Last night, after being poked and prodded by my son who wants to “talk books” with me, I stared reading Divergent. I mentioned this to an author friend of mine and she said “Loved Divergent. Insurgent [Second book] not so much. You know how second books go.”

“You know how second books go.”

This phase has been haunting me since she said it.  As most of you know, I am currently writing a “book two” in a series. I am already feeling the stress and strain of trying to make ASHES IN THE SKY just as good, if not BETTER than FIRE IN THE WOODS.

Sometimes, I fear I’m falling short.

Are their chase scenes? Yes

Are there near misses? Yes

Are their explosions? Yes

Are the stakes higher? Yes

Are strong relationships built, ripped apart, and rekindled? Yes.

So what am I worried about?

“You know how second books go.”

I don’t want people finishing book two and saying that I missed the mark. I don’t want people saying they wish there was more of this, or why did there have to be so much of that.

The scarier thing is that book two is due before book one even comes out. So I can’t even wait for reviews or reader commentary of what they hope for in book two.

So….. I’m asking. If you are reading a book two in any series, what do you look for?

What “book two” blew you away, and WHY WAS IT SO GOOD?

What “book two” came up short, and WHY DID IT SEEM LACKING?