Mundie Moms

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Covet Blog Tour: Guest Post- Elements of a Sequel / Giveaway

I'm thrilled to be the next stop in the Covet blog tour hosted by Kismet Blog Tours. Today's stop features a guest post from author Melissa Darnell and a giveaway provided by Harlequin Teen!


What are important elements of a sequel, and how did you incorporate those into this book?

Sequels are always tricky to pull off.  In addition to the usual issues in writing a novel (starting with an interesting beginning, creating likable characters, juggling the main plot as well as all the subplots, avoiding the sagging middle syndrome, and ending with a satisfying conclusion), you also have to worry about the overarching story of the series as a whole.  In a trilogy, that makes the second book (in this case Covet) the middle of the series, which then creates the risk that IT could become the sagging middle of the overall series.   And of course while the second book in a trilogy needs to have its own ending, it still has to leave a lot of overarching unanswered questions and threads to be wrapped up in the following book.  

 Thankfully there are some great benefits to writing a sequel. The biggest is character-building...the first book has to do the most work in revealing the characters’ personalities and background history. But a sequel allows the writer to jump right into the new situations these characters are facing since most readers will prefer to read a series in order and will already know the characters’s personalities and histories from the previous book. So instead of spending precious page space on explaining backstory, we can fit in a lot more action and conflict right from the beginning in the sequel.  It’s also a fun opportunity to introduce new issues between long time and seemingly solid relationships, kill off beloved secondary and even main characters (my personal favorite technique; in my stories NOBODY is safe!), explore new locations, and dig deeper into the secrets only hinted at in the previous book!  Sequels are the perfect chance to play with readers’ expectations and hopefully surprise the heck out of them by taking the story into completely unexpected directions.

 In Covet, I kill more than a few characters, delve deeper into some previously barely shown secondary characters as well as some of the rules that hinder the Clann’s abilities, introduce a new paranormal group or “species”, and basically do everything I can think of to unabashedly torture Tristan and Savannah.  :D


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Thank you Melissa for stopping by Mundie Moms today!



About CovetGoodreadsAmazonB&NIndiebound

Dangerous to be together. Painful to be apart. Savannah Colbert knows she broke up with Tristan Coleman for the right reasons. Most of all, to keep from killing him with her new vampire abilities. But try telling her heart. 

Now, lost in a sea of hostile Clann faces, Sav tries to come to terms with what she’s becoming and what that means for her future. And that someone is doing their best to bully her into making a terrible mistake. 

 Tristan can’t believe Sav won’t even talk to him. If being apart is her decision, fine. Just don’t expect him to honor it. But even as he prepares to fight for the girl he loves, forces beyond their control take them both in directions neither could have foreseen or prepared for. A reckoning is coming…and not everyone will survive.

About Melissa DarnellwebsiteThe Clann Series websiteFacebookTwitterGoodreads


Melissa Darnell is the author of a growing list of adult and YA fiction and nonfiction books. Born in California, she grew up in Texas and has also called the following states home since then: Utah, West Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Iowa and South Dakota. She currently lives in Nebraska with her husband Tim and two children, Hunter and Alexander, where she enjoys watching Whale Wars, Glee and True Blood, designing digital graphic products for the virtual world of Second Life, and of course writing her latest book. For information about her other books, please visit Melissa’s website at www.melissadarnell.com. 

Tour Schedule: to find out more about the tour, and to see where the tour stops at next, please visit the Covet tour page.


The Giveaway:


Six daily winners will win a copy of Covet and one grand prize winner will win an amazing Covet prize pack! To enter, fill out the form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

19 comments:

  1. Sounds AMAZING!! I can't wait! Thanks for the giveaway :D

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  2. Very exciting, amazing cover. Congrats!!

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  3. This does sound good and like the those above, the cover it very nice.

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  4. I've wanted to start this series for months. Love the covers!

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  5. I hadn't heard about this series yet so thanks for spreading the word. It looks really intriguing.

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  6. Thanks Melissa for explaining from a writers point of view the job of the middle novel in a series. I think the reason why I enjoy books in a series are the world building, character building, more conflict and resolution, and yes even killing some characters off. Thanks for the awesome giveaway!

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  7. Loved the first book! & I love your giveaways!

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  8. The book sounds good. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  9. This will be my first book of your. Thanks for the excerpt and giveaway.

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  10. I am super excited!! This is a great giveaway!! Grand prize is so awesome!! I can not wait to read. Thanks for an opportunity to win!!

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  11. I love the cover and this sounds like an awesome sequel! Thanks for the giveaway : )

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  12. I loved the first book soooo much!
    I can't wait to read this sequel.

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  13. Thanks for the awesome giveaway!! I can't wait to read this one!

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  14. I loved the first book! Can't wait to read Covet...thanks for the giveaway!!

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  15. I loved reading Crave and cannot wait to get my hands on book two!

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  16. Can't wait to start the new series.

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