How Long Becomes Too Long

So, I have been pondering something in the back of my brain for a while now that has lately come closer to the surface. Or the front or something.

How long are readers willing to wait for a sequel?

Originally, when I wrote The Other Side, I did not envision a direct sequel. I thought of writing Ray’s brother’s story, Tempted to Taste. But then there were comments I saw about unresolved issues in The Other Side and I had an idea of where I could take a sequel. And I couldn’t write Tempted to Taste before the sequel to The Other Side, could I?

But then as happens to me, I got other ideas for stories I wanted to work on and I kept pushing aside the sequel in favor of other stories. The problem being, I mentioned I would eventually do a sequel so that creates reader expectations, doesn’t it?

But as I have come into 2010 and more ideas take precedence over the sequel to The Other Side, I stop and realize it’s now been over a year since The Other Side came out.

Commitments I have since made mean I couldn’t possibly get to the sequel until late summer, early fall, which probably would put it close to the end of 2010 and nearly two years after the release of The Other Side. This seems like, to me anyway, readers will be at the point they will hardly care.

Now, I could conceivably drop the direct sequel and make Tempted to Taste the book I started in the late summer, early fall and cover some of the unresolved issues of The Other Side in Tempted to Taste.

So, I guess where this is going is, what does everyone think? Is there a point where a promised or hinted-at sequel is no longer relevant and you just don’t care anymore?

Keep in mind the following stories are higher priority for my schedule right now: Pieces (the one I am finishing soon), His One and Only, The Beach House, Twice in a Lifetime.

I also need to do Sorcerer’s Lover 3 which was always intended to be a 3 part series. In addition, Waking the Prince, my fairytale, needs to be finished, and I need to work on my co-authored book with Ava March, AND my own Regency m/m historical, Undeniable. And there is still my cop partners story, Never the One.


I know from comments from Sharon she wants the sequel to The Other Side. So on the other hand, if a promised sequel never materializes do you as readers feel cheated?