S.N.S. – or rather Second Novel Syndrome. I can stare at you directly and say, I owned you. I finally beat you. For almost 12 years when I set upon making a sequel to what is now Atlantic Split, I struggled to find a way to make what is now At Liberty To Live as good as it’s prequel. And I can tell you, it’s been one of the toughest things I’ve ever done.

Atlantic Split will always hold a special place in my heart, and At Liberty To Live was always the younger brother or sister who could never live up to it’s older sibling. It needed work, and Atlantic Split always came so easy to me. This one needed proper care and effort and I was frustrated by it many a time. But I knew I had to persist, I knew that I had to carry on because inside that book that nearly crippled all my writing spirit, Luke had to go through this part of his journey.  Luke needed this book to grow.

I’ve mentioned before that writing a follow up novel was tough, but now I’m going to explain a little more about what exactly happened. Spoilers ahead: 

Book 2 started when I dreamt up the ending 12 years ago nearly. I wrote my sequel knowing roughly what was going to happen. There are still scenes in it that remain from all that time ago and the setting has always remained the same. What had to change was the characters. Before, four of the secondary characters: Linda, Jack, Tom and Maria were all separate from each other. There were even more secondary characters who were redundant and I got rid of them. Whilst their stories didn’t change much and the relationships remained the same, they weren’t strong characters and they couldn’t hold the story. No one would care about their petty dramas and workplace without knowing who they were previously. However, one day it clicked what I needed to do and it was simple. I made them into a family.

And that was where the story changed. That’s when I knew At Liberty To Live was ready.

These sort of moments in writing are what I live for. When there’s an issue you need to solve and you just can’t work it out and then suddenly, everything just falls into place and you can work out exactly what steps to take to solve it. Like a Rubik’s cube. There are several moments like that in The Luke Bright Series, and if you continue reading the series past these two books, there’s one moment coming up that has shaped the whole series. I can’t wait to see your faces when that reveal comes out!

The reason I’m writing this blog is not to put you off reading the book or slagging off my own work, but to prove that writing isn’t easy. It takes time, patience and it’s frustrating. But, the reward is immeasurable. Seeing a book that I warred with for years finally published in the best form possible, in a form that actually I now get so excited reading and have had amazing comments on, it just blows me away. If only my past self could see it now. Could see the fact that this book is finally out there.

I’m now living proof that Second Novel Syndrome can not only be beaten, but with At Liberty To Live, it can be smashed into smithereens. It is now a bloody great book and an amazing read, on par with Atlantic Split. The two can stand next to one another, not elder and junior, but as equals. As absolute equals. And that…that is something I never imagined happening…

Atlantic Split and At Liberty To Live, the first and second books in The Luke Bright Series are available to purchase NOW! Please follow me on my blog and my social media links below, and use the links on my website to purchase a copy of each if you have not done so. Don’t forget to leave a review! Thank you once again for taking the time to read this blog post.

N.A.K.