I just got another question about when I’m going to write another love story. I just love questions like this. What I told this person was the truth: my next novel, Ghostwriter, has a deep love story in it. It’s not going to remind a reader of The Notebook but there is still a compelling love story told in its pages.
The thing I didn’t say is what I want to say–I’ve written other love stories since The Promise Remains that haven’t seen light of day. I counted and found four that I’ve written. Two of them will remain in my closet until the end of time. They’re not dreadful but they’re not that special. Another is a majorly ambitious novel that will get overhauled one day down the road. That one is a very special story and as the years pass I make notes on how to make it better.
The final one is a story I spent all last year working on.
Will that story see light of day? Yes. Absolutely. The question of when and all those other nice details remain a mystery, but it will be part of my collection of stories that sit on a shelf.
This writing thing can be confusing. Because as I continue to get accolades on my ability to write supernatural suspense, I’ll continue to hear people say their absolute favorite book of mine is my first. I always want to tell people not to say that. Because in my mind there’s never going to be a Promise Remains 2. It would be impossible to recapture the spirit of that book (or really any book I’ve written for that matter).
Do I have more love stories I want to write? Yes, absolutely. And if given the time and the opportunity, some of those stories might see light of day, too. I think I have some great ideas. But I also have to deal with the slow-moving, ever-exasperating machinery of publishing.
And, oh yeah, the story I just started to write–it’s the scariest idea I’ve ever come up with. But that’s for another time . . .
Thrashie! I’ve just into this blogging thing. and i found yours.
I can hear you saying this blog entry outloud lol. When does Ghostwriter get released?
Hi Liz. How’s college life? I hope well. I’m teaching a writing workshop at Trinity on May 2–though you’ve heard me talk a lot about writing and publishing!! Cool to see you’re blogging. Keep it up.
Ghostwriter comes out May 28.
Hey–the name of the next book is Broken. After coming up with ten million title ideas we ended up going with my very original one (that fits).