Towards the end of last year I completed and self-published my first novel, ‘A Justified State.’ Even as I was finishing the writing and editing of that story, an idea was growing in my mind to continue the story of the main characters in another novel. After a bit of a break and some complimentary feedback about the first book, at the start of summer I sat down to start writing a sequel.

I had a plot in mind, I knew what I wanted to focus the story on, and I knew where I wanted to pick up the returning characters and where I wanted to take them in their own stories. But I also wanted to ensure that I wasn’t just re-treading the same ideas and stories that I had already explored in ‘A Justified State.’ In order to make sure the new book seemed fresh and stood out…