Second Book-itis

Yes, that is what I have. A bad case of ‘I’ve written my first book, and I’m really pleased with it but now I have to follow it up, and I’m wondering if my first book was just a fluke and I’m not going to be able to match it with this one.’ Truly!

Confidence is such a delicate little egg; easily cracked, often shattered. I gradually built up my confidence over the year it took to write Winter’s Fury. I had always imagined I would get stuck into writing ‘the book’ one day, but when that day actually came it was physically and mentally harder than I’d ever imagined. Writing became like exercise to me. In the beginning, I was very out of shape and struggled to form sentences, let alone paragraphs. But by writing for an hour or so a day, I was able to build up some writing fitness and confidence. By the end of the book, I could write 25 pages in a day if I needed to, which was a long way from the half page I had struggled through at the start!

So now, after months of working through the editing process and giving birth to book number one, I’m back on my keyboard, working on book number two, and it’s proving harder than I imagined to get back into the swing of word forming. My head is humming away with ideas, new characters to develop, a new kingdom to explore, but that’s when it starts to get a little daunting. Juggling so many characters and plotlines becomes a bit like walking a tightrope, and I’m not very good with heights! But, I’m hoping that less thinking and more doing will see me through this unsettling case of ‘Second Book-itis’.

If I put one foot in front of the other, or in this case, one word after the other, bit by bit I am going to end up with a story. Right? And hopefully, one that keeps everybody just as excited about Jael and Eadmund and the intriguing tangle of characters and plots as Winter’s Fury has.

So, the journey begins. I’m officially on the road to The Broken Vow… watch this space!