If I reach my goal....I'll take a break!

I'm busy working on a sequel to A Bitch Named Karma. I'd always had the idea floating around....but there was no way I was writing even one word until I sold the first book. Didn't wanna jinx it or anything.

So once the publishing dream became reality, of course I wondered if I should write the sequel. Do people like sequels? Do publishers like sequels?? I asked my editor the question and it was a resounding "YES!" So I started it.

The original goal was to finish it by the end of 2010. (But I didn't seriously even start it `til a couple weeks ago.) I think that's a reachable goal. My daily word count goal is 1000. I usually can write a couple hundred more than that, but that's all I can realistically manage with two kids. That will have me finishing the book around the end of September or so. I think that's decent. We're leaving November 30th for a 9 day trip. I should have all of October and November to edit. Not sure if that will be enough, but it should be pretty good. After going through the editing process with my editor for one book already, I can tell that my writing is much stronger. So, hopefully that means my first draft will be better than my first drafts have been in the past!

So anyway, I think I may take a break the first week of August. I am desperately wanting to get some scrapbooking done. If my total word count is 40,000 by the end of July, I will take a vacation! (I'm at 12,000 right now). Today is the 6th...I have 26 days....so I'll need to do more than 1000 a day...but I think I can do it.

Do you set word count goals and reward yourself when you make them???

To Sequel or not to Sequel.....

As a reader, I am always asking "what happens next?" when I finish a book..any book. The main character could live happily ever after but I always want to know if he or she really did. Did she go on to have dozens of babies with the man of her dreams? Did they buy a house and move to the suburbs? Or did more problems arise later on.

As a writer, even long before my manuscript was accepted for publication...I had the idea of a sequel rolling around in my brain. My story is complete though...is has a definitive ending, the kind readers expect for my genre. All questions are answered, no lose ends are left. But even as the writer, I'd love to find out if the happily ever after really did pan out.

I just finished reading a book today...the third in a series. This author, as I noticed in the past two books in the series, purposely leaves many questions unanswered and to me that is frustrating. It feels like I just read a part of the story, not a complete book. Now I am left hoping she is in the process of writing a fourth. As one of her readers, I would be severely disappointed, even angry, if she didn't.

(Edited to add: I checked the author's website and she is indeed in the process of writing #4. I feel somewhat better about the ending of book #3.)

So, what do you think of sequels???