Guest Post: Author Shelley Workinger

Books:

Solid (Solid, #1)
Settling (Solid, #2)
Sound (Solid, #3)

I always assumed that my next book after the SOLID series would be one of the two ideas that’ve been nagging at me for years now: a ghost story involving a football team or a horror piece about bugs. Yes, seriously! I know either of those would be a huge departure from the fun YA fiction route I’ve been on, but creativity is truly an untamable beast. ;)

And, of course, when the time came for me to sit down and actually flesh out my next outline, even more new ideas showed up at the party! These latecomers are a pushy bunch, so those two above-mentioned ideas are being tabled yet again in favor of one of the 3 titles below. The good thing is, I am equally excited about all of them, so I’m looking for some reader input on which to pursue first. Thanks in advance for your opinions!


1. FEEL

In the future, all sensation has been eliminated. People no longer feel pleasure or pain…or anything at all. No one knows this better than Ben, who’s passed the last several months without shedding a single tear of grief over the loss of this mother, not one of joy for graduating at the top of his class.

But all of that changes when he glimpses a wild-eyed girl in the shadows on his way to work and something stirs inside him for the very first time. Without thinking, he jumps out the back door of the subway car and follows her to an underground world where any sensation can be bought…for a price.


2. SUNBORN

Solomon was, is, and will most likely forever be the only child ever born on the sun. Or rather, in the sun. After all, the volunteers for the sun pod knew full well that, unlike with the planetary colonies, they would only be able to get in through the sun’s atmosphere, not back out.

Now 13 years old, Sol actually has a pretty great life; his parents (who never thought they could be parents) adore him, as do all of the other adults in the colony, and he has everything he needs – perhaps even more than most as everyone tries to compensate for his only-ness. But Sol’s tired of only seeing other kids through the school tran, as well as hearing their stories of vacations across the solar system that literally revolves around him but that he can’t experience. He’s determined to find a way out of the sun and into the universe, even if he’s the only who believes it’s possible.


3. SPLIT

Yes, I know I said I was closing out the SOLID series in 3 books. And I fully intended to; I really did! But as I fleshed out the third book (SOUND), I realized there was no way to organically tie up all of the loose ends and answer all of the questions and, as a reader, that kills me. So I’m beginning to formulate the idea of one more book (just one, I promise!) that both tells what happens to Clio and friends after they’ve left the compound, as well as going back and telling the backstory of Dr. Heigl and the genetic experiment. The best way I can think of to do both is to alternate chapters between past and future; splitting the stories and literally splitting the book.


So what do YOU think? Which would you most like to see on the shelves next?

Thanks so much for stopping by Shelley!  I know I got excited about each of these ideas, but most especially when I heard that there would possibly be a fourth book in the Solid series!  I can't wait to hear what happened to Clio and the rest of the gang after they left the compound.  If you guys want to find out more of Shelley and her Solid series, as well as stay up to date on what's to come, check out the links below, and once again thanks for stopping by!

Shelley:

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The Solid Series