Coming on November 15, 2023: my second novel

As of this writing, I’ve read Amy Tan’s essay, “Angst and the Second Book,” at least twenty times. I’ve referred people to it. I’ve quoted it. I’ve underscored passages (and I’m not casual when it comes to writing in books).

Right now, this essay resonates in my soul.

Because on November 15, 2023–less than two months from today–I shall release my Second Book.

Technically, it’s my third book. My second book was a novella entitled, My Brother, Romeo (Tuxedo Cat Press, 2021), which was issued only as an ebook. That release was a deliberate choice. I’d published my debut novel, State v. Claus (Tuxedo Cat Press, 2020), a year earlier. I wanted to build up my backlist, and I knew the sequel to State v. Claus wouldn’t be ready for a 2021 release since, among other things, I hadn’t yet written it. So I published My Brother, Romeo to fill the gap.

My upcoming book, Becoming Mrs. Claus, is my second novel. Like State v. Claus, it will be published in paperback as well as ebook. In my heart, it’s my Second Book.

And even though my marvelous beta readers and my amazing editor have been enormously encouraging, and although some lovely authors have already said wonderful things about Becoming Mrs. Claus, the fact that it’s my Second Book terrifies me.

Writers’ lore is replete with horror stories of the Second Book, also known as the sophomore book. Who among us hasn’t finished an author’s second book and thought, “It was okay, but not as good as their first one”? Traditional wisdom claims that the Second Book is just something to be gotten through, that it can never measure up to the first book, and so the author should just get it out there and move on. In “Angst and the Second Book,” Ms. Tan recounts how she attended an event for her first book, The Joy Luck Club, where someone said in all seriousness, “How does it feel to have written your best book first?” Another person proclaimed—before Ms. Tan’s second book had even been published—that she had read that second book “and it’s nearly as good as her first!” (Ms. Tan’s comment: “I still wonder what book that woman in Ohio read.”)

Granted, State v. Claus wasn’t a New York Times bestseller. It’s entirely possible that you’re reading this post and thinking, “I’ve never heard of it.” Other than my sister and a few friends, I don’t know of a lot of people who are chomping at the bit as they await the release of Becoming Mrs. Claus. Still, if reader/reviewers are any indication, those who’ve read my first book enjoyed it. My biggest fear is that with this second one, I might let them down.

Last week, I stopped in at my local bookshop. As I checked out, the bookseller, Nora, and I chatted about my purchase. Unable to resist, I told her that the author of the book in my hand had agreed to blurb my new book. I admitted it will be my second novel, and she said, “That’s so exciting! How do you feel?” I admitted that I was terrified because it was not only my sophomore novel, but a sequel to my first.

Nora, bless her, said, “What about Min Jin Lee?” I must have looked as blank as I felt, because she explained that Pachinko—Ms. Lee’s breakout novel and a finalist for the National Book Award, among other honors—was her second book.

A few days later, I picked up the novel my church’s book club was reading: Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. Gilead won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004. It was also Ms. Robinson’s second book.

A little poking around online revealed a treasure trove of second books that did better than okay. John Grisham’s second book didn’t win any literary awards, but I have no doubt you’ve heard of it: The Firm. Nobody sneezes at any of Jane Austen’s six novels, but it’s her second—Pride and Prejudice—that has proven to be most popular (not to mention, most widely adapted—think Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Bridget Jones’s Diary). Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms was his second novel, but his first bestseller. Oliver Twist outshone Charles Dickens’s first novel, The Pickwick Papers. Zora Neale Huston’s second novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, has been called “a classic of the Harlem Renaissance.” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s second novel was The Scarlet Letter. Yann Martel’s second novel was Life of Pi. Five years after his first novel, Gabriel García Marquez published his second, One Hundred Years of Solitude, which won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1967 and which some consider to be one of the greatest novels ever written.

As the author, I can’t say which of my books is my best. That would be like a parent telling you which of their children they love the most. But as the release of Becoming Mrs. Claus nears, I find myself hoping I’ve learned enough about writing and life in the three years since State v. Claus that just maybe, my Second Book will measure up after all.

*****

P.S. In case you’re interested, you can find information about my books at Tuxedo Cat Press. There’s also a list of my upcoming book market events which I update regularly if you’d like to say hello and have me sign your copy of either or both of my novels.