The Class Reject: A Damsel in Disguise (Featured Story)

Sequel Update + New Contest + Cast Ideas?

Sequel Update

Hey! I just finished the sequel and did a basic read through. It was a little more than 90,000 words and 48 chapters when I finished, but I was able to shave it down to around 89,000 something. The first book was around 75k, so your welcome. :)

But enough with the numbers. I said I'd have a date in mind, but to be honest, I'm not too sure when I want it to come out. I know I will have it out in May, but because I'm starting school in August, I really want to hash out the theoretical third book before I start. And by theoretical third book, I mean other book projects/publishing stuff/general having life stuff before the hell that is medical school begins. Or maybe there is a sequel to this sequel. 

Who knows?

However, one thing I want to do is bring more exposure to the first book, you know? I'm very fortunate to have it featured, but I feel like I should be more active on the site. But while I figure that out, here are the answers to the questions about the sequel some of you asked in the last update: 

Short Q&A About Sequel Stuff

Q: BunnyGirlz733: Are ALL of the old characters going to reappear, even the ones barely mentioned? (I don't remember if you have already said anything concerning this cause I have short memory span for certain things lol)

A: The short answer would be that everyone  you care about (or are interested in) will reappear in some capacity. Obviously, certain characters get more attention that others, but I didn't want to force certain characters to be present if they didn't have to or vice versa. I don't want to give too much away, but some of the super minor characters like Henry or Chester or Klondike (Don't remember who they are? That's okay.) stay pretty minor, but I would say that characters like Levi or Soren actually get much more screen time than Axel, and become somewhat important plot-wise. I will also say that this sequel was probably harder to write because the plot is a lot less linear and the other main characters (other than Miren) are fleshed out a bit more and have scenes were she isn't present. Like I mentioned before, the sequel is a bit more character-driven and less spectacle happy.

Q:crystalfoelife3:Will you make the wheel book available on wattpad or only some chapters. Because I've come across some authors who'll just post some chapters and then if the reader wants to read the whole thing, they'll have to buy it or something like that?

A: Ironically, I actually tried to publish the book a few years back (tried to get a literary agent and everything), but it wasn't nearly as good as it is now, so that fell through. Although I was completely content with just publishing this story on Wattpad, I feel like I may try to get it published because I am querying another novel that I wrote and it seems like a reasonable move. However, as it stands I'll be putting the sequel on Wattpad in it's entirety (But not all at once. I'm not Netflix. lol). One thing you have to consider is that if I were to get it published as a book, there would probably be some noticeable changes, so I'd still hope that you'd buy it, even if it were just as a collectable or something. Or you could tell your friends to buy it.  But please know that I write because I honestly love it. I'm fortunate to be going to school for something else I'm also passionate in, and if that pays the bills the way I hope it will, I'll be writing for the masses as long as I can. :) 

Q: JoshiferLover4Life: Why is everyone shipping Jeno & Miren? Isn't he dating Theodora (not sure how to spell)? I kinda like them as a couple but it'd be sad for Theodora so I vote Parker & Miren.

A: Okay, so this isn't really related to the sequel, but I thought I'd offer my thoughts anyway. The short answer is because Jeno and Miren are awesome lol. No, I honestly don't have a real bias toward Jeno/Miren or Parker/Miren (Strange, right? I can see why people love/hate either pairing.), but you'll definitely get some perspective about this in the sequel. 

Anyway, keep the questions coming. I'm happy to answer and put them up like this in the next update. :) 

Artemis and Her Muslim Identity 

In the chapter 27 comments, there is some discussion about my portrayal of Artemis and her Muslim identity. Thankfully, you've all been incredibly civil and enlightening about it, and I just wanted to say officially that I appologize if I've offended anyone. When I created her character, I knew that because she is Egyptian and the dominant religion of Egypt is Islam, that it would be reasonable for her to be Muslim. I never officially state that she is Muslim the novel (other than her comment with Allah), so I never bothered to make sure I was portraying her correctly as I should have. I always felt that like other religions (Catholicism, Christianity, Buddism, Judaism, Hinduism, etc) people practice it in varying degrees. For example, one of my friends from high school chose to wear a hijab despite the fact that her mother and sister didn't. Granted, I don't know the full story with that. But I guess another example would be that I know a lot of devote Catholics/Christians that are sexually active before marriage and such, you know? I always that that religious freedom is also having the freedom to practice it as you feel fit, especially since not all of the values are conducive to modern day life. Like anything, you're supposed to take it with a grain of salt. Still, I always found it ironic that I've been told that I act like a "good" Christian (my mother's best friend is a nun), but I can't remember the last time I read a bible. So I definitely think that although you can be raised in a certain religion, you might only follow it spiritually and not verbatim, you know? 

I also think it's important to know what is important to you, and to not impose your ideals on others, but rather to try to understand where people are coming from with theirs, and use it to objectify and diversity your own mindset. One thing I've tried really hard to do with this novel is not have conventional good/bad characters. And although I've tried my hardest to do this with Miren and Penelope, two characters that could easily fall victim to being either good or bad, I'm glad that you're seeing these gray areas in characters such as Artemis. Rant over. 

New Contest?

I've been struggling to find a new name for the sequel for quite a while now. Although I like the idea of just keeping the original title and just adding "Vol. II" or something, the name is already long enough as it is, you know? 

So if you have any suggestions, please list them below! The rules will be the same as the last contest. I want to keep "The Class Reject" in it, but anything that follows the colon is fair game. I've tried swapping out the word "disguise" for another "d" word, but I don't know if that's what I want to do either. I'll announce the finalists May 7th. Get to it. 

This update already feels super long, so I'll have another update later today with the cast ideas. However, I'll offer a first chapter preview in a few days. Also, feel free to follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/UC_Kalu) or other social media stuff on my profile. I'm thinking of starting a Youtube channel where I talk about writing/medicine/media/everything, and I really want to put myself out there more. Again, let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions.

Until then,