November 10, 2008
Sequels
Written by Margo Maguire in Jaunty PostDon’t you just love books that revisit characters you’ve met in previous books? I do, but I’ve only written one book that has an actual sequel. That was A Warrior’s Taking, and its sequel was Temptation of the Warrior.

When I wrote the first of these books, I didn’t really have the actual story of the sequel formulated in my mind. Well, I knew who the hero was going to be, and the task he had to accomplish. Other than that, there was nothing really solid. But I had to be careful not to contradict anything that occurred in the first book. That was a challenge!

I often write novels with characters that spin off into new books. My January release from Avon - Wild - has one of those characters.

The hero of Wild is Anthony Maddox, Earl of Sutton, and he has two old friends who appear in the book. One of them is the happily married father of four (not a good character for a spin-off :). The other is Hugh Christie, Earl of Newbury. When I wrote Wild, I gave Hugh a vague backstory - he’s a widower - but that information was meant to illustrate something about Anthony. It wasn’t really supposed to bring up a lot of questions about Hugh.
But guess what? Hugh is the hero of my October 2009 book from Avon, Taken by the Laird. Now I have to explain what happened to his wife, and incorporate her into the conflicts of his story. Which is actually a lot of fun to do.
The point is - whether it’s an actual sequel or just a spin-off from a previous book, an author must deal with the realities of that earlier book. Since I made Hugh a widower in Wild, his character has to be consistent with that in Taken by the Laird. Which I am happy to say, is coming along very nicely - that is, if you like dark and brooding lairds of ancient Scottish castles, and runaway brides who break into said castles to take shelter from winter storms. Sound delicious? I hope so!
Tell me - what were your favorite sequels or spin-off characters? I’m going to do a drawing from everyone who responds, and send the winner copies of my two Warrior books!

























SHANA: Milk duds (Halloween or anytime)
ROBYN: I like funny costumes, I once dressed two guys I worked with up as Hanz and Franz from Saturday Night Live, it was pretty funny.
SHIRLEY: Other than the post-holiday sugar-high?
SHIRLEY: My military dad, buzz-cut and all, dressed up like Bozo to escort us around the neighborhood. Picture John Wayne in a clown suit, without the make-up…
If all of the desserts listed below were sitting in front of you, which would you choose (sorry you can only pick one).
You love all warm and fuzzy items sometimes you need an ice cream cone at the end of the day. Others perceive you as being childlike and immature at times.
But don’t try to walk and chew gum at the same time. A bit of a diva at times, but you have many friends.
You can appear to have a cold exterior but warm on the inside. Not afraid to take a chance. Will not settle for anything in life, love to laugh.
You are a very fun loving person, who likes to laugh. You are fun to be with, people like to hang out with you. You are a very warm hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyal friends.










