It was much harder second time round. Perhaps because I laid pressure on myself to do at least as well again? I've heard it said by novellists that the second novel's tough, but I'm only writing a little book of short stories. You'd think a repeat of that would be easier to achieve than a second full-length novel.
But it wasn't.
I had to make sure I didn't deviate too much from the pattern I used in the first book; the stories had to be sufficiently different to the first batch so it didn't look like I was reusing the storylines, yet they had to be sufficiently similar so that readers of the first book would recognise and feel comfortable with the format of a follow-up - assuming they want to read more, of course. I suppose you could say I've developed a Granny Rainbow Formula...
Sometimes, the writing's been great. The story idea came quickly, I could see where it was heading and everything flowed nicely through the set-up, the problem and finally on to Granny's solution.
Sometimes, the writing was a pig. I mean - I even held a competition because I couldn't think of a blue or yellow story idea... And even when I DID have an idea of the storyline, sometimes I just couldn't make it WORK. I ditched a couple of ideas because I couldn't solve the problem I was giving Granny in a suitably believable - if slightly bonkers - way.
Although the individual stories are finished, of course the book's not FINISHED finished. I have to let the stories rest for a while, then revisit them to edit and incorporate my beta readers' comments. The book itself needs formatting and proofreading. I need to organise a cover, get in touch with the printer and prime the bookshops who've been kind enough to stock Granny Rainbow, to see if they'd be interested in stocking the new one too. And there will be another launch...
Just not yet.
Early next year - that's when I'm aiming for More Granny Rainbow to be published.
I'm not sure there'll be a third book. Not without a huge dash of inspiration...
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