Confessions of a middle child
Jul. 25th, 2007 10:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pbray"Hi, my name is The Sea Change and I'm a middle child."
I've heard other authors describe how their books speak to them, but I'm not sure this is what they meant. Recently THE SEA CHANGE began whispering in my ear, talking about the special challenges of being a middle book. As a middle child myself, I can sympathize with his plight.
The Chronicles of Josan is my second fantasy trilogy, and thus THE SEA CHANGE is the second middle book that I've written. And since it's about to hit the stores, I decided it was finally time to let a middle book tell his story.
THE SEA CHANGE speaks, an unvarnished interview with the second volume of The Chronicles of Josan
Q: So what's it like being a middle child?
A: Jan Brady said it best with her famous line "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" Younger children are constantly compared to their older siblings, and we're tired of it. If your older brother is good at math, that doesn't mean that you will necessarily be the same, yet I know everyone looks at me and judges me by THE FIRST BETRAYAL. And sure, I have some things in common with my big brother. But there's more to me than that—I've got romance! I've got adventure on the high seas! I can take you places you haven't seen before!
Q: Do you feel that you get less attention?
A: I know my parent loves us both, but I'll admit that I sometimes feel jealous. TFB gets to be the first to do everything, and I'm expected to just follow along. And I have to deal with his hand-me-downs—it's not just characters and settings that got passed along, but everything else. For example, my parent designed a brand new website when he came into the world, then when I came along she simply nudged aside a few things to make room for me.
And don't get me started on the baby. My big day is coming up later this month, but is my parent focused on me? No, she's spending all her time fussing over the new baby. THE FINAL SACRIFICE is only a draft—it just lays there and doesn't do anything interesting. Frankly I don't see the attraction.
Q: I can't help noticing the lack of baby pictures in the house. Can you comment?
A: Everyone gets excited when the first book is born and they rush to review it. But when it's my turn, the novelty has worn off, and fewer people are going to review me. The same thing happened to my cousin DEVLIN'S HONOR—people decided that they didn't need to review him, since readers would have already made up their mind based upon his older brother. I'm trying not to be bitter. Unlike certain other books, I don't need an album of reviews to remind me of how great I am. I know that it's what's inside that matters.
Q: Any final words you'd like to say to our audience?
A: I may be a middle child, but I'm my own unique person, err, I mean book. Don't be afraid to give me a try.
Note: THE SEA CHANGE goes on sale on July 31st, 2007. We wish him luck on his special day.
I've heard other authors describe how their books speak to them, but I'm not sure this is what they meant. Recently THE SEA CHANGE began whispering in my ear, talking about the special challenges of being a middle book. As a middle child myself, I can sympathize with his plight.
The Chronicles of Josan is my second fantasy trilogy, and thus THE SEA CHANGE is the second middle book that I've written. And since it's about to hit the stores, I decided it was finally time to let a middle book tell his story.
THE SEA CHANGE speaks, an unvarnished interview with the second volume of The Chronicles of Josan
Q: So what's it like being a middle child?
A: Jan Brady said it best with her famous line "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" Younger children are constantly compared to their older siblings, and we're tired of it. If your older brother is good at math, that doesn't mean that you will necessarily be the same, yet I know everyone looks at me and judges me by THE FIRST BETRAYAL. And sure, I have some things in common with my big brother. But there's more to me than that—I've got romance! I've got adventure on the high seas! I can take you places you haven't seen before!
Q: Do you feel that you get less attention?
A: I know my parent loves us both, but I'll admit that I sometimes feel jealous. TFB gets to be the first to do everything, and I'm expected to just follow along. And I have to deal with his hand-me-downs—it's not just characters and settings that got passed along, but everything else. For example, my parent designed a brand new website when he came into the world, then when I came along she simply nudged aside a few things to make room for me.
And don't get me started on the baby. My big day is coming up later this month, but is my parent focused on me? No, she's spending all her time fussing over the new baby. THE FINAL SACRIFICE is only a draft—it just lays there and doesn't do anything interesting. Frankly I don't see the attraction.
Q: I can't help noticing the lack of baby pictures in the house. Can you comment?
A: Everyone gets excited when the first book is born and they rush to review it. But when it's my turn, the novelty has worn off, and fewer people are going to review me. The same thing happened to my cousin DEVLIN'S HONOR—people decided that they didn't need to review him, since readers would have already made up their mind based upon his older brother. I'm trying not to be bitter. Unlike certain other books, I don't need an album of reviews to remind me of how great I am. I know that it's what's inside that matters.
Q: Any final words you'd like to say to our audience?
A: I may be a middle child, but I'm my own unique person, err, I mean book. Don't be afraid to give me a try.
Note: THE SEA CHANGE goes on sale on July 31st, 2007. We wish him luck on his special day.
Trilogies
Date: 2007-07-26 10:29 pm (UTC)Re: Trilogies
Date: 2007-07-27 02:20 am (UTC)When I wrote DEVLIN'S LUCK, it was as a standalone book. It wasn't till the book was finished that I realized there was more story to tell, more I wanted to do with that world and those characters. I wrote up a synopsis for the next two books in the series, and when Bantam bought the books they bought the trilogy.
The Chronicles of Josan was originally conceived as two books, but then expanded to three simply because of the necessities of the plot--if you're going to have intrigue that spans the known world, you need room for those kinds of expansive plotlines. Here, too, by the time I was ready to pitch the project to my editor, it was pitched as a trilogy.
Right now I'm working on THE FINAL SACRIFICE, which will be out next year. It's the third (and final) volume in The Chronicles of Josan--and I'm hopeful that the resolution will satisfy my readers.
As for what I'm writing next, I'm not sure. I have ideas kicking around in my head that might be the start of open-ended series, and other ideas that (for the moment) look like single title projects. Not sure I feel like tackling another trilogy right now, but we'll see how I feel in the fall.