Writing a Sequel

As every writer knows, it's the small things that make our day. Coffee. A few uninterrupted hours in which to write. A 5* review from a reader. Getting paid. (note: this list is in random order and not in order of importance. You get the picture). One of the biggies is the state of Having Written. You've done it again, produced a 100,000 words that hang together into something coherent and maybe, just maybe, quite good. But for me at this moment in time, it's not just the HW. It's Having Written a Sequel. 

Now, for those of you who've never written a sequel, you'll be thinking "What's the big deal? It's just another novel and novel writing is hard. Full stop." Just what I thought. Until I started to write one and found that there is a whole weight of expectations and problems attached to writing a second novel. I have other (unpublished) novels under my belt, so it's not like I can't produce novels. Let me explain.

1. Second Novel Syndrome

As an unpublished writer, I believed the hard climbs were to 1. Get an agent (done) 2. Get a publishing deal (done). 3. Have great sales (done). Once I had achieved those three, then the rest would be easy. Nobody told me about Second Novel Syndrome. The thing that happens when a second novel isn't as good as the first. When it fails to deliver the promise of the sparkling debut. When you basically, as a writer, fall on your behind and it's clear to all that yes, you had a novel in you. But it was just the one. 

So with your second book, the game is on. You absolutely have to get it right. And weirdly, the more successful your debut, the more pressure there is for the next one to be as good and ideally, better. Oh, and other thing, said the sage advice I found online: don't try and do it with a sequel. Because writing a decent sequel is really difficult.  Problem was, my historical thriller The Fifth Knight was a #1 Bestseller on charts on different Amazon sites. It had loads of 5* and 4* reviews. And I was trying to write a sequel to it, called The Blood of The Fifth Knight. Oh, indeed.

Same Again, Please

2. Of Course I Can Do It Again. (Or, Oh, No You Can't.)

What cheered me about being an agented, published author was that I no longer had to produce the whole novel before it could go out on submission. All I needed was 30,000 words and a detailed synopsis. Easy-peasy. I always do a basic scene by scene synopsis, but not this time. No. I was going to write a beautifully constructed three-act synopsis. I was going to show detailed character development, perfect plot arcs. I was going to develop my skills in my genre of historical thrillers and make this a weighty read. I wrote said synopsis. And a tiny voice in my head whispered: "This is boring." "Hah!" I replied to the voice in my head. "It is not boring at all. See, how authentic and gritty and...historical and proper it is."

So I wrote my 30,000 words based faithfully on said synopsis. I sent both to my agent and the second I pressed send, I admitted to the voice. "Yep. it's boring." I hoped my agent wouldn't notice. I allowed my spouse the first read simultaneously. He said it was frequently boring. My agent was more tactful (Great writing, but...) But yes, it's boring. So he had noticed. Damn. But my agent was also spot on in reflecting back the bits that weren't boring at all. That worked for him as a reader. That were true to The Fifth Knight. I had to do more of that. Much more. And he wasn't sending it anywhere until I had. 

My delete button took care of 20,000 words. And I couldn't have been happier. I stopped trying to write what I thought I should write and wrote what I enjoyed. Out went a famine. In came a leopard. (Yes, really. Historical fact. I promise). And we were back on.

3. How To Make  A Rod For Your Own Back:

Most of the action in The Fifth Knight took place in December 1170/January 1171, with the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral and its aftermath. I added a nice epilogue from July 1174, with King Henry II doing penance on the streets of Canterbury for his murder. I had included that because a sequel hadn't been on my mind then. 

But the sequel takes up where that scene left off, with an enormous amount of political upheaval that had taken place in the preceding years. And I had characters that had to start off from this three-years-later point. And I had to incorporate a credible story line about what had happened in those intervening years as well as start a brand new premise for the new novel. It was the singularly most complex plotting exercise that I had ever done. I must have redone that plotting jigsaw dozens of times.

One jump from the dog and it would've been disaster.

If I had left that epilogue out, I would have had far more freedom to move to the next story. My turn for sage advice: leave the narrative door a bit further open for the next stage of a story. You may well be glad you did.

And I fretted and fretted over those complexities, the time shifts, the points of view. Was this now really working or was I boring everyone again? Admittedly the tiny voice in my head had gone quiet, but it might have just fallen asleep. Agent and spouse reported back, very happy, as did beta-readers. But all of that is for naught unless an editor likes it.

4. Thank You, Writing Gods.

So the e-mail from the editor comes, as it inevitably does. I don't know how you read something with your eyes screwed shut, but I did. And she said: 

"Congratulations – this is a brilliant historical thriller, I absolutely loved it and was drawn in from the first page. The action is exciting, the plot is twisty and you create a brilliant sense of the period... I really enjoyed reading it and don’t think that you need to do very much work here at all."

 Yes, not only have I managed to write a sequel to my #1 selling historical thriller The Fifth Knight, I have managed to write one that the editor really likes. Let there be dancing, happiness and above all, a colossal sigh of relief. As for not needing to do very much work on it? I think I'm best described as a front loader.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Update from April 2016: The Blood of the Fifth Knight has so far sold over 30,000 copies. Thank you indeed, Writing Gods. And thank you, readers, an awful lot more!

Meet My Main Character Blog Hop

In this latest game of tag for historical fiction authors on the blogosphere, we introduce the main character of our work in progress or soon to be published novel. I’ve been tagged by Dianne Ascroft who talks about the characters in her fascinating World War II work-in-progress. You can read her post here. So time for me to rewind a further seven hundred-plus years to answer some questions about my current main character.

1. What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historical figure/person?

As my soon-to-be-published novel is the sequel to The Fifth Knight, my hero is once again mercenary knight, Sir Benedict Palmer. It was his first outing (and mine!) in the world of published fiction. And while he is fictional, many other characters and events are not. The sequel is called The Blood of The Fifth Knight and will be published by Thomas & Mercer on December 09 2014 (find it here!). Again, I've used real events to inspire the story.

2) When and where is the story set?

The story takes up exactly where The Fifth Knight ended. It's 1174 and King Henry II is doing his brutal penance on the streets of Canterbury for the murder of Thomas Becket. The King's throne is under threat from a rebellion, which puts Palmer and his family in danger too.

3) What should we know about him/her?

Aidan Turner- Palmer Nominee!

Readers of The Fifth Knight will know Palmer has got to where he is in life by talent as well as his quick wits. As for physical description, he's now in his late twenties, well-built with dark hair and eyes. That was as far as I went with his physical description. It was fun hearing from readers who suggested their own take on him. I think my favourite suggestion is Aidan Turner. Check out his IMDb page at  http://www.imdb.com/ (where this picture came from). You may be persuaded too!

4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his  life?

Palmer fought for and won the love of his life, the anchoress Theodosia. He wants to stay by her side and with his children. But Henry calls him back for a new mission. Someone is trying to murder Henry's beautiful young mistress, Rosamund Clifford. (She was a real person- she's often referred to as the Fair Rosamund in popular culture.) The King only trusts Palmer to root out who is responsible.

5) What is the personal goal of the character?

Palmer wants to solve the crime and get home to his family. But the attacks on Rosamund don't stop and things take a major turn for the worst for Palmer.

6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

As I've said, the book is called The Blood of The Fifth Knight. Some one asked me if it means 'blood' as in family or 'blood' as in the red stuff getting spilled. Same answer here: you'll have to read to find out, and you'll be able to do that late in 2014!

I'm now tagging three more great Historical Fiction authors who will post their answers to these questions on Monday 26 may 2014. They are:

Judith Arnopp

Judith Arnopp is the author of several historical novels. In 2007 Judith Arnopp graduated from the University of Wales, Lampeter with a BA in English Literature and a Masters in Medieval Studies; she now combines those skills to write historical novels. She is currently working on a third Tudor novel Intractable Heart, the tale of Henry’s sixth and last wife, Katherine Parr.

Judith also blogs about the Tudor period, both on her own blog-page and on the English Historical Fiction Author’s website. Her work reaches a world-wide audience and her following is steadily increasing.

www.juditharnopp.com

Blog:http://juditharnoppnovelist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/my-next-novel-intractable-heart-story.html

Elizabeth Kales

Elizabeth Kales is the author of The Silk Weaver's daughter. She began her career by writing television and radio advertising for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Later she worked in the travel industry for many years and had numerous articles published in newspapers and trade journals. After spending time in France and England, she began to write her novels based loosely on the family history she had done for over twenty years. She currently lives in Western Canada with her husband and her cat.

Find her on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elizabeth-Kales-Historical-Fiction-Author/162523173836376?ref=br_rs

She blogs at: http://albetkales.blogspot.ca/

Matthew Harffy

Matthew Harffy is writing a series of novels set in seventh century Northumbria. In his day job he is a manager of fifteen technical writers, so spends all day writing and editing, just not the words he’s most interested in! Prior to that he worked in Spain as an English teacher and translator. He has co-authored seven published academic articles, ranging in topic from the ecological impact of mining to the construction of a marble pipe organ. When not writing, or spending time with his family, Matthew sings in a rock band (http://www.rockdogband.co.uk).

Website: http://www.matthewharffy.com

Blog: http://bernicia-chronicles.blogspot.co.uk/

The Fifth Knight is a #1 Bestselling Historical Thriller. Find it here on Amazon.com and here on Amazon.co.uk. The Blood of The Fifth Knight will be published by Thomas & Mercer on December 09 2014. Find it here!

The Writing Process Blog Hop

When historical fiction author Matthew Harffy put a call out on Twitter recently asking for authors to take part in a Blog Hop, I jumped at the chance. The title of this Hop series is called The Writing Process, where writers answer four set questions about that topic. It's a subject very dear to my heart as I love seeing how others writers wrestle with the uncooperative and slippery mass of tentacles that is our craft. Matthew has written his and you can read all about it here. He has tagged me and so now it's my turn! At the end of this post, you'll see my great tagees, Dianne Ascroft, Jo Chumas and Ginger Myrick. They'll be posting on 28 April 2014. (Note: tagees is not a word and it upsets the spell checker. But since my writing involves the twelfth century, the spell checker gets upset by my word use a lot. I have come to ignore it, which is actually quite a risky approach. You can have that hint for free.) Now to the questions...

1. What am I working on?

The sequel to The Fifth Knight, which was a #1 Bestselling Historical Thriller on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. In The Fifth Knight, Sir Benedict Palmer fights alongside the four knights who murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170

The sequel is called The Blood of The Fifth Knight. Set four years later in 1174, an unknown assassin tries to take the life of Rosamund Clifford, King Henry II’s beautiful young mistress.  The king summons back Sir Benedict Palmer, the only man he can trust to root out who is

responsible.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Many (but of course, not all) books about this time period focus almost exclusively on male characters. I read one recently which was brilliantly written and had a wonderful plot and involved the characters travelling some 1,000 miles. But the only female human they encountered in the whole book was a washerwoman by a river in the distance. That doesn't work for me. I have female characters playing just as important a role as the male ones. My heroine in The Fifth Knight is an anchoress, a young nun cloistered in the walls of Canterbury Cathedral. I can guarantee she takes centre stage on a regular basis, as she does in the sequel. And my books are speculative fiction: I like to take the facts as they are known and bring in my own 'what ifs?' 

And I know this question is about difference, but I have to mention my joy (and surprise!) about who readers and reviewers have compared my writing to. The great Ken Follett has been mentioned quite a few times. On those days, I am extremely chuffed. 

3. Why do I write what I do?

Because I love everything medieval. And I love thrillers. And this writing game is hard work, with hour after hour put in to make sure my story is the best it can be. I can't imagine doing that if it was a genre I had little interest in. And if I'm boring myself, what would that do to a reader?

4. How does my writing process work?

Like with any historical writer, it starts with research. I'm fortunate to live in the UK, where I've been able to visit some of the sites where the action in my books takes place. 

Knaresborough Castle in North Yorkshire. History relates the knights fled here after Becket's murder.

It's a gift to be able to walk in the footsteps of your characters but it's only one small aspect of the research that I do. I use non-fiction books, scholarly articles, history magazines, blogs, internet searches, expert opinion, the literature, poetry and songs of the time- in short, the standard list that any writer serious about historical fiction uses. I can get carried away. It usually looks like this:

Research Avalanche!

This was a day when I was trying to figure out if a monk could be a monk or whether he should be a parish priest. That fact check only took about six hours. I'm happy I have the issue of parochial benefices and advowsons nailed. But no doubt someone will take a Dim View and let me know it. (Note: this is part and parcel of writing Historical Fiction. If you own any replica armour, you should probably wear it before you read some reviews). 

Suitably researched, it's then time for me to start plotting. Confession time: I am a die-hard control freak who has to know what's happening at every moment of every day. And I like to plot as well (heh). But I could never inhabit the world of the pantser. I admire them to the tips of my toes but I could never cut loose like they do. I did it with my first novel. It is an experiment that will never, ever be repeated. And the loft is already full of failed versions of the MS and rejection letters. So here's the E.M. Powell synopsis plotting tool:

Scene By Scene Synopsis

Yep, every scene in The Blood of The Fifth Knight. All written up in advance, with POV, location, action and some dialogue. This comes in at about 10,000 words. And then I start writing. You will note from the pen marks on this a certain level of fury with it. So it still doesn't flipping work. But it's a start.

Then it's written. Don't know how it happens but after several months of caffeine, weeping, more fury, and an exhausted delete button, it's there. All 100,000 words. A few trusted souls are allowed to see it: Spouse, Agent plus three trusted Beta-readers.  They give their wise opinions about the Big Picture stuff. And they are always right. Then it's time to start editing. Every single scene has to be polished to be the best it can be. This involves highlighters, more caffeine and a pen. Reading on screen is fine. But I have to see it on the page. The result? Take a look:

Editing Blitz

Each highlighter represents a different sense so I can see if I have the balance right, and to check am I bringing the reader right into my world. Usually it isn't and I'm not. Repeat this process until the MS is prised from my cold, deadened hands by the submission date. 

So there's my Writing Process, warts and all. Mostly warts. Did I mention I love it? 

I'm now tagging three other wonderful writers who'll be telling you all about their Writing Process next week. They are (drum roll):

Dianne Ascroft

Dianne writes contemporary and historical fiction with an Irish connection. Her books include a short story collection, Dancing Shadows, Tramping Hooves and an historical novel, Hitler and Mars Bars. Her articles and stories have been printed in Irish and Canadian magazines and newspapers as well as various anthologies. An urban Canadian, she has settled in rural Northern Ireland with her husband and an assortment of strong willed animals. Online she lurks and blogs  at www.dianneascroft.wordpress.com. 

Jo Chumas:

Jo won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (Thriller/Suspense category) in 2013 for her historical novel The Hidden, picking up a publishing contract from Thomas & Mercer (Amazon Publishing) and a very nice advance. Jo’s been writing novels for 17 years (she’s written five novels), and has been a journalist and commercial writer for 20. Her next novel The Unforgiven – a sequel to The Hidden – is another mystery thriller. When Jo’s not busy writing she loves climbing hills, watching stand-up comedy, going to the theatre and collecting antiquarian books, generally on different days of the week. www.jochumas.com

Ginger Myrick:

Winner of the Rosetta Literary Contest 2012, Ginger is the self-published author of five novels: But for the Grace of God, Work of Art, The Welsh Healer, El Rey, and the upcoming Insatiable: A Macabre History of France ~ Marie Antoinette. A Christian who writes meticulously researched historical fiction with a ‘clean’ love story at the core, she hopes to show the reading community that a romance need not include graphic details to convey deep love and passion. http://gingermyrick.com

Make sure you check out their blogs- and their books!

The Fifth Knight is published by Thomas & Mercer and is a #1 Bestseller on Amazon charts. You can check it out on Amazon. com here or here on Amazon.co.uk here.  The sequel, The Blood of The Fifth Knight will be released by Thomas & Mercer on January 1st 2015. Find it here.