Wacky. I find myself writing my first short story sequel. I’ve got a few settings I’ve used for multiple stories before, but never for direct sequels wherein one story naturally flows from another.

It’s fun and frustrating at the same time. Fun, because I get to tie up some loose ends from the previous story and deal with a big leftover problem that I hadn’t even realized was there until the idea for the sequel came to me. Frustrating, because the story needs to be able to stand on its own merits, without requiring readers to go back and read the first one. That means finding ways to fill the reader in on the events of the first in a way that comes across as back-story instead of a full (and poor) retelling of the original.

I’m normally skeptical of sequels on general principles — to use a movie example, for every Matrix, there’s a Matrix Reloaded. But damnit, this is a story I want to tell, and it doesn’t make any sense as anything but a sequel. So that’s what I’m doing.

On a side note, thanks for all the well-wishing after my last two self-pitying mope-fests, but what I really needed was someone to smack some sense into me. Oh boo hoo, I don’t have time to finish my novel before my self-imposed deadline that matters to no one but me. Waaaah, the news is depressing so I can’t write optimistic science fiction. I wanna go back in time, just so I can say, “Man up, Nancy” to myself.

I’m a published author, with more stories on the way. I have a happy and healthy family. Life is good. So Mopey-Me can have a nice, tall glass of STFU.