way sms: W.I.P. Weds

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Anna Bell about her WIP

photos courtesy of the author

Anna, thank you for joining me today

What you are working on?

One of the novels I’m working on at the moment is a prequel to my debut novel Millie and the American Wedding. I hadn’t planned to have a trilogy of Millie books, but after the release of the first one readers tweeted with me and commented in their reviews about the possibility of another Millie book. It seemed that readers weren’t satisfied with it being a stand alone book and they felt Millie's story wasn't over.

I started thinking about a sequel but I couldn’t seem to go forward in the story without going backwards first. Millie and the American Wedding is about a British girl that goes to New York for wedding of a friend that she met when she studied at an American university. I decided that I needed readers to know that part of Millie’s life (how all the characters got to know each other and how she got together with her ex-boyfriend), in order for the sequel to really be the final part in Millie’s story.

What stage are you at with it?

I’m about 40,000 words into it, and I’m aiming for 70,000 words. It’s tough writing a prequel to a book when I hadn’t planned all three books to start with. I had to re-read the first book to see what references I’d made to Millie’s time at university. I’ve then had to try and weave the tales of bad dates, drunken one night-stands and the trouble that the girls got into during the year into the new story. At the same time, the novel has to be a stand alone story too, not just a preamble, which means I’m having to create lots of new twists and turns along the way.

Does it have a working title or maybe a final title?

Slightly unoriginally I thought I’d make the title, Millie and the American University. I thought it would signal to readers that it is part of the same series. I loved the simplicity of the titles of Lindsey Kelk’s I heart series and Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series. You instantly know from the titles that you are about to follow the adventures of Angela or Becky.

I’m also sticking with the theme for my third book in the trilogy, or millogy as it’s now known, as that will be called Millie and the American Proposal.

Do you have a cover for it yet?

I don’t have a cover for it yet. I’m hoping it will be a similar cover to the first Millie book, and I’m going to stick to the red, white and blue colour scheme. I imagine that instead of the New York skyline there will be a slightly more academic looking silhouette, but as I don’t design my own covers I will have to wait and see what the designer comes up with!

When is it to be published and by whom?

I’m aiming for a publication date of early 2013, and I’m self-publishing it. I took the plunge to self-publish Millie and the American Wedding earlier this year and I’ve been blown away by the response to it. I’ve sold over 14,000 copies so far. Whilst I’m still dreaming of a traditional publishing deal, I’m delighted that I’m able to get my work out there in the mean time!