Destiny Bound

Well, I did it. I finished writing Destiny Bound yesterday. I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with myself for writing a book in two weeks. Of course, it's just a first draft, but it's an entire book. I've lost two pounds sitting in this office chair in my cave, eating nothing but Sno Balls, M &M's, and other such crap. One doesn't have time for real food or bathroom breaks when the inspiration hits. Okay, so I did stop to go to the bathroom and make dinner once or twice. But my family are troopers having "whatever you want night" for dinner way too many nights in a row. And of course, the few loads of laundry that actually got done, are still sitting in the basket-clean, but not folded. Hey, if you need something, go dig for it yourself.
I decided I will set it aside for now so that I can go back to Return. My goal is to have it ready to print in the Spring. I'm more than halfway through with it, but I had to set it aside because I was so frustrated with how to begin the story. It has an ending, some stuff in the middle, and the first six chapters. But after some of the feedback I got about how to start a sequel, I thought I should take another look at it.
Well, here's the deal. No, I am not trying to copy other writers, but I do look to other books I've read for reference on how their sequels start. And guess what? They're not all the same. Some pretty much pick up right after the last sentence of the previous book. Some jump ahead a few weeks (which is what mine does), and throw in a few flashbacks of something important that took place in between the last sentence and the first sentence of this new book. So, as helpful as advice can be sometimes, I've decided to write my book the way I want to. Because guess what? If you read number one, you'll probably read number two to see what happens next. Whether I pick up with the last sentence or jump three weeks into their new life together.
I've never been one to care what others thought of me, until I started getting older. For some reason, I sometimes feel like I need the approval of others. But I feel like I'm starting to reconnect with the old me. I mean I didn't completely disappear. I've remained my sarcastic, cynical self, but there have just been certain things that I'm afraid I'll be judged on.
But guess what? Screw you. I didn't start writing In the Midst of Darkness because I was determined to be the next Stephanie Meyer. I didn't even sit down one day and say, "Hey, I'm gonna write a book." I saw a post on Facebook that gave me the first line of the book. It wasn't even going to be a book. I just thought, "Hey, that'd be a cool first line of a story." So my story turned into a book. I published it because my friends and family wanted to read it. And when I got to the last line, I thought, "Oh crap, this is really long, but I don't think this is the end of their story." So, here I am struggling with the sequel. And now, I'm going to write it how I want to write it. I know I'm never going to make money doing this-even though that would be my ultimate dream. But it's something I love. I didn't realize how much I loved it until I really started doing it. And maybe there are even more stories in my head, floating around, waiting to be pulled out.
For now, I'm going to write it the way I want to write it. If you don't like it, oh well, too bad so sad for you.