When to Know What to Write: Emerald Barnes

Today I'm pleased to welcome author Emerald Barnes to my little corner of the cyber-world. She's the author of "Piercing the Darkness", which is available at Amazon, Smashwords, and Createspace.  
She's talking with us today about something that all of us struggle with from time to time... writing the sequel! What do you do if the voices in your head are telling you to write something other than the sequel to the book you've just released? I imagine for each author the answer is a little different.  Today, Emerald shares with us her thoughts on how to know what to write and when to write it!
How do you know what to write and when to write it?  
I had this problem not long ago.  I was contemplating how best it was towrite a sequel to my novella, "Piercing Through the Darkness."  
But as of right now, my heart and souljust isn't in it.  I don't want toforce it, so I'm going to write it when my head isn't full of vampires andwerewolves and their story.  It's tough sometimes because if you're like me, you probablyhave a lot of stories racing around your brain, and there are so many thingsyou want to write.  And, there'scertainly not enough time in the day to write constantly!     
But, I'm of the firm opinion that you write the story thatyou can't stop thinking about.  I tried this.  Itried forcing a novel because I wanted it written for my readers.  They wanted more to the story of "Piercing Through the Darkness."  Ido too, but right now, my head is focused on something else. 
When I started out writing the sequel, I couldn't get itright.  I have three differentbeginnings, all of which are NOT what I wanted for it.  In fact, it was so bad that I had toset the book aside.  I can't forcemyself to write it right now because I won't like it.  And if I don't like, I don't think anyone else wouldeither.  And the last thing I'dwant to do is disappoint my readers. 
But, as an author, if we want to write something that hasthe emotions we want to come across in our novel, we have to write what is morepressing in our head.  The readerswill be able to tell what is going on if it feels forced and feels as if wedon't even like it. But most importantly, don't try just to please yourreaders.  You have to think aboutyourself as well.  It soundsselfish, I know, but really, if you love what you're writing, your readers willtoo.  If they're waiting for thatsequel or novel they've heard you talk about, chances are, they're willing towait until it's perfect. 
I have a few friends who are waiting for me to finish anovel I wrote five years ago, but it's still not perfect, and the timing for itisn't right for me to finish.  Ihave so many other stories worming their way into existence, and the other hasto wait. 
How do you know what to write and when to write?  Do you write the story you can't stopthinking about, or do you do it differently?
Emerald can be found online at the following places:Dreaming Awake BlogFacebookTwitterGoodreads
And today it's "double your fun", because you can also check out my guest post on her blog! To see what we're talking about over at Emerald's place, go here!
Happy reading and writing!