For anyone who missed my recent announcement on Facebook, you might be pleased to learn that I’m in the process of writing a sequel to Valerie. It was something that I was considering before I launched, feeling that there was more these characters wanted to do and say. As their author, the least I can do is listen to them.
I’ve always had an ambivalent attitude towards sequels. Sometimes, it feels as though there’s nothing new to be said and that inevitably leads to a book that doesn’t live up to the first one. That’s part of the reason why I’ve got twelve distinct novels in various stages of writing and rewriting – I was determined that I’d never be tempted to write a sequel just because it was easier than coming up with fresh ideas. That way, if I ever got the urge to develop a sequel, it’d be on genuine merit, not simply because I was worried about writing something new.
Valerie is very much a novel about a trio – Valerie, Max and Amy. The dynamics between those three are crucial to every chapter and every scene. It’s not just a love story, it’s a story about family and how families are formed, what they mean, how they function. There were some deliberate loose ends in Valerie, some ambivalence that mirrors real-life. I understand the need for happy endings (especially in fiction about lesbian characters), but life isn’t all hearts and flowers. My novels aim to grapple in the undergrowth of emotions and, perhaps, that’s where the best stories are.
As yet, I don’t have a release date for the sequel. I’m in the process of rewriting it and it’ll go through as many edits as it needs before I release it. There’s also something else in the pipeline which I’ll reveal in the coming weeks. Sign up to my mailing list to receive updates on my releases and monthly freebies during 2018.
One thing I can tell you now… The title to this sequel? ‘Amy’.
