Meredith Mansfield, Author

I now have the rough outline and the first scene for the third book in the DUAL MAGICS series, reminding me again how hard it is to start a novel, let alone a sequel. What with reworking the first two books, it had been a while since I’d actually sat down to start a first draft.

Starting any novel–especially a fantasy–is a delicate dance between providing enough information about the characters and the setting while at the same time having something interesting happen that is relevant to the plot. Sequels are even more difficult because of the fine line between providing enough information for a reader who happens to pick up a middle book first and not boring a reader who has read the first (two) books and doesn’t need the introduction. It’s always my intention that any book in a series of mine is able to stand alone, even as it has a place in the larger plot arc of the series. That’s my preference as a reader and that’ how I write.

When starting a first novel in the series (or a book that’s not part of a series), I usually try to limit the number of characters in the first scene. But that gets harder to do as a series goes on. Other characters just are there and their characters and relationships have to be introduced somehow.

This will be the third book in the four-book series that starts with THE SHAMAN’S CURSE.

I’d share the first scene here, but . . . well, spoilers. And since Book 2, THE IGNORED PROPHECY, won’t be out until December, it’s just a little early to telegraph that plot.

I still have to come up with a good title for Book 3, though. Well, there’s time yet. The only risk is that the longer I go with a working title, the harder it is for me to think of the story with any other title.