Way back in the distant past known as spring 2012, ELEMENTAL was tagged as a standalone fantasy on Goodreads. (It isn’t anymore.) I’m not sure how or why this happened, but there has been misunderstanding ever since, and it has been kind of fascinating to watch it all play out.
See, a lot of readers love series. A series means you hit the ground running in book 2: familiar characters, familiar world, familiar rules. It allows more room for story and less for character- and world-building. As a writer, that’s a pretty cool thing too. For those readers, reaching the end of ELEMENTAL must have been pretty gratifying, because it’s clear there’s more to come.
But trilogies are so common these days that some readers are turned off by the idea of reading yet another series. Some of those readers picked up ELEMENTAL precisely because they thought it was a standalone. For them, the end of the book must have come as an unwelcome surprise. This story can’t be wrapped up in less than three books, and three books is what you’ll have to read if you want all the answers.
I guess my point is that it really highlights how important our initial perceptions of a book are. If we’re promised a romantic comedy and get a gruesome thriller, we’re less able to judge the thriller on its merits. I hadn’t realized that could extend to whether the book is a standalone or part of a larger story too. The good news is that it works both ways: a lot of readers have written to me demanding to know if there are more books still to come. I’m delighted to say that, yes, there are more books. Two, in fact. Which is a good thing, since this is, you know, a trilogy.
As for how those other books are shaping up . . .
Book 2 is scheduled for a November 2012 release. I’ll be sharing the title and cover soon, so stay tuned, and prepare to be blown away. Designer Tony Sahara has outdone himself . . . again. The book is finished, copyedited, and the Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) will be printed soon. All very exciting.
Book 3 is still in the planning stages. Once my editor and I have completed a chapter-by-chapter outline, I’ll commence writing. Over several months, we’ll knock the book into shape. By the end of 2012, the entire trilogy will be finished, and I’ll have to say farewell to Thomas and co. At which point, I’ll be moving on to a new story and new characters.
It may or may not be standalone.