Since the launch of my last novel, LIES WE NEVER SEE, earlier this year, I’ve been hard at work on the sequel, A FOLLOWING SEA. Just this past week, I reached that most exciting page for the author of any novel when all the plot lines come together, all the mysteries are solved, all the love affairs are rekindled or not, and we write, THE END.
Of course, THE END, is really just the beginning of a long process of rewrites, edits, beta-reader feedback, and more edits. I suppose the real excitement comes when we write FINAL DRAFT on the manuscript and know we are off into the next phase of getting the book out to readers… book cover designs and cover blurbs, page formatting, production plans, marketing plans and on and on.
I typed THE END just this past week on A FOLLOWING SEA, then took a day or two before starting in on the first of several review edits. This morning, I forwarded the manuscript to my first and toughest editor, my wife, Karen. She always gives me the initial and most honest feedback and suggestions. Writers really need a thick skin!
For those of you who have made it down my booklist to LIES WE NEVER SEE, you know it’s the story of two women, generations apart, and their struggles to deal with the loss of their husbands and the treachery of those they still hold close. Thanks to great reader support, the book has already spent time in the Top 100 on Amazon for Historical Fiction/Mystery and Suspense. There are tens of thousands of books in this genre category, so the book’s early efforts are quite encouraging.
The sequel, A FOLLOWING SEA, is a bit of a departure in my writing as I focus on the present- day characters with only occasional references back to the historical context of the first book. The story follows the new relationship of Hanna Walsh and Detective Alex Frank, as Hanna recovers from the trauma of her husband’s death and the betrayal of those she trusted most. Hanna and Alex have become a couple, but complications arise when Alex’s ex-wife returns and then his father is charged with a brutal murder in the fictional small shrimping and fishing town of Dugganville, South Carolina. Hanna also finds herself dealing with the failing health of her father in Atlanta and the frightening troubles of a young woman and her son who come to her free legal clinic for help. Whew!!!
The book will be the next in the Hanna Walsh and Alex Frank Low Country Mystery Thriller Series that I plan to write in the coming years. In this book you will learn much more about Hanna and Alex’s past, how they ultimately come together and how their pasts will continue to threaten the lives they’re trying to build together. A little murder and mayhem mixed in will add to the fun!
I’ll keep you posted on the release of A FOLLOWING SEA. Check the link below for more information on all my books at Amazon.
All the best,
Michael Lindley
https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Lindley/e/B073NS4M7T/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1532357340&sr=8-1
