Happy Days Are Here Again

Break out the champagne and start up the band. I have started my next novel.

I’m the type of person that has a hard time focusing on one thing to write. I’ve been jotting down ideas for three potential novels for the past few months, and each week, a different idea seems to be the one destined to become a novel. However, after Greg and Cynthia’s workshop (where I was so confused over what scene to write that I actually didn’t finish the exercise), I sat my butt down in front of my computer and worked on each idea until I could figure out which one was destined to become the next novel.

Around 1:30 AM Sunday morning, I figured out what my next project would be. I even have a working title.

I’m superstitious, so I won’t say too much about it. I will say that it’s an upper YA novel, although it’s fairly tame compared to Red Polka Dot. The characters are not the types of people that will be dropping a plethora of f-bombs and other four-letter words. (Somewhere, my mother is breathing a sigh of relief.) Right now, I expect the novel to top out around 45,000 to 50,000 words.

I think the other novel ideas I had were pretty good, but not something I want to work on right now. One novel was about S-E-X. I wasn’t trying to glorify it, but I did want to write a funny, witty book about how much teenagers think about it (whether they’re having it or not). I actually have a pretty good concept for this, and may revisit it again in the future. (Somewhere, my mother is frowning and reaching for a bottle of Pepto.)

The other idea was a “The Dark is Rising Series meets Batman” type of book. (For those of you that are high on J.K. Rowling and C.S. Lewis, you should really check out Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising Series. Harry Potter doesn’t even compare to Will Stanton.) Anyway, while I really like this idea, fantasy isn’t one of my strengths right now. Plus, being a new author, I probably need to “brand” myself as a certain type of writer.

So, at least for now, I’m focusing on another contemporary YA novel. And so far, I really like what I’ve gotten down on paper. Wish me luck!!!