Playing the waiting game

When I first wrote my trilogy and tortured my good friends by giving them one chapter at a time, I admit that it was kind of fun. Then they encouraged me to try and get The Heir and its sequels published … but that meant that I couldn’t really give them anything else of the other two books (although I did give them the first chapter of The Crown at one stage) because I felt it was better if I kept it from them, especially if things in the story were likely to change during the editing process, which was possible.

So my friends have waited three years to receive the sequel to The Heir. This sequel, The Crown, will be released in just a few weeks’ time.

I honestly don’t know how they’ve managed it, because, for the first time, the shoe is on the other foot for me.

I’ve just finished reading Veronica Roth’s Divergent. I followed it up quickly with its sequel, Insurgent, and now I am impatiently waiting for the release of Allegiant, which isn’t out until mid-October! Wow, I have to wait a whole month before I can find out what happens! It’s pure torture!

I don’t know how my friends have borne it all these years, especially coping with the fear that this author, whom you have entrusted with your heart, might not end the book the way you’d like it to end! I have a habit of killing off regular characters, and I have no hesitation in doing so. I have noticed, to my chagrin, that Veronica Roth indulges in the same behaviour. This has me worried. A lot.

But ultimately, I know she will probably do what I did – make the story go the way it has to go. And believe me, usually there is a particular ending the story drives itself towards. Some people will probably be satisfied with it. Some people may hate it, but I know that it’s not always possible to change it. It’s not that easy. Sometimes no other result can be envisaged for your characters.

I think fans of The Heir will be worrying about the fate of key characters. I am already worrying about the characters in Divergent. I guess we’ll all have to wait and see.