The past few weeks my sisters, Katie and Elizabeth, and myself have been reading non-stop to kick off the start of summer. We have found some really fantastic new reads and authors that have led us to a whole other cache of new novels and authors. Bliss! Each new book we have discovered has been passed around between us, and I love our late night discussions on Elizabeth’s floor where we talked about the plot, characters, what we liked and disliked about the novel, our different views on the storyline, and who would get first dibs on the next book we were all waiting for (that usually doesn’t go so well).
We’ve also been subject to some fantastic flops, as well—the kinds of books that you have to force yourself to finish because you are convinced that no novel could really be that awful, and maybe if you just push through to the end, it will get better. Then when it really is as bad as you originally thought, without improving in the slightest, you wonder why on earth you wasted all that time. Yes, we’ve had plenty of those this summer, but the brighter novels and series we’ve discovered have been devoured with relish and caused us to forget those dark, dark hours spent reading such disappointing material. However, much to our chagrin, most of these new series and trilogies are only on their second book. Awesome. And to make it even better, none of the final books in the trilogies are going to be released until next year. Fantastic.
I actually can’t remember ever having to wait for a book to be released. Either the library didn’t have it and I had to purchase it from a bookstore, or the series was a little older, so I didn’t have to wait for the next installment to be released. For those of you who have had to patiently wait for the next up-and-coming series or final book all your life, I feel your pain now. But, on the plus side, this newfound agony has also motivated me to work more enthusiastically on the sequel to “Rising Shadows.” I know that all six of my fans are jumping for joy right now! That’s the reason why this post is so late in the week; I’ve spent all my free time either writing the sequel or thinking about how I can connect certain things to the final book. It’s actually coming along really quickly, and I am so excited over where God is taking the story, mostly to places I never had in mind but am so enthusiastic to write. I can’t wait to share it with you all! I would also like to give my readers a list of great summer reading material of novels and series that are already out. No more agonizing wait!
Oh, and for your edification (which is just a fancy way of saying FYI), the next time you hear from me, I will officially be an author! “Rising Shadows” comes out next Tuesday, and I will be doing a special blog post about the entire development of the book and characters. Beforehand, you can check out the summary on Goodreads, see some reviews for the book on my Facebook and Twitter pages, and also check out my author interview on www.kirkdalepress.com
I am so excited and feel so blessed to be able to do what I love. See you all Tuesday!
“The person, be it gentemen or lady, who does not have pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid.” -Jane Austen