{"id":2777,"date":"2013-04-18T10:20:19","date_gmt":"2013-04-18T14:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.old.caraghobrien.com\/book\/?p=2777"},"modified":"2013-04-18T10:20:19","modified_gmt":"2013-04-18T14:20:19","slug":"what-about-3-5-where-is-birthmarked-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/birthmarked\/what-about-3-5-where-is-birthmarked-4\/","title":{"rendered":"What About 3.5? Where is Birthmarked 4?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2781\" alt=\"knocker\" src=\"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/knocker.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"220\" \/>I\u2019ve been asked quite a bit if I plan to write a story for \u201cBirthmarked 3.5\u201d or another novel for <i>Birthmarked 4<\/i>.\u00a0 The truth is, I\u2019ve given the possibility considerable thought.\u00a0 My editor at <a href=\"http:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/splash\/publishers\/square-fish-books.html\">Square Fish<\/a>, Lauren Burniac, invited me to create new content for the extra bonus material that goes in the back matter of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Promised-Birthmarked-Trilogy-Caragh-OBrien\/dp\/1250034280\/ref=tmm_pap_title_0\">paperback<\/a>, due out in September, 2013, and kicking around the idea of another story definitely came up.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is, I like where the trilogy ends with <i>Promised<\/i>, and I fear that tacking on an extra story would dilute it.\u00a0 I agonized over the ending for months, actually, and I was aware that I was taking a significant risk including certain events.\u00a0 I\u2019ve paid for my choice, too, if the mix of strong reactions is anything to go by, but I\u2019m still convinced it was the right ending, and I\u2019m continually grateful that I\u2019ve had the support of the <a href=\"http:\/\/mackidsbooks.com\/\">MacKids<\/a> team behind me.\u00a0 They\u2019re not afraid of the unconventional.<\/p>\n<p>Creating a whole new novel for <i>Birthmarked 4<\/i> would involve turning my mind back to old, beloved characters and spinning them forward into new problems.\u00a0 It could be a rich experience, but I\u2019m not ready to do it. \u00a0I\u2019m no longer the same writer I was a year ago when I finished the <em>Birthmarked<\/em> trilogy, and I don\u2019t yet have the perspective to see Gaia and her world with fresh eyes. \u00a0Put simply, I\u2019m both too far away from them already, and too close still.<\/p>\n<p>Our world has changed in the last year, too.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had Newtown and the Boston Marathon bombs since then, and they\u2019ve changed my sense of urgency about safety, childhood, and imagination.\u00a0 I feel a need to write different stories now, and they are pulling me deep into new paths.\u00a0 I want to go forward, exploring where I am now, the way I did when I first wrote <i>Birthmarked<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.teenbookcon.org\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-2782   alignleft\" alt=\"Teen Book Con, Houston, TX\" src=\"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Picture-1.png\" width=\"105\" height=\"105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Picture-1.png 175w, https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Picture-1-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 105px) 100vw, 105px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So, for now, Gaia\u2019s story ends where it ends.<\/p>\n<p>This weekend, I\u2019ll be at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.teenbookcon.org\/\">Teen Book Con<\/a> in Houston, Texas.\u00a0 If you\u2019re there and you\u2019d like to meet me, please come say hello.\u00a0 I especially want to encourage you if you\u2019re normally shy.\u00a0 It should be a great, inspiring day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve been asked quite a bit if I plan to write a story for \u201cBirthmarked 3.5\u201d or another novel for Birthmarked 4.\u00a0 The truth is, I\u2019ve given the possibility considerable thought.\u00a0 My editor at Square Fish, Lauren Burniac, invited me to create new content for the extra bonus material that goes in the back matter [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,147],"tags":[310],"class_list":["post-2777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birthmarked","category-promised-2","tag-birthmarked-4"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2777"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2797,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2777\/revisions\/2797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}