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About the author and blogger ...

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.
A prize-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize.
Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of award-winning short stories.

TELL ME MORE

A difficult second novel? I’m about to find out!

19/2/2017

14 Comments

 
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When I was struggling to find a publisher for my first novel, if there was one thing that annoyed me more than advice to keep trying, you’ll get there if it’s good enough; it was moaning about the difficulty of producing a follow-up. While I’m not renowned for my glass-half-full mentality, I’m screaming first world problem to the power of ten. These writers were blessed with a burden I’d have willingly taken from their shoulders, so how do I feel now I’m about to release a second novel of my own?

Published by a tiny independent press, I haven’t been feted enough to fully qualify for Second Novel Syndrome. Most of the reading public doesn’t know I exist. Writing my second novel between drafts of the first, and not knowing which would be delivered first, I didn’t have the sensation that others have reported of readers looking over my shoulder as the words appeared on my screen. But I do have a following, small as it is, of enthusiastic readers I don’t want to disappoint. So, yes, I’m nervous about offering up my second for their scrutiny.

As
Cressida Downing says on the Writers and Artists website, readers

want what they liked in the first book to be in the second book, but they don't want an identikit book, they'd like some different bits, but they couldn't tell you what different bits.


If the second novel is too samey, the audience complain 'this author only knows how to write one book.'  If the second novel goes in too much of a different direction, the audience sulk 'this isn't the sort of book I was expecting from this author.'


I know she’s right, because I’ve felt something similar, on occasion, when I’ve reviewed the
second novels of writers whose debuts I’ve loved. On the other hand, there are a couple of authors (Alison Moore, for example, and Shelley Harris) whose second novel I enjoyed even more than her first.

Mine will be whatever it is: different things to different readers. Meanwhile, although acknowledging I’ve worked damn hard to get here, I appreciate
my good luck in finding, in Inspired Quill, a publisher who’s positive about my writing and a pleasure to work with on making it better; as well as the lovely bloggers, librarians and booksellers (and the friends who say Have you read Anne’s book? It’s very good whenever they get the chance) who have helped bring my debut to the attention of readers, who have themselves so generously given my words their time. Eighteen months on from publication, I’m still finding new readers and doing events for Sugar and Snails.

It’s my pleasure to unveil Underneath, a slightly scary story wrapped up in a deceptively
soothing blue cover. Advanced reader copies are now available in digital format in exchange for an honest online review.

He never intended to be a jailer …

After years of travelling, responsible to no-one but himself, Steve has resolved to settle down. He gets a job, buys a house and persuades Liesel to move in with him.

Life’s perfect, until Liesel delivers her ultimatum: if he won’t agree to start a family, she’ll have to leave. He can’t bear to lose her, but how can he face the prospect of fatherhood when he has no idea what being a father means? If he could somehow make her stay, he wouldn’t have to choose … and it would be a shame not to make use of the cellar.

Will this be the solution to his problems, or the catalyst for his own unravelling?

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A couple of options presented themselves when I wondered about pairing this post with the latest Carrot Ranch challenge to write a 99-word story featuring someone who watches. I could have written about the author who writes with a critic sitting on her shoulder. I could have written about my character, Steve, drilling a peephole in the cellar door to keep a watchful eye on his captive. Alas, the story that chose me is even more bleak.

Mamma’s here, Leroy.

His mother watches. First the cap. Then the wrist and ankle straps.

He always welcomed me and my “box of tricks”. Vocabulary, comprehension, digit symbol. If there were points for effort, he’d have been off the scale.

Mamma’s here, Leroy
. She knows her words can’t penetrate the glass. She’s here because she birthed him, the cord around his neck. I’m here because I couldn’t trade his failures for the court’s compassion. He’s there because he’s poor, uneducated and black.

She watches the electricity convulse her baby’s body until it breaks him. I watch his mother witness this country’s shame.

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Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
14 Comments
Caroline link
19/2/2017 06:11:03 pm

Looking forward to reading Underneath Anne. All the best with your grand Second Novel.

Reply
Annecdotist
21/2/2017 12:18:06 pm

Thanks, Caroline, I appreciate your support.

Reply
Charli Mills
19/2/2017 07:50:48 pm

First, I'd like to cheer your effort and acknowledge that you have worked hard to achieve this second novel ascent. And being with a small press speaks to the quality of that effort as it translates to good writing. The big presses have other factors, namely the credibility to sell books (credibility meaning you are already known in literary or celebrity circles) and while your audience may not (yet) be huge, you have certainly won them (us) over with your writing style and quality. One day, we will share you with greater numbers!

It's interesting to consider which components to include in the second novel, to give readers what they want yet deliver something new and fresh. Look at Shakespeare, he accomplished sonnets, drama and comedy, yet no matter the format he delivered his style rooted in pushing the boundaries of an evolving English language as well as providing clarity to truths we can still relate to and apply.

Underneath! I have goosebumps! Yes, it's a clam blue cover but the shadowy earth and the light in the A hint that this is not a placid suburban tale. It's a spectacular cover and blue will go well with the orange already on your shelf. Congratulations, Ann!

And what a heart-piercing flash! So many injustices within the lines, and a stoic mother who can nothing more for her son than to be there and witness them. It makes me think of eugenics when it began in the US and how it sought to sterilize and institutionalize marginalized groups of people, especially Black Americans. With it falling out of favor, prisons and executions became a replacement. So I see a mother standing there, having overcome the odds to give birth, but watch her "baby" die in the end. What a place of helplessness.

Reply
Annecdotist
21/2/2017 12:26:41 pm

Thanks, Charli, your words are very kind and it’s an honour to have such quality support behind me.
Actually, it wasn’t until now that I see the link between Underneath and this prison flash (although tenuous without giving away too much of the plot). We’ve got a major problem with prison overcrowding and staff morale in the UK right now and it does get used as a dumping ground for the vulnerable who go astray for lack of support. Even so, the tragedy of this flash still took me by surprise!

Reply
Sacha Black
19/2/2017 09:56:00 pm

CRACKING cover and VERY intriguing blurb too. Sounds amazing. I am wishing you all the luck, I still have your first to read and review, I am not the fastest reader, but I haven't forgotten. This one will go on my pile too :D

Reply
Annecdotist
21/2/2017 12:29:23 pm

Thank you, Sacha, I’m amazed you manage to do ANY reading with your own writing, your busy blog at work and family. I’ll be interested in your views when you do manage to fit either of these novels in.

Reply
Irene Waters link
20/2/2017 01:47:43 am

Anne that is such a powerful flash. I like the two perspectives you have given. Congratulations on finishing your second novel. I am one of your readers who is looking forward to reading it and I have no doubt, that it will be as hard to put down as the first, despite expecting it to be different. https://irenewaters19.com/2017/02/06/sugar-and-snails-a-book-review/

Reply
Annecdotist
21/2/2017 12:34:40 pm

Thank you, Irene. I wasn’t sure how clearly the identity of the first person voice would come across in such a short piece (it’s a psychologist who, having assessed Leroy’s IQ, is saddened that he doesn’t get more lenient sentence).
Thanks for your kind feedback on Sugar and Snails – I must have missed that review, but it seems you’ve been extremely busy sharing your reading since you got back from your travels. I do hope you enjoy Underneath too.

Reply
Kate Evans
20/2/2017 09:20:35 am

Well done Anne. I know it's sometimes not easy to keep going in the publishing world... I loved your first book, so look forward to reading your second.

Reply
Annecdotist
21/2/2017 12:36:06 pm

Thank you, Kate. I appreciate your support and looking forward to finding out where the Curtis Brown (?) course has taken you.

Reply
Sarah
20/2/2017 03:54:49 pm

I am so excited! I've been looking forward to this book and the cover is amazing!

That's a lot to think about with a second novel. I felt your pain while reading this but I think you'll not disappoint (which probably makes things worse...) Just get it out there. :-) Congratulations!

Reply
Annecdotist
21/2/2017 12:43:44 pm

Thanks, Sarah, I’m so pleased with both of my covers, though can’t take the credit – other than providing feedback on earlier versions. I think the difficulty with Underneath is that it looks like a thriller but isn’t quite as twisty turny as a conventional thriller, although I’m hoping there are other compensations (and it is quite scary).

Reply
Liz link
21/2/2017 04:21:33 am

Chilling response to Chari's prompt.
Amazing what dark thoughts creep to the surface sometimes. But racial injustice is quite real, and perhaps closer to the surface than we like to acknowledge.

Reply
Annecdotist
21/2/2017 12:48:32 pm

Thanks, Liz. It’s not quite as bleak in the UK and US prisons and of course we don’t have the death penalty but there’s still the need for reminders that Black Lives Matter. I was surprised where the prompt took me. I’ve read about people bearing witness to executions but I think this is the nearest I could go along that route. It must be very difficult to watch.

Reply



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    ratings: 60 (avg rating 3.17)

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