[spoilers ahead] Writing the sequel

Warning. Warning. Warning.

I will be reflecting/talking about the sequel to The Timekeeper's Daughter. Do not continue reading unless you want to be spoiled or you've already read the first book.

I should be doing so many other things than writing this post. Some of those would be:

• Writing book two of The Timekeeper's Daughter
• Finishing up my homework for the master's classes I am taking this summer
• Doing some kind of curriculum planning for the upcoming school year

At least I exercised today 😄.

Anyways, I thought I would take a bit of time to reflect on the sequel to The Timekeeper's Daughter. The sequel is titled Within Darkness, and I don't see that changing. It has been a different beast to tackle than the first back. I always say that the first book took me five years to write, but it only took less than one. What took forever was me going back to it and editing it and making it ready to bring out into the world.

This book, on the other hand, it has taken forever. I've been working on it for what seems like a long time now (definitely longer than the first book). I've left it to sit and come back to it several times. One of the main things that is difficult to write about is Abigail's PTSD. While the first book ended on a semi-positive note, it doesn't resolve any of the trauma that Abigail has experienced. What makes it harder to write about is that PTSD wasn't even a thing in the 40s. A lot of my research has shown that during that time period, PTSD was called shell shock amongst other things.

I guess it is difficult to write this book because Abigail is in a very dark place emotionally. She's in a place that I too have been in from my own severe depression. I'm happy to say that I've never personally experienced PTSD, but I have been depressed to the point that nothing seemed worth it anymore. Side note: PLEASE, if you ever get to that point, tell someone. It will help, and it WILL get better. It did for me, and I know it can for anyone else.

But anyway, it is hard to emotionally put myself in that situation and think what is Abigail feeling? What is she going through? How would I react in this situation? But it needs to be done. I'm about halfway finished with book two. It is currently sitting on the edge of being 40,000 words so far. I'm aiming for it to be a little over 70k, so it will come in being shorter than the first book. But I'm also really excited about it. I recently wrote the ending, and I felt really good about it once it was done. I hope everyone will feel the same when it is released.

I'm hoping to be done with the book this summer. If I go back to work and it isn't done, I worry that I won't get it done in the timeframe that I'd like. Well, thank you for listening to my ramblings! Feel free to comment, ask a question. I'll try to answer it unless you are asking me for spoilers!