after, I sued my former employer in small claims court for tax fraud. We settled out of court, with me getting everything I asked.

Those 15 months took a huge toll on me. Everyday I would come home miserable, angry or even totally depressed. The strain of working at an abusive workplace caused me to have a mental breakdown. It also caused me to not have the energy to do any kind of writing. I believe that if I had not taken that job, I would have finished my sequel by now, and it would’ve been released by now.

So, that was 15 months taken away from writing. Granted, I was starting to have doubts about whether I wanted to continue writing anything fictional anymore when I first began the job. I was going through some personal changes and self-discovery, and was realizing where else I could point my writing skills towards. It is important not to put your talents or skills into a single box, and to know that your talents and skills could be used for multiple things. Basically, it is not the end of the world if you do not write a book.

But I still like creating characters, writing stories, making up worlds. It may not be the sole purpose to my existence, but it is a part of it. I have learned that I have other talents and abilities to add color to my life, and I intend to use them for places that deserve them.

At the same time, it is important to not waste your time at a job, or relationship, or anything, that sucks the life out of you. Life is short, and you are precious human being. There’s no reason to waste your self-worth on someone or something that doesn’t respect you.

And if you want to create, paint, dance, act…whichever, it is important that your mind is in the right place. Creativity is like a plant: If it doesn’t get sun, it withers. Bad energy blocks creativity, and it makes it wither.

So, there you go. One of the many reasons why my sequel to The Dark Proposal has been delayed. I hope what I told you here will be of help to you!

When It Comes To Writing, Don’t Overdo It

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art of writing, authors, book sequels, novelists, On Writing, the craft of writing, the writing process, vampires, writers, writing, writing a book, writing a novel, writing a story, writing advice

Writing a book teaches you a lot of things. You think you know, but you don’t know, and writing a book is quite an experience.

Writing a sequel is the same thing, only more. You continue to grow as a writer, while also learning tons about writing a follow-up.

Click here for original image on Jim Delorey’s website

One thing I am learning about writing a sequel is, don’t overdo it.

Heck, you shouldn’t overdo it when you write a first or stand-alone book.

But as I write my sequel, I realize there are times when I lose focus and I start to overdo it with my storytelling. Writing a sequel means picking up where you left off with the first book, and carrying on into another story or extending with the first book’s story. It is not as easy as it sounds. Especially when you realize there were some things that could’ve gone into the first book, and now you’re mentioning it in the second book.

And then you realize others things could be brought up. It’s like opening a can of worms when you write.

As I mentioned in my post about writing about vampires, world building is so much fun. But at times, it can be too much fun, and you might lose direction. That was a problem I had writing my sequel; I was having too much fun exploring the vampire world that I lost track of what I wanted the story to be about. When I revisited my work recently, I saw this and had to delete or re-arrange a few things.

Writing a story is so much fun. Writing a book is such a delight. But don’t try too hard. Don’t overdo anything. You can lose track and overwhelm yourself, your characters and the story altogether.

 

The Next Big Thing – I’ve Been Tagged!

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authors, book sequels, books, indie writers, tagged blogs, the writing process, writers

You may have heard about the latest blog trend where authors “tag” each other and have them write about themselves and their work. It is kind of a way to help readers get to know authors.

Well, fellow author Rob Watts tagged me for The Next Big Thing. I accepted his tag and here I go with the questions:

1) What is the title of your next book/work?
I am currently working on the sequel to my first book, “The Dark Proposal” and it looks like I’ll be calling it “Blood Ties”.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book/work?
I knew I wanted to write a trilogy when I came up with the idea for my first book. I had two ideas for a vampire story and I figured it would be best to combine the two. “Blood Ties” will essentially be about how Claire McCormick adjusts to being a vampire while trying to maintain her humanity. She has to choose to be loyal to her fellow vampires – remember she never really wanted to be one – or be loyal to humanity. Life is getting tougher for vampires and she has to decide who’s side she is on.

3) What genre does your book/work fall under?
My book is an Urban Fantasy.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Good question because I usually envision actors playing my characters if they ever came to the big screen. Maybe for the role of Daniel, I would choose Tom Weston-Jones who is on the BBC America show Copper. He looks similar to the way I described Daniel, he is about the age Daniel turned into a vampire, and I think he can play the conniving, cold character my antagonist is.

As for Claire, there are some actresses I think fit her physically, but I do not know if they can pull off her personality.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A young woman is forced by her vampire boyfriend to choose eternity, or death to those she loves.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I’ll be honest. Although I self-published my first book, I’m looking for a small publishing house for the sequel. This is because self-publishing is very time consuming, which is tough when you have a full time job (I didn’t have one when I released “The Dark Proposal”). So to save time and energy, I hope to find a publisher to release my books.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
About five months. I tend to edit as I write, so I would say I came to the finishing line of my novel in five months. After that, I did more editing before turning it over to a freelance editor.

8)What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Hard to say because Urban Fantasy books tend to be more romance focused with the vampires as good beings who are unhappy with what they are. Mine is the total opposite of that.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Firstly, I always wanted to write a vampire novel because they are fascinating beings. I was inspired to write this story while watching True Blood last year and I used to fantasize about a sexy vampire coming into my life. But then I realized vampires are evil beings, so from there I wrote about the dilemma and trauma of a young woman discovering her boyfriend is a vampire.

Secondly, I’ve always wondered why vampires seem to elude investigators and hunters despite all the technology out there. It is much easier to track down criminals then compared to 20 years ago, so if vampires existed, wouldn’t they be more easily caught? I would think a vampire would be baffled with the way human technology has evolved, and might feel threatened by it.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
It’s quick, gets straight to the point. No over descriptions, and I made sure every scene and every word counted.

Again, thanks to Rob Watts for tagging me!

Now its my turn: Lauren Blakely has a New Adult novel coming out next month, so I thought she would be a good choice. Here’s a link to her blog: http://laurenblakelybooks.blogspot.com/

Tag, Lauren!