I just got another question about when I'm going to write another love story. I just love questions like this. What I told this person was the truth: my next novel, Ghostwriter, has a deep love story in it. It's not going to remind a reader of The Notebook but there is still a compelling love story told in its pages.
The thing I didn't say is what I want to say--I've written other love stories since The Promise Remains that haven't seen light of day. I counted and found four that I've written. Two of them will remain in my closet until the end of time. They're not dreadful but they're not that special. Another is a majorly ambitious novel that will get overhauled one day down the road. That one is a very special story and as the years pass I make notes on how to make it better.
The final one is a story I spent all last year working on.
Will that story see light of day? Yes. Absolutely. The question of when and all those other nice details remain a mystery, but it will be part of my collection of stories that sit on a shelf.
This writing thing can be confusing. Because as I continue to get accolades on my ability to write supernatural suspense, I'll continue to hear people say their absolute favorite book of mine is my first. I always want to tell people not to say that. Because in my mind there's never going to be a Promise Remains 2. It would be impossible to recapture the spirit of that book (or really any book I've written for that matter).
Do I have more love stories I want to write? Yes, absolutely. And if given the time and the opportunity, some of those stories might see light of day, too. I think I have some great ideas. But I also have to deal with the slow-moving, ever-exasperating machinery of publishing.
And, oh yeah, the story I just started to write--it's the scariest idea I've ever come up with. But that's for another time . . .