{Guest Post} Megan Miranda on Writing Decker's Story in Vengeance

I recently read and reviewed Vengeance by Megan Miranda, the sequel/companion novel to her 2012 debut Fracture. When I read and first interviewed Megan about Fracture, she had no plans to continue Delaney's story after the events of the first book. But she never said anything about Decker's story. :) Below, Megan explains how Vengeance came to be and why she felt this story needed to be told. And I wholeheartedly agree -- I wasn't ready for Delaney and Decker's story to be over, and I'm so glad she got the opportunity to expand upon what happened to them following the ending of Fracture. So many unanswered questions that deserved to be examined, as Megan describes for us below.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog again!

In a previous interview we did when Fracture was first published, I spoke about how I didn’t set out to write a paranormal story, though that’s the direction Fracture ended up taking (kind of). I also mentioned why I thought Fracture would be a stand-alone--I felt Delaney had ended in a good place finally. Her journey had come full-circle, as she had come to terms with what she could and could not do, and what made life worth living--for herself, and maybe others as well. I also liked to imagine Decker and Delaney happy for a time.

When I wrote Eleven Minutes, which is a short story told from Decker’s POV about the time Delaney was trapped under the ice and the 6 days she was in a coma, I got the first sense of a story just beginning for him. Here’s a guy who saved his best friend, who people see as a hero, but who’s also overcome with guilt that he left her out on the ice in the first place. He believes he's ultimately responsible for everything that happened to Delaney in Fracture. He also wonders if he’s to blame for some of the tragedy that follows because of a bargain he made in the hospital when Delaney was in a coma: anyone but her, everyone but her.

So eventually I got to thinking: what if that had real consequence? What happens next, not in terms of just Delaney, but to a town that suffered through the events in Fracture? What happens in a place where there was a miracle, but also several deaths in place of that miracle? What happens to the guy who believes he's at the center of all this? What makes people believe - or want to believe - in a curse? What happens after people fall in love? Even though this story is about both Delaney and Decker, it felt right that this should primarily be Decker's story. It is a sequel, in that it follows the events in Fracture, but this is Decker's story. He has his own demons, his own guilt, his own journey to take. It felt new. It felt like it needed to be told. And I'm so thankful I got the opportunity to do so.

As for what's next--I'm currently revising my next book, called Soulprint. In this story, science can screen for the soul (much like we can now do with DNA-fingerprinting), revealing who a soul had belonged to in past lives. And it's about a girl who has been contained for her entire life for her own protection who chooses to escape, discovering clues left behind for her from the past life, unraveling the mystery of who she was and who she is, and whether she's fated to repeat the past. I'm really excited for this book, and hope others will be as well!

After reading Vengeance and seeing all the questions Megan asked herself prior to writing it, I think she did a solid job of completing the story. Of course, I'll always want to read more of these characters and see where their paths have taken them, but I am completely satisfied with where their stories ended in Vengeance. But now I'm dying to get my hands on Soulprint. It sounds phenomenal.

About the author:

Megan is a scientist - turned - teacher - turned - stay-at-home-mom - turned - writer. She is not nearly as indecisive as she sounds. She lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, where she volunteers as an MIT Educational Counselor, does the mom thing by day, and writes by night.

Her first novel, FRACTURE, was published in January 2012 by Walker/Bloomsbury. HYSTERIA, a YA psychological thriller, will be published in February 2013. VENGEANCE, a companion/sequel to FRACTURE, will follow in 2014.

Find Megan:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Title: Vengeance
Author: Megan Miranda
Series: Fracture, book #2
Publisher: Walker Children's
Publication Date: February 4, 2014
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Nobody really believes in a curse. Until you know the people who disappear. Too much coincidence, you look for reason. Too much death, you grasp for something to blame. Carson pulled Delaney out and he died on the side of the road with her mouth pressed to his. Her air in his body. Troy. She told the cops it was suicide. Didn't matter. The lake released her and grabbed another. But when Decker's father dies in a pool of spilled water on their kitchen floor, all Decker can feel is a slow burning rage. Because he knows that Delaney knew that his dad was going to die. She knew and backed out of his house and never said a word. Falcon Lake still has a hold on them both, and Decker can't forgive Delaney until he knows why.

Books by Megan Miranda: