On the last page or two of Signs and Wonders I included a note that a sequel was coming in 2012.
It was August 2011 and that gave me 16 months to get a new book written. How hard could it be, right?
Very, it turned out.
Not because the new book is an entirely new story that I had to start from scratch. (Signs has its origin as a screenplay. It was like have a 100 page outline.)
No, what’s slow me down has been work. Lots of work.
I now run the wire desk for Gannett, which publishes about 80 daily newspapers across the country. We provide a package of stories that those papers use every day and we are open 14 hours a day, 365 days a year. There’s never a dull moment and I love my job. It is, however, very time consuming. And sometimes, very tiring … enough so that when I get home at 8:30 I have enough energy to pour a glass of white to sip while one of the cats sleeps on my lap.
Fortunately, February and March are looking better than the past few months.
That means more time to write and that you will be seeing Annie again soon!
The new book, Finding Grace, will probably be 175 pages or so. There’s 35 left to write, then comes a period where the editing and any rewriting is done.
How long will that take? Good question. The best case scenario is it’s ready for you during April, but more likely is May. I’m not making promises because that didn’t work so well the last time 🙂
I’m likely to stick with Kindle exclusively for the ebook format, but a paperback will again be available for those who don’t have a Kindle or an iPad. I’m also looking at making an edition available that combines both books for those of you who prefer that.
Thanks to all of you for your patience and understanding. More than 3,000 of you have purchased Signs and Wonders and more than 30,000 have taken advantage of the promotional days when the book was free. Your kind emails and reviews on Amazon have inspired me to keep making progress whenever I had some free time. There are so many stories ahead to tell and I can’t wait to share them all with you.
alexadena 
Well, 30000 is awesome, and I admit I was one of them, but I would have doe something unprecedented…turned around and immediately spent real money for a sequel! There must be many of us out here waiting!
Thanks! A sequel is coming in April or May — and it’s longer than the first one, which I know will make people happy. I promise to not charge you more than 2.99 for it, too.