All the Sea Between

All the Sea Between (1991) Post 268

All the Sea Between is a YA theatre romance/ school story, a direct sequel to All the Sea Between which was Post 16.
In the first story, four teenagers wrote a musical play for their school, working on their own after their mentor had to drop out. Along the way, the mercurial Amber and Herrick became slightly more than friends, which left the quieter Dominic and Helen, who are both musical, more in one another's company. In this story, Dominic has to deal with the sudden return of his long-absent dad, Pat, who is very like him. The play, Another Good Friend, a historical musical, is about to be cast and performed. This play is based loosely on real events, (both in the story AND in reality) but as the casting begins, the four discover they've made a tactical error - there are three major parts (Sarah the convict girl, Robert the soldier and Francis the convict man)... and there are four of them. The boys are suited - obviously Herrick will play Robert the cocky soldier, while Francis will take the quieter part. Sarah, however, is up for grabs. Amber is the better actress, while Helen is the better singer... so what to do?
The auditions are held and the boys get their expected parts, but when it comes down to the girls, opinions are divided. Finally, the part goes to Amber, who, as a vibrant redhead, looks more like a rebel than quiet blonde Helen. She also balances the brunet Herrick and blond Dominic better. Helen is understudy, and also playing one of Sarah's sisters, with her own understudy, Anna Dove (from The Magician's Box, post 266). This causes a rift between the four friends, which is exacerbated when Amber gets the flu. Dominic, sympathetic to Helen, is busy sorting out his feelings for his dad. Finally, everything is sorted out, and the play is a big success.

I originally intended to write a third book about the aftermath, but although I did write "Waiting on Amber", it never came out.  


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Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service.