the cliffhanger at the end of book one WOULD be good to keep readers hooked - but the thing is - if you ever even want to CONSIDER getting it published, the publisher will LIKELY want just the first book to see how well it does - if sales are good, they'll contract the other two - so it is good if the first book CAN stand on its own (even if it's not meant to) - and letting the publisher know that you already have one or both of the other books written DOES help your chances of getting the whole thing contracted at once - but it still seems that would be a bit of a long shot
from the writing standpoint, i rather like the thought of having so many people die at the beginning of the second book - it's a darkening of the times and makes people want to read more to see how their fave character gets through it all
870: Astur declares independence from both Yvenn and the child-Emperor. No one notices or bothers to reclaim it.is Astur tiny and pretty much a nonentity as far as military threat is concerned? why would this go unnoticed
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generally, i think you're right. I want to end before the johnny/brigaed drama starts to drag, skip three years, and pick up with a bang right before the battle in which johnny dies. the problem im having is picking a good strong scene to end on, one that FEELS like an ending. if the premise of the whole book is "disney stereotypes result in a dysfunctional marriage" then the general plot arc has to be from them seeming perfect to them being horribly unhappy behind closed doors under a false front of glamour. this means the final scene has to be something that really illustrates how far and fatally their relationship has progressed to emptiness and parody. and i cant figure out exactly what moment shows that
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so the REAL meat of what happens after johnny's coronation is that edmund intercepts the assasin - if it is POSSIBLE to have that happen before the coronation, you could end it there and have enough of a cliffhanger that people will be looking for more - and you've MOSTLY got a book that can stand on its own
i dunno if that's do-able for you though - if it is, everything else that happens that year can just be lumped into the crap that happens between books
(i know there's other stuff that happens that year - but it seems like the whole of it could easily be shuffled just a little bit this way or that to get their mention in either before the coronation, or to shuffle it in with the stuff that gets glossed over as the bridge between books)
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from the writing standpoint, i rather like the thought of having so many people die at the beginning of the second book - it's a darkening of the times and makes people want to read more to see how their fave character gets through it all
870: Astur declares independence from both Yvenn and the child-Emperor. No one notices or bothers to reclaim it.is Astur tiny and pretty much a nonentity as far as military threat is concerned? why would this go unnoticed ( ... )
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so the REAL meat of what happens after johnny's coronation is that edmund intercepts the assasin - if it is POSSIBLE to have that happen before the coronation, you could end it there and have enough of a cliffhanger that people will be looking for more - and you've MOSTLY got a book that can stand on its own
i dunno if that's do-able for you though - if it is, everything else that happens that year can just be lumped into the crap that happens between books
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