I thought that getting Threatening Sky fit for publishing would be easy. After all, it was half written before I turned serious about it as a sequel.

The truth is, this novel was harder to write than Mackerel Sky. Not simply because it was the sequel. It was actually in bad shape: scattered, plot-holed, endless. I’m grateful to my writing coach for pointing out the issues. I wasn’t early on (which you’ll know if you’ve read the previous post) but I am now. Took her advice too, mostly.

The End

One of the main difficulties was finding an ending. One that would satisfy me and the characters.

Mackerel Sky and Threatening Sky used to be one big novel. And it didn’t end there. I’ve got the bones of books three and four, too. However, they’re not why I never had an explicit ending for this sequel. I simply hadn’t thought of ‘The End’ (or that this might one day bite me on the butt when I tried to publish).

In saying that, though, the novel has ended in much the same way as the long-ago original storyline did–with a new house. When I’d started getting serious about finishing, the writing coach saw a version which had no mention of a new, comfy place where Owen, and Andrew and the kids could live in peace.

After a couple of huge changes to the plot had twisted off other endings, I revisited the possibility of shifting house. I wanted Threatening Sky to end on a positive note after so much heartache, but not be so completely at odds with everything that had changed. In actual fact, shifting house tied in well with those changes and I’m very happy with how it’s come about.

I really had to force myself to stop writing about the house though! Everyone was very excited, but the novel was long enough already. For being such a ‘big’ part of the overall novel, it’s got the smallest ink-print.