I’m not a big fan of prequels. Maybe the Star Wars franchise ruined it for me, maybe I’m just not the type to look back at what happened before. Whatever the case, I prefer to move forward when reading. I prefer to have the past all summed up in a prologue or very succinct memory sequence. So when it comes to my writing I never anticipated needing or wanting to write a prequel for my world. Apparently I was wrong. A good friends of mine recently read my books and had a ton of questions for me when I saw her again. I was excited about getting the feedback and she was excited about getting more information. We both ended the conversation feeling disappointed. She finally said, “Missy I need a prequel. You have to write a prequel.” I thought, do I really? She then handed me a list of questions and I realized, yeah…I do.
The question now is, how do I go about it? My friend’s questions revolved around my heroine, Alexia Williams, and the death of her family. How did they die and why? How did the war start between the shifters and humans? How did Alexia find her way into the human military? I have no problem answering those questions. I love Alexia and plan to have her in other books set in my shifter world. But should I stop there? Do I just write Alexia’s beginning? My hero, Andor, has some unanswered questions too.
For the moment, my plan is to write a prequel from Alexia’s point of view with more details about the beginning of the war and what she went through to survive the battles. She’ll meet shifters and humans along the way and possibly answer some questions about them. However, I feel the need to warn my readers that I’m only the typist. My characters write their stories. I might start out telling Alexia’s history and find myself inside another character’s head. Yes, I know how that sounds. Until my husband has me committed I’ll keep writing about my beloved shifters and the humans who have to learn to live with them. Hopefully they will help me answer everyone’s questions.
-Missy Jane
I have “They Call Me Death” but have not had a chance to read it yet so if you are planning a prequel,…I’ll wait for it to be finished before I read it. I hate to read out of chronological order…lol
A prequel might be in order. I haven’t read “They Call Me Death” yet either and I already have questions—mostly in the “why” arena.
Milinda and Maria, thank you so much for your interest in my book! A prequel will definitely be in the works soon but I don’t know how soon. Right now I plan to make it short but sweet and have it as a freebie. However, my characters have been known to run away from me and have their own say on word count
Keep tabs on my website for more info:
http://www.msmissyjane.com
Thank you!