When I wrote the last words of Mind the Gap, I confess I found it hard to let go. All these off-the-wall characters had been whispering to me day and night about the crazy situations I was creating for them. They had become second nature to me. So why let the whole thing drop at the end of the book?
Then some readers pointed out to me the novel leaves quite a few questions unanswered. Now I don’t believe a book should answer all questions. I am always slightly annoyed by the fictional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot plodding through the labyrinth of impossibly complicated crimes. It all seems so contrived. Poirot unfailingly presents a neat little solution by the end of each Agatha Christie novel, as if crime were no more than an entertaining game of logic.
I prefer answers that open the way to new questions.
Alright, here goes! I have decided on a sequel, and I have a working title: Blue Days on the Trail.
Consider: the main character Richard Grey in Mind the Gap has matured to the point of finding a sort of place in the wider world, even though everything continues to take him by surprise; Chloé Trahan has emerged as one of the main characters in Mind the Gap, and we need to get to know her and her family better; Mother Augusta is bound to find harmony in her new life – at least, let’s hope so; and by now it is clearly established that nothing in Father Reginald’s life is clearly established.
I am planning to locate some of Blue Days in Patagonia, in southern Chile. This strikes me as an appropriate setting for an existential dramatic comedy. Richard, Chloé and a few other family members accompany Father Reginald on horseback, as he struggles to track down his long-lost parents John Grey and Marguerite Désy. Will they ever meet up, and if so, what will happen? Will they love to hate each other, or hate to love each other? Or is Father Reginald on another wild goose chase, and his parents long dead?
Patagonia is one of my favourite places in the world. It’s a great place for soul-searching. It also makes a marvelous backdrop for the comic interactions of an unpredictable and idiosyncratic family on a quest … maybe? … one day? … to figure itself out…
Will this be a Spaghetti Western, set partly in Chile, with weird plot twists?
I won’t say more than that for now! As you will notice on this website, many other works are coming along … but if you are curious about Blue Days, stay tuned….