Wasted On The Young

 I've decided to write a sequel to Holm Oak Lodge provisionally entitled Wasted On The Young. As I've indicated on the Amazon blurb and on my website as well as here on the blog, it wasn't a quick or easy decision. Although Holm Oak Lodge doesn't have thriller 'hooks', I intentionally left until the last line a conclusion that my readers might think or wonder about. I'll do my best not to reveal it now, although giving any information about the sequel will be difficult without giving you at least a clue as to the ending of Holm Oak Lodge.

So that's my challenge, but first I should tell you why I decided to write a sequel anyway. That's actually quite easy – I simply felt the story as it had developed to that point had 'legs', it had the potential to be developed further. The more difficult decision was whether to develop it as a sequel, to structure it as a completely new book or to withdraw Holm Oak Lodge as it stands and to continue writing the story and publish it as an single volume when it's reached its natural conclusion.

The first decision was easy – to discard the second option and not write a new book. I like the characters in Holm Oak Lodge and they'll be the important 'back story' for the new volume. Creating new characters for a new book was daft. So, a sequel or a rewrite?

A rewrite would effectively short-change all those readers who'd given me money or commitment by reading the present book; on the other hand, to enable the sequel to act as a standalone novel would mean repeating certain elements and characteristics of the characters who'd inhabit the new book. But that's a challenge for me not my reader, so that's what I've decided to do.

Finally, as not a few of my readers have kindly noted, most of my stories have rather sad endings, and if not sad, poignant at least. So, since I don't want to reveal any more of the detail I plan for the next volume, allow me to close this post with the news that I intend Wasted On The Young to end on an optimistic note.