Oh, Is It Teaser Tuesday Already?

Crow's Rest is getting close to ARCs, so I think I'll wait to post any teasers from it. ;)

BUT, I'm working on the sequel, No Man's Land, and thought I'd share something from it that I wrote last week:


The Court was one of the few fixed points in Faerie, a trait I was cursing right now since it meant an actual journey instead of willing ourselves there. At least the Queen took advantage of the approach to give travelers a hint of what they could expect: the way wound between dark and thorny trees, with sinister limbs crowding the road, until sudden clearings of breathtaking beauty opened before you.

And just when you were lulled into a sense of wonder and awe, you’d come around a bend and find a gibbet bearing the corpse of a unicorn—its dazzle rotting away into tufts of felted hide. 

What the hell could a unicorn have done to deserve that? Farted a rainbow in the queen’s direction, perfuming the air like fruit candy? 
 
Not a single view on the way to the Court was straightforward—always a flash of unbearable loveliness among the dark leaves, or a touch of blight among the delicate blooms. But where her design sense really held its own was the fanciful wall of briar roses that surrounded the Palace proper—a Rococo explosion of carven figures cavorting among the crepe blossoms and thorny vines.

A closer look—which I’d only braved once—revealed those figures weren’t so much cavorting as writhing in agony, as the briar rose slowly absorbed them and made the creatures part of its barrier. Why let your enemies’ heads shrivel on a pike, when this is so much more lasting? Preserved for every one of the victim’s families to pass by on their way to Court—a reminder of what it means to displease Queen Maeve.



Thanks for stopping by to read the teaser! :)

Second Book Syndrome

So I've started writing the sequel to Crow's Rest, tentatively entitled No Man's Land. Hooray for getting to spend more time in Avery's cluttered headspace!

But, like every book I've written, before I even started with the writing I was assaulted by doubts (which can all be boiled down to the fear "What if I've lost my mojo? Or what if I never had mojo and was able to delude myself up to this point???") and anxiety.

I've been able to quiet most of those with Plotting: I start with a 2-page synopsis, and then expand it into a more detailed outline (about 10 pages) from there. Then, if I've done the plotting correctly, writing the actual first draft feels like filling in the blanks.

That's overly simplified, of course, but it worked like a charm for Crow's Rest! The only new part in the equation is that No Man's Land will need to have its own arc, as well as fitting into the series arc.

It's kind of a pet peeve of mine if the middle book in a trilogy (though my books aren't a trilogy) feels more like a "to be continued" episode than a book that can stand on its own merits, so I'd really like to avoid that!

The best recent example I can think of for a 2nd book that stood on its own is The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson--loved how the main character continued to develop and grow, and the story did too. Any recommendations for other titles that fit the bill?