Conundrums: A Guest Post by Elaine U. Cho

Jump right back into the vivid world of Ocean’s Godori in this action-packed follow-up that delivers even higher stakes, more laughs and a love story or two. With thought-provoking themes and phenomenal character development, this is a wholly satisfying sequel. Read on for an exclusive essay from Elaine U. Cho on writing Teo’s Durumi.

Sequels and series are one of those chicken and egg conundrums: you want to invest your time and love for a new book or a tv series, but what if the next book never materializes or the next season ends up being canceled, leaving you in a lurch? But if you don’t invest in the first installment, then it will be interpreted as a lack of interest and the powers that be won’t bother producing the sequel either. I’ve been on both sides of it now as a reader and a writer, and it really comes down to this truism: we all just want to give and receive love.

Ocean’s Godori was meant to provide the best of both worlds. I had always hoped I could write more adventures of Ocean and her crew, but as a debut author, I was aware this might be a one and done deal. Consequently, when we were editing Ocean’s Godori, we considered how to make it its own complete story. A lot of thought went into shaping character arcs so that at the end of the book, although we haven’t come to the end of their adventures, we have a good sense of whom the protagonists have become and what kinds of decisions they’ll make going forward.

That said, I’m incredibly thankful to be able to continue the story with Teo’s Durumi, the conclusion to what is now the Alliance duology. In Ocean’s Godori, the characters struggle with how to honor where they come from while figuring out who they’re going to be in the future. Some of those themes carry over, but Teo’s Durumi concerns itself with the questions of, well, if you figure out who you are, what do you do now? How do you hold up when people challenge your hard-fought realizations? And sometimes, do you find that what you “figured out” is wrong? Teo’s Durumi wrestles with that against a backdrop of spacecraft chases, interplanetary politics, and some romance, because it is largely a love letter to the genre and I’ve always said that the series is as much inspired by Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep as it is by Free Food for Millionaires.

Writing a sequel is the best kind of reunion, where I get to work with characters I already know and love. Now that I’ve established this playground, I not only get to enjoy it, but I can also challenge its parameters. How will the characters keep close who they are as well as the people they love? What kinds of foods will they share? Will they/won’t they? I hope readers will have as much fun discovering the answers as I did while I was writing it. I’m so grateful to readers and to Zando for inviting me back to finish the story, and so phenomenally grateful for all the love these characters have received. I hope this next adventure suffices as a representation of my love back to you.