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Jessica Arnold | The Unexpected Sequel
March 17, 2016
When I started writing THE
LOOKING GLASS, a sequel was the furthest thing from my mind. Then I signed a
two-book deal with Month9Books, and the yet unwritten book two suddenly became a
concern. I'd always thought of THE
LOOKING GLASS as a stand-alone story. And here's the thing about stand-alone
stories—they end. Isn't it nice when a story just ends instead of
dragging on forever and ever and on and on .... and making you think about
things like consequences and whether the people who were happy at the
end of Book 1 could actuallystay happy forever after? Happily ever afters don't happen if the story doesn't end. Into the Woods is
one of my favorite musicals ever
created. You've probably seen it or heard of it and if you haven't seen
it or heard of it you should go forth to Google and fix that right now.
It's a fairy-tale mash-up in which all the characters get their happy endings at
the end of Act I. Then, in Act II, the characters have to deal with the
consequences of getting what they want. They have to deal with uncertainty. They
have to venture out into real life, where things don't always end well. This is the somber duty of a sequel—to march in on the triumphant resolution of
the first book and say "Hey, that's nice, but life goes on! Tomorrow might still
suck." Needless to say, sequels are not often invited to sit at the "cool books" table. So how does a girl approach the unexpected sequel? Without giving away too many
spoilers, I'll say that at the end of THE LOOKING GLASS,Alice
learns that she is more valuable and more valued than she thought. But what
happens when she gets thrown back into a world where people don't always value
themselves—or others—the way they should? What happens to someone who has gone
through a traumatic experience when she is asked to return to humdrum daily
life? An unexpected sequel starts with questions. An unexpected sequel starts
with a conquering hero waking up the next morning and asking "What next?" Writing THE LINGERING
GRACE was a lot more satisfying than I expected it to be. Happily ever after
is a beautiful idea, but we live our lives in a world where things don't always
tie up so neatly. We live in a world of sequels, some expected, some unexpected.
And, somehow, we learn to embrace them. I hope that readers enjoy THE LINGERING GRACE not as
a continuation of The Looking Glass, but as a continuation of Alice's
story—and as an exploration of the questions that happy endings don't answer. GiveawayDo you ever think about what happens after the happy ending? Tell us below,
we're giving away THREE eBooks sets of THE LOOKING GLASS & THE LINGERING GRACE, Open
to International.
Jessica Arnold lives (in an apartment) and works (in a cubicle) in
Boston, Massachusetts. She has a master‘s degree in publishing and writing from
Emerson College.
The new school year brings with it a welcome return to normalcy after Alice’s
narrow escape from a cursed hotel while on summer vacation. But when a young
girl drowns in a freak accident that seems eerily similar to her own near-death
experience, Alice suspects there might be something going on that not even the
police can uncover. The girl’s older sister, Eva attends Alice’s school
and Alice immediately befriends her. But things change when Alice learns that
Eva is determined to use magic to bring her sister back. She must decide whether
to help Eva work the highly dangerous magic or stop her at all costs. After all,
no one knows better than Alice the true price of magic.
Comments
14 comments posted.
Re: Jessica Arnold | The Unexpected Sequel
I often wonder about what happens after. Especially when the main characters meet during a stressful or action-packed time, I wonder what happens when all the outside influences go away and they go back to normal life. Or for characters that I love, I want to see their story continue and see how they make things work over time. It's a great concept for a sequel!
(Laura Scott 9:40pm March 17, 2016)
Oh yes always!
(H J 12:09pm March 18, 2016)
This is going to sound pretty shallow, but I DON'T
speculate about what happens after the happy ending. I'm
just glad things wrapped up neatly and happily and folks
got their just desserts, which happens all too infrequently
in real life.
(Marty Crosson 11:35am March 18, 2016)
Absolutely I wonder what happens after "the end" in both
books and movies. Books where the characters fall in
love based on mutual physical attraction leave us
believing they are supposed to have a happily ever after.
It may be a feel-good-for-now story, but it leaves me
curious about the couple's Christmas card update a few
years down the road. The end of the Hunger Games Trilogy
definitely left me wondering what happened next, and it
was already a series! An old made-for-TV-movie from
1999, The 10th Kingdom...would love the after story for
it.
(Anna Mekus 1:05pm March 18, 2016)
I always wondered what happened after the end of Stardust
by Neil Gaiman. Does their kingdom fall apart? Civil
War? Or continued happiness for another 100 years?
I had the pleasure of hearing Cherie Priest talk about
Mapelcroft, which she felt was a stand alone story, but
she signed a 2 book deal. So she had to come up with a
sequel, Chaplewood. Both novels were excellent and each
stood alone.
(Susan Voss 3:21pm March 18, 2016)
If the characters of the story feel real and I connect with
them, I usually continue their story in my head as I try to
fall asleep each night for quite some time after finishing a
book. Often until I meet other characters that I connect with
as strongly.
(Karen Haas 3:31pm March 18, 2016)
I always like epilogues or continuing series books so that way I can find out what happened to earlier characters. I like knowing the story after the HEA.
(Linda Henderson 9:37pm March 18, 2016)
I like to leave it at the HEA unless I'm reading a series
that is a continuing series.
(Maria Smith 12:02pm March 19, 2016)
Sometimes I still want more after the happy ending if the characters are really engaging
(Jean Benedict 12:36pm March 19, 2016)
Sometimes.
(Nancy Luebke 12:48pm March 19, 2016)
Yes, but I like to think the happy ending holds. The Pollyanna in me likes to believe that ultimately everything has a happy ending.
(Nancy Marcho 3:06pm March 19, 2016)
Sometimes. I finished a book today that just abruptly ended after the couple got
back together after a 3 day separation and explanations were given. Id like to have
had more to the HEA.
(Valerie Miller 6:31pm March 20, 2016)
I have not read The Looking Glass, and yes, tomorrow may suck, but this looks like a captivating read!
(Melody Kaufman 8:56pm March 22, 2016)
It's the hardest part after an HEA because the real work
begins: the trying to juggle life and the relationship and
navigate uncharted waters. But once a balance is found you
will be rewarded with bliss for all your hard work or close
to it.
(Vanessa Hinman 9:56pm March 22, 2016)
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