Dude, where’s your sequel?

Note: This blog was originally published on my MySpace blog, May 15, 2008.

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I'm currently working on One Good Verse, the sequel to One Good Hand(gamblers, yaoi, hot hot guys. Mmm). People have asked after it (fan mail rocks!), and I finally seem to have gotten my writing mojo back, so it's truckin' along a lot faster than it was previously. Feels good. But, hmm...

I've never written a sequel before. Sure, when I start a story I usually have a whole world in mind. Sometimes I have a series arc from the get-go, and other times things develop over the course of writing the first book. Often I storyboard subsequent novels to make sure I don't forget the finer points. But with One Good Verse I realized in a quiet sort of rush that this is the first time I'd actually tried to put down a bonafide sequel.

The idea is, well, freaking daunting.

I wonder if the second book will do the first justice. I wonder if readers will like Anthony and Michael as much as they did Ace and Spade. I wonder if I've totally lost the ability to write.

Okay, I go through that third one with all my books, but still.

All this is exacerbated by this warped delusion I have that I'm a lazy bum that's unable to finish anything. Logically, I know this just isn't true. Want Me came out early this year. The re-release (and omg, overhauled) edition of Warm Rush: Chasing Winter is tentatively slated for this summer. I have several stories nearing completion.

Still, it feels good to finish things, and I'm working hard to complete One Good Verse because I think it's a sweet book with just the right amount of angst. I adore Anthony and Michael, who both seem perfect on the outside but have some pretty substantial flaws when you dig a little deeper. I hope readers find them as fascinating as I do. Of course, I won't find that out until it's done and read.

So I'd like to know—Have you ever had a crisis of faith when writing a sequel? Or, if you're not a writer, have you ever hesitated to do something a second time for fear of not living up to the first project? If so, I'd love to hear about it and how you got over the hurtle. Would definitely help me get over these insecurities, knowing others go through the same thing. Less insecurity = More writing. And I'm all about more writing.