After reading my 2024 holiday story The Boat Beggars, many of you reached out (thank you!) and asked, directly or otherwise, about the next novel. So today, I’m going to attempt to explain why it’s taking so damn long.
Like old friends, all the characters in Ferry to Cooperation Island didn’t stop making mistakes and plans and helping each other just because the first book was published. When another “outsider” showed up, I thought the sequel would come together relatively quickly. But even after many years of work, I still haven’t managed to weed out all the unnecessary (but very fun) details that distract from what many writers and editors call “the beam of the story.”
Last January, I hired an editor—and wondered if it was too soon. It probably would’ve been perfect timing, if not for the continued distractions of another very fun project; creating a book that tells the history of a boat called Hound. Three years ago, I expressed surprise at how all-consuming 100 Years of Gold Stars became: “Though non-fiction, it’s still a book only I could write; right at the intersection of my weird collection of skills, Where Books Meet Boats.” (Read more in The Gold Star of Writing Projects.) Now the Hound book is taking up the space in my brain usually reserved for fiction; once again, stepping out on my next novel to write non-fiction!
The Hound book will go to press in the fall, and it’s going to be my best yet… but (just as a wise writing friend predicted, more than two years ago) I simply can’t give the folks on Cooperation Island the attention they deserve until AFTER this project is completed. So for now, all I can say is: sit tight, dear readers! And if you haven’t yet read all of my books (fiction or otherwise), drop me an email and mention this blog for a special deal.
Meanwhile, thanks again for reaching out. Having an audience keeps me going, and I’ll try to do a better job of keeping you updated… even just to admit that it’s already taken too damned long.
Got a project you’ve been working on that isn’t coming together as fast as you’d like? I’d love to hear about it, and I read every single comment and email with gratitude. Thanks for being here, and see you next week.
Don’t beat yourself up. The world will do a good enough job of that. I’m one of those happily awaiting the arrival of a sequel to FERRY. Meanwhile, I am more aware than many of your readers how painfully long the gestation and birth process a work of fiction requires. Not everyone (speaking personally here 🙂 ) has a non-fiction project only she can write. the HOUND book will be a jim-dandy, and so will your sequel. I’m finding that being sure I keep POSTHUMOUS somehow in my head while I write nothing is helping with the rumination aspect of writing. I’m sure your readers are as patient as I. You don’t owe them a story, but they’ll be delighted when it arrives. Are you having a wet and wonderful winter? I’m in Nevis. It’s only been a few days, so I”m not angsting about not writing yet. But that will start. We’re writers, after all.