The fear of ‘Book Two.’
Now I understand what musicians have meant for years when they refer to the ‘difficult second album.’
Writing a second book (which, by the way, is not related to Breaking Eggshells) has as many disadvantages as it does advantages.
Yes, I learnt a lot from writing Breaking Eggshells. There are many things I did, techniques I applied during the process and so on that I felt worked well and could bring to the table as I started writing Piercing the Surface. But there are many more things that haunt me about the looming release of another novel.
As delighted as I was to receive some lovely reviews and great comments from people about Breaking Eggshells, there is a part of me that instantly worries that the people who enjoyed that book won’t like the new one. I guess that’s part of the less confident version of me, as I discussed in this post. And yet logically, that doesn’t necessarily follow. I can reveal that the main character in Piercing the Surface, Caroline, faces obstacles in her life which are not easy to overcome; much like Amanda did in Breaking Eggshells.
Different Characters
Caroline’s issue stem from the past, from her childhood until she was fifteen. Although I wrote some chapters about the three main characters in Breaking Eggshells during their youth, the structure of Piercing the Surface is different. I’ll not expand on that, but I hope readers will enjoy learning about her background.
Another departure for me in writing Piercing the Surface is that some chapters are told from a male character’s point of view. This is something I hadn’t attempted previously, although of course as a writer, I had to get under the skin of male characters where their behaviour was crucial to the plot (which was often.)
Despite my concerns though, I have throughly enjoyed writing, plotting and self-editing this new book. It is being sent away for editing by the wonderful Kirstie Edwards in September and on my return from holiday at the end of the month I’ll be applying her suggestions, getting my head around formatting and finalising my marketing plan.
Cornwall!!
So, here’s a couple of things about Piercing the Surface that might interest you.
The sea, as usual, plays a significant part in the story.
The settings are the Kent coast (during Caroline’s childhood) but most of the book is set in the fictional village of Kulmore, on the Cornish Coast. I had to make it a fictional place as ALL of Cornwall is so gorgeous, I couldn’t settle on one area!
I’ve grown to love the characters that I’ve written about, they are quite a diverse bunch. (Well there’s one or two characters I’m not so keen on – wouldn’t want to go out to dinner with them!) And I hope you like them too.
I’m aiming to publish towards the end of 2022 and will keep you posted about that, but please sign up to the newsletter or follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
Love, Liv x
©Liv Andrews 2022