Current Projects

I've been away from here so long. Many apologies. What am I doing? A lot. Most current bits:

The Cracked Earth: (Working Title) A bit ago I tried the "share your story with your daughter chapter-by-chapter while you write it." Kept me on my toes to be sure each chapter made you want the next. This is an odd Middle-Grades story about  a handful of kids who haven't been eaten by the creatures who've eaten most of the people on Earth. The first draft is done.

A Time Traveler's Guide to Messing Up Your Life: (Firm Title) A Young Adult story about a high school girl who time travels, and tries to "adjust" history toward better outcomes. I thought it was all done, when I discovered Steven King had just published a story about time travelers trying to save Kennedy, so now I have to change the climax so it doesn't look like I copied him. I think I might have her go after J. Edgar Hoover instead, which will have the advantage of my hero having to fend off advances from the POTUS.

Inka Argus: (working title). A middle-grades story about a girl reporter in large and strange city similar to 1900. To be a mystery, which I haven't really done before, so we'll see. This is in early stages.

Reality Rocks

Reality is much more complicated than my imagination.

Character runs away. She goes to the station, gets on a bus or train, and goes.

For the heck of it, I checked out the schedule, just to compare fares, and find out if there actually was a train that could do it.

There was... but the train doesn't leave until the next morning, she'd have to spend the night in the station. The bus requires three transfers, New York, Richmond, Texas, and would take four days. Long, miserable ride. --But she can't spend the night in the train station, she'd get caught. She'll have to board the red-eye bus to New York, get over to Penn Station at 2AM and then hang out until 6am when the train leaves.

A little look at reality complicates the story, gives lots of fun stuff to happen.

Circus

I've wanted for a long time to do a story set in a circus. Like, since reading the first few pages of Tim Robbin's another roadside attraction in 1982. Now I'm onto something:

A set of triplets known as "The Three Ems," since they're named Emma, Emily, and Emiliana. I think I stole that from a set of Isabelle's friends, three sisters named Olivia, Cordelia, and Amelia, whom we call "The Ilias." The ringmaster refuses the Ems, until Emiliana suggests they can be target girls (for a knife-thrower). The ringmaster likes this idea: "Children in danger is always good."

Am I too twisted for my own good?