When The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic first came out, the question I got most often from readers was whether a sequel would be forthcoming. By now, I think, word has gotten out that yes, there will be a sequel. (I hope you didn’t really think I was going to abandon Nora in—all right, no spoiler!—the place I left her at the end of the novel.) Now there is another question: When is the sequel coming out?

The answer to this question is not as easy. “Some time after I finish writing it” is about the best I can do right now. I’m three-quarters of the way through a first draft, and the writing is going well. Still, the story evolves as I go along. I’m still learning about my characters, as they move into different situations and into new relationships with each other, and some things that originally I thought I could cover in a page end up taking up a whole chapter. I like to believe that’s a good sign. If I’m interested in what’s happening, my bet is that readers will be, too. But the whole process takes time. Then there’s the editing and publishing process, which as you know has its own schedule, not always predictable.

Such a vague answer may be small comfort to those of you who just want to know What. Happens. Next. I’ve been there. I vividly remember the sense of frustration—oh let’s not mince words, of betrayal—when I got to the end of The Golden Compass and (spoiler!) realized that I was not about to find out what lay in the new world that Lyra’s father had just blasted a portal into. I had known, going in, that the book was the first novel of a series, but even so, I hankered for more resolution. Even Pullman’s perfect final sentence didn’t make up for the tidy ending I was missing: “So Lyra and her daemon turned away from the world they were born in, and looked toward the sun, and walked into the sky.”

And yet here I am, having written a novel that—while it doesn’t end with Nora dangling from her fingernails from a cliff, no levitation spell handy—does suggest that there needs to be more magic in her future. As it happens, the first version of The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic did tie everything up neatly with a regulation happy ending. That draft was also a thousand pages long. My agent had the brilliant suggestion of ending the novel at a scene that seemed like a good resting place, and saving the rest of the story for a sequel.

It took me about a day to wrap my head about this idea, and then I saw the best part of it: I wouldn’t have to say goodbye to Nora, Aruendiel, and the world of real magic. Because I hated to come to the end of the novel, too. And I knew that there was much, much more to tell, even beyond what I had originally envisioned.

So the end of the first draft has become the beginning of the second book. (And some things I’m saving for Book Three, too.) I’m having a lot of fun with the story, especially now, as I approach the climactic chapters. In fact, I’d love to tell you what’s happening now—but I’m going to stay mum, because that makes me write faster. I can’t promise daily or even monthly updates, but I’ll let you know, via Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook, when the book reaches major milestones.

Huge thanks to everyone who has read my novel and let me know how you liked it. I’m hoping you’ll enjoy Book Two as much as I am now.