Thursday, July 17, 2014

 Guest Post & $100 GC Giveaway – What’s Next by Christine Amsden @ChristineAmsden

http://closkot.blogspot.com/2014/07/guest-post-100-gc-giveaway-whats-next.html

Good-bye Old Friend

Finishing the Cassie Scot series feels like saying good-bye to an old friend, one I will sorely miss. Four books was sufficient to tell her story, but it was not long enough for me to grow weary of her. I still love her character, her spirit, her intelligence, her ability to forgive, and her ability to love.

Readers often ask me what’s next, now that Cassie’s story is over. As I consider my answer, I find I envy authors who manage to spin an incredible character or story into a dozen books, even if I usually find those series tedious to read after a while. The idea of welcoming a new character into my life after saying good-bye to one who has meant so much … well, sometimes I fear that I’ve already written the best story I have to offer.

At other times I remember the most important thing Cassie taught me: Be yourself, whoever that is. You don’t have to be what others expect you to be.

I still don’t know what my next project will be. I do still have spin-offs to finish so I don’t have to be in a huge hurry to figure out what’s next. But I do know that as I say good-bye to Cassie, I won’t just let any character walk into my life. Or any story. Many authors get pinned down, affixed with a genre label and set on that shelf for life. Luckily, I’m an independent author so I don’t have to answer to anyone but myself. With luck, whatever I choose to do next, even if it has little to do with what I’ve done before, my fans will continue to see that spark of life that has kept them turning pages up to now. I assure you that whatever I do you can count on one thing: A strong character. If that’s a genre, you can affix me with the label.

Good-bye, Cassie. Hello possibility, wherever you may lead me!