ROS(B): Backgammon and Alien Abductions

Did that get your attention?

I love that yesterday’s comment thread turned into a discussion of the use of backgammon in literature. Who knew we had so many aficionados amongst blog readers?

(Confession: I’ve never actually played backgammon myself. I have, however, had a head wound.)

The other thing I did yesterday was turn in preview material for the title-less SSG4. There are currently 64 wannabe titles in the running. I think that’s the longest list we’ve ever made. I’m confident that we’ll know “the one” when we see it, though. There are a lot of “close” titles right now, but none where I’m going “this is it!” But title or no, what SSG4 does have is an excerpt in the back of ROS(B), so that’s exciting.

The other thing that’s exciting is that SSG4 starts precisely where ROS(B) leaves off. I’ve never done that in a book before. There’s always been a little break in the story between books, where I don’t really cover what’s going on in Amy’s life (for instance, the summer she spent in D.C. between book one and two). So this is a change, but I think it’s necessary for the story, both from a schedule perspective (graduation’s coming up soon!) and because a lot of the plot points arise directly from things that happen in book 3.

Wow, vague enough, Di? This is always the point in a book production’s “life cycle” that feels oddest to me. I’m working on the next book, and the previous one hasn’t even hit the shelves yet. Do any other writers of series have that feeling?