Sequelitis
When Ernest Lilley interviewed me for SFRevu, he assumed that RADIO FREEFALL had a sequel and that I was already working on it. At the end of Radio Freefall, the main character heads off
for Luna, where things are less controlled and civilized than on the
space station. What happens next? Is this a trilogy, and how far do you
have the story arc worked out?
I answered that I hadn't started working on a sequel just yet. In fact, I had never intended to write a sequel to RADIO FREEFALL. In my mind the book is a stand-alone. Yes, in the end Aqualung heads off to the moon to help them create a new society there. I planted a lot of hints in the book about the sort of place Luna was, but I confess I don't have a detailed concept of how such a civilization would work. I'm also pretty sure I don't want to write another book about rock music. I could write it if multitudes of screaming fans demanded it, but I'd just as soon play in other sandboxes for now.
One of my co-worker's husbands just finished the book and she told me he assumed there would be a sequel, too. He said the plot of the next book was obvious, and I think he's right. In fact, anyone who finishes RF can see where the plot is going. So what do you need me for?
I admit this isn't an attitude shared by many of my fellow writers. It makes good business sense to build on a franchise like John Scalzi has done with his Old Man's War universe or Richard Morgan with his Takeshi Kovachs character. (I'm not saying it doesn't make good artistic sense, too. I haven't read the sequels to those books. Yet.) If you have a big success with one book, it's hard not to come back to that world and give your fans what they're asking for.
Of course if you've planned a multi-book story arc from the beginning, you take on a huge risk to balance out the potential payoff of building a franchise. If the first book tanks, you don't get to finish your story. I have great admiration for anyone who takes on a trilogy or a more-ogy, especially straight out of the gate like J.K. Rowling did. There are some stories that just need the space to develop. I don't have such a story in me now, but someday I might, and it's good to know that science fiction is so receptive to multi-book story arcs.
My second book, which is with my editor now, also has an obvious sequel hanging off the end of it. The challenge, if the book sells and does well, will be to write the non-obvious sequel. Of course I could do that for RADIO FREEFALL as well. Imagine twenty years further on and the ruler of the world is Britta. Yeah, be careful what you wish for.
I answered that I hadn't started working on a sequel just yet. In fact, I had never intended to write a sequel to RADIO FREEFALL. In my mind the book is a stand-alone. Yes, in the end Aqualung heads off to the moon to help them create a new society there. I planted a lot of hints in the book about the sort of place Luna was, but I confess I don't have a detailed concept of how such a civilization would work. I'm also pretty sure I don't want to write another book about rock music. I could write it if multitudes of screaming fans demanded it, but I'd just as soon play in other sandboxes for now.
One of my co-worker's husbands just finished the book and she told me he assumed there would be a sequel, too. He said the plot of the next book was obvious, and I think he's right. In fact, anyone who finishes RF can see where the plot is going. So what do you need me for?
I admit this isn't an attitude shared by many of my fellow writers. It makes good business sense to build on a franchise like John Scalzi has done with his Old Man's War universe or Richard Morgan with his Takeshi Kovachs character. (I'm not saying it doesn't make good artistic sense, too. I haven't read the sequels to those books. Yet.) If you have a big success with one book, it's hard not to come back to that world and give your fans what they're asking for.
Of course if you've planned a multi-book story arc from the beginning, you take on a huge risk to balance out the potential payoff of building a franchise. If the first book tanks, you don't get to finish your story. I have great admiration for anyone who takes on a trilogy or a more-ogy, especially straight out of the gate like J.K. Rowling did. There are some stories that just need the space to develop. I don't have such a story in me now, but someday I might, and it's good to know that science fiction is so receptive to multi-book story arcs.
My second book, which is with my editor now, also has an obvious sequel hanging off the end of it. The challenge, if the book sells and does well, will be to write the non-obvious sequel. Of course I could do that for RADIO FREEFALL as well. Imagine twenty years further on and the ruler of the world is Britta. Yeah, be careful what you wish for.
Sequels are always a tricky enterprise, and Scalzi did write his Old Man's War books to be stand alones (having read them out of order I can attest that it works that way as well, although Last Colony does require previous knowledge of the universe to work well). I'm not so much in favor of trilogies at this point, but that's mostly as a "time invested" proposition. I've had a few short story worlds that I'd like to revisit, and I'm starting to build a center place for a series of stories (some of my critique group have said I need to place some other stories there, but they just don't fit nicely inter-universe wise).
But, hey, they think ther is more and they want more. That's an excellent compliment. You know, as long as they don't start shooting at your feet demanding you dance.