So, I am in the process of editing the sequel to Wisp; the title is Puck the Pathwinder. The original draft of this story was written 2 years ago, the same as the others in the trilogy. The original Wisp story was only 3000 words, really just intended as a children’s book, but my editor at Dragon Scale encouraged me to expand it to meet the lengths of the two sequels, which were much longer. Well, long as far as middle grade books go, not long in terms of an adult fantasy novel.
Wisp Book 1 turned out longer than expected, and now the sequels are expanding some too as the story grows in new directions. I’m not so much “writing” these stories as just unearthing them, and I don’t really know how much content is there until I get all the dirt cleared off, metaphorically speaking.
Now, I always liked the first Wisp story, don’t get me wrong, but it was originally intended as a standalone book. The concept for the sequels of Puck and Nobb didn’t come until later, and now I have had to go back and rewrite Book 1 to mesh better with Books 2 & 3 so they are a cohesive trilogy. Book 2 and Book 3 were already conjoined at the hip, so that wasn’t so much of a problem.
But adding so much content to Book 1 has created a natural overflow of characters and plot into Book 2, and this will also spill into Book 3. If you have read Book 1, I can say that all of the boglin characters are completely new. The scene with the ogre is greatly expanded, and the ending of the book is different.
As a single story over a three book arc, I think it functions pretty well. The sequels get darker and more action oriented, but that’s just I myself would like to read, and I guess as a writer, I have to write what entertains myself first and just hopes it works for others too!
JM Hauser 