No sequel to Full of Fire
I'm a fighter. I'm into perseverance, hard work, and all that jazz. But I also believe in knowing when it's time to fold. There is peacefulness in knowing when you've tried long enough and can accept that it's time to move on.
And that is why there will not be a sequel to Full of Fire.
I tried. Really, I did.
I wrote 250 pages, sent them to my fabulous editor, and worked on all her revisions. But there was something missing. Je ne sais quoi wasn't there. And then I realized why.
Full of Fire was never meant to have a sequel. And I knew that before I started writing the second book. So why did I write it? Because I was listening to the people who reviewed the book or reached out to me and said "I wanted more." So I tried to make more. And here is where I learned two very valuable lessons.
Lesson one: There can be no series if the arc is not long enough. Translation: The central conflict in book one is solved by the end. If the arc is a rainbow, then Lila and Xavier have reached the end of the rainbow.
Lesson two: In this particular genre, readers want solid endings. To go with my rainbow analogy, they want the pot of gold at the end. They want to know, without a doubt, the happily ever after has been obtained. And this was what some people meant by 'more'.
After months of toiling, one night I was getting ready for bed and it hit me. An epilogue. That is what readers will need to get them to the nirvana they have been waiting for through 300 pages (depending on your e-reader's settings). So that's what I did.
No Full of Fire Book Two. But I added an epilogue to Full of Fire, and also a more graphic sex scene. That's another lesson I learned when I read a few of the books in the New Adult and College genre. The content is 'mature'. My new scene isn't as 'mature' as the ones I've read, but it's as far as I'm willing to go. And not because I have a problem with graphic sex scenes. Just because I would die of mortification if my dad knew something like that came from my brain.
So, there it is. And if you've already read Full of Fire and would like the updated version, let me know and I can send it to you.
My next work, The Day He Went Away, will be released on November 10th, 2016. It's a departure from a straight romance like Full of Fire, but it's very close to my heart. Stay tuned to this blog for why I wrote that one.
