Perhaps you have heard about the current internet hub-bub surrounding the Monstromology series by Rick Yancey. If not, go here for an interview with him to see what the current state of the series (and the drama) is.
In short: Rick thought he was writing more books in the series, his publisher said no, he mentioned it online, and there was a huge write-in campaign (like they do for TV shows) and now there is some chatter about the publisher being upset. (which is probably just chatter, Rick. Keep up the good writing.)
I have gotten in several conversations recently with writers who are in Rick’s boat — their series have been canceled, or are in a state of limbo, or whatever. People often want to cast the publishers as the bad guy. People have written me to ask why I’m “protecting” Harper in the matter of killer unicorns… I think it’s easy to see from Rick’s example how quickly half-understood bits of information can go haywire and get people all riled up.
I can’t speak for Rick or the Monstrumologist series. I hope that he does find a new publisher and a way to conclude the books, because he clearly feels there is more to that story in that form. In my case, I don’t feel “cut off at the knees” in the same manner. I have never been told by my publisher that I can’t do what I want to do with the series. The truth is, we don’t know the answer to this yet. There are various options being floated and considered, but I’m not going to talk about them on my blog yet. (Last week, my editor and I discussed one possibility that has me totally giddy with excitement.) In the meantime, killer unicorns are very much alive. In fact, I’m writing a short story about them right now. The paperback of ZvU comes out next month. The paperback of Ascendant is out next spring. There’s a new unicorn short story coming out in an anthology this winter. It’s wall to wall killer unicorns around here.
And what makes that hilarious to me is that despite all that, my own personal focus as a writer is on another world completely, an austere future world where a young girl tries desperately to eke a living out of an unforgiving earth while the boy she loves has his eyes set upon the stars…
