Wow! I can't believe how many messages I've gotten in the last month asking about my plans for a Merrick sequel! Fall is upon us and the people want their books, right? Thankfully, no one has seemed too annoyed with me yet -- but I won't be able to complain if anyone calls me out on missing my own deadlines.

I signed on today to let you guys in on what exactly is going on with the sequel to Merrick, and I thank you in advance for caring to read this. Your interest means the world to me and keeps me at the grindstone.

First of all, I am sorry for announcing a tentative publication date that will absolutely not be met. Lesson learned. This year I began writing full-time (and then some) for an internet news company, and have had far less time and head-space to write than I enjoyed when I first started self-publishing last year. That has been my number one major challenge.

So it comes as it comes, and while I wish I could tell you Merrick will be out on ____, I can only promise that I am working hard on it and it will be finished when it should be finished. No sooner, and no later. Sorry, guys!

With that out of the way, here are some things I can tell you about the sequel to Merrick, without giving too much away.

I'll refer to the sequel by the working title, William, which may or may not be the final title.

William had several false starts. I felt pretty cornered trying to pick up where Merrick left off. Since early this year I have written many, many, many pages attempting to get a feel for the atmosphere post-Merrick, but it wasn't until early August that I got a good 50 pages of stuff that felt real.

Thankfully, William has been fully outlined. Now, I'll tell you right away, these characters are headstrong pains in the ass sometimes, and a couple in particular are not very mindful of my best-laid plans. That said, I am very excited about what has been plotted, there are some things I can tell you for sure.

1. William, Merrick, and Theo will play major roles. Additionally, a minor character from the first book will have a significant impact on the sequel.

2. William and Merrick get out of New York early on in the story, and there will be a significant amount of time spent on spooky New England roads.

3. Merrick's and Theo's roots and bios will be explored.

4. The generation/history gap between Merrick and William will play a part in the story. This is a factor in vampire stories that has always irked me terribly -- how the hell does a relationship function around a centuries-wide age gap? I've spent a whoooole lot of brainpower grappling with this one.


That leads me to the two major questions that I am dealing with in William.

1. How does an English dude born in poverty under Henry VIII relate to an optimistic American kid strutting along on the heels of the revolution? How can they navigate all the unavoidable differences in culture, beliefs and values?

2. How does a thoughtful, rational, goodhearted guy like William come to moral terms with a vampire's life of murder? Can he adapt to the concept of destroying an entire human life for one vampire meal?


Last of all, I am taking my time on William in hopes of improving on some big problems I have with the first book. To put it bluntly, I am not very happy with the pacing of Merrick. I let the story tell itself, which worked great for most of the book -- but I should have been more strict toward the end.



So that's my update! I hope it helps you forgive me for not having a sequel for you right this moment. I can't thank you enough for wanting to read it! Feel free to reach out to me anytime on Twitter, Tumblr, or here. I love hearing from readers.

xoxo
Claire