Liz Borino Speaks on the Sequel !!!PRIZE!!!

Welcome Liz to my blog today, everyone! She's a great person and as some awesome thoughts on what goes into writing a sequel. Not only that, but she's going to give a prize package bundle of both books! Expectations and What Money Won't Buy will go to one lucky commenter--so warm up your keyboard and share your thoughts! :)

Writing a Sequel

Expectations was originally planned as a standalone novel. Actually, considering I’m a pantser, it wasn’t really planned at all, but I digress. Then, about a month after I signed the contract with my publisher, Lazy Day, some of my beta readers and I started kicking around the possibility of continuing the storyline. Nothing too serious, just ‘what if’ scenarios. Until, I shot up in bed one morning around 5 AM with an outline of the sequel in my head. I was on fire! I wrote for two and a half hours straight before remembering my caffeine. No, it didn’t make total sense, but I had a viable idea. And from those mess of notes, What Money Can’t Buy was born.

Writing a sequel provided both great and scary things. I knew and loved my characters, we were friends, so the period of ‘getting acquainted’ was skipped. Which is good because none of us are very good at small talk and that period is so awkward. I didn’t need to build a new world. In a word, writing What Money Can’t Buy was initially very comfortable. Maybe too comfortable. What followed were paralyzing fears: What if What Money Can’t Buy isn’t as good as Expectations? I don’t want to disappoint my fans. Then there were practical concerns: How much background do I include? Should people be required to read Expectations before What Money Can’t Buy? The answers? Just enough to remind the reader of relevant events and no, but it does help.

I’m happy to report, What Money Can’t Buy will not disappoint fans and will probably draw in some new readers. And, I’ve started work on the as yet untitled third book.

"Liz Borino is the author of Expectations and it's sequel, What Money Can't Buy. Throughout her education, including a Bachelor’s Degree from Hofstra University, she’s kept her stories to herself, but this only child is all grown up and wants to share them with the world. Her roots are in Bethlehem, Pa, but she loves to experience new cultures. As fun as that is Liz likes nothing better than curling up at home with a good book or her work in progress."