13 Steps -- Book 12

The joy of a sequel

True Friends at Fernside isn’t my first sequel. But it’s the first time a sequel was commissioned, and the contract signed, before the first book was published.

I’ve never had more than a one-book deal, so this was the closest I’d ever got to a multi-book contract. It was a lovely feeling: the fact that O’Brien Press, my lovely publishers, were prepared to offer for a second book before seeing what sales figures were like for Book 1, was a vote of confidence in Fernside and in me. It showed how committed they were: obviously, since they had already paid for a second book, they would do everything they could to ensure the first one did well.

True Friends at Fernside was such a joyful writing experience, partly because I love the world of Fernside and there was plenty of scope for further adventures, but also because I wrote it from a place of confidence. It was lovely to be able to tell readers with certainty that yes, there was another book on the way.

The relationship between True Friends at Fernside and Miss McVey Takes Charge is starkly clear. Miss McVey is the sequel that wasn’t commissioned, though it was originally the publisher who suggested writing one. When it was turned down, not on its merits, but as a commercial decision because ‘sales of the first book have been modest’, I knew that none of my brave Fernside schoolgirls or their pioneering mistresses would allow their projects to languish unread. I would have to show some of their spirit in getting the book out myself.

Even though self-publishing was something I’d never contemplated before.

Even though the very idea of it was scary.

I wrote True Friends while Miss McVey Takes Charge was languishing on my hard drive. And once the book was handed in, I knew that I’d have to take action.