Thursday, July 8, 2010

Off Course the Novel

Maybe it's time for another post… But you know, sometimes, how you just get tired of your own voice? Like that.

Off Course
I started a new novel which I am stoked about. It's called Off Course. It's about a magical device that transports people out of this world in a big flash of light. The device has fallen into the hands of a brother-sister team of criminals who have been disappearing wealthy men with the device for years. But now a quasi-governmental agency has learned about the device and believes it is a powerful weapon. They recruit a retired former agent to get close to the sister and steal the device. When the sister uses it on the agent and accidentally transports herself with him, the two of them find themselves not dead but in another world. Unfortunately, the device doesn't work in the reverse. They can't get back unless they learn the secret of the device and the reason it came to be in the girl's possession. Cue living rocks, shifting landscape, tribes of people with mysterious secret powers. Oh, and all the men she sent there earlier, many of whom would like to wring her neck.

If you think it sounds like fun, let me tell you. It is painless. Fun will be if it writes as well as it has through the first nine chapters and the rewrites aren't some bitchly epic that takes years to complete. That would be fun.

What am I liking right now? Mmm, I like Robert Crais and Jennifer Wiener (she's so cool). I like the show True Blood and want to watch it all the time. The books, not so much but maybe that's just me. I like Swiss cheese. I like recording my dreams in the morning and reading them later when they're like dreams someone else had. I like getting my heart rate up into the 140's especially since it's not recommended for my age…but then the Professor just does it for me like that sometimes. And Zinfandel. Like that too.

7 comments:

  1. Welcome back to blogville, K. But you should have warned us you were going to drop a spoiler of your next chapter.

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  2. Off Course will be amazing if it's half as good as it sounds. I'm with you on True Blood, one of those rare times when the film version is better than the book. I read several of the books and found myself itching for the red editing pen so often I couldn't read further. Great ideas, not so great writing.

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  3. Of course, since Off Course is a "K" production, it will be at least twice as good as it sounds.

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  4. Dude, your keyboard to an editor's ears.

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  5. Cool to have a pre-fab pitch ready to go for the conference, right?

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  6. Kassandra-How's 11/23 for your piece? (aa2579@wayne.edu) Trying to alternate men and women.

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  7. I have no email addresses for K.A. Laity or Kassandra so I will post this on their blogs.

    Just so we're all on the same page, the only thing you are obliged to take from the story before yours is the character the previous story's protagonist was jealous of. So if Fred Astaire is jealous of Gene Kelly in the story before yours, your story about Gene need not mention Fred at all. And Gene can be jealous of his plumber for his ability to fix things or anyone you like. It would actually be better if we veer away from the initial source of jealousy.

    My story concerns a high school teacher who is jealous of another teacher's charisma and talents. So Dana has a charismatic and talented guy to work with.

    You will only have a week to write your story and I hope that is not a problem. If you find it is going to be, let me know and I will delay posting your link until it's done. But if we want to finish this by Christmas, it would be good to keep to every Tuesday. Let's give each segment its own title.

    Schedule (And let me know if your week is a problem).

    10/5 Patti
    10/12 Dana
    10/19 K.A. Laity
    10/26 David Barber
    11/2 Rob Kitchin
    11/9 Sandra Seamans
    11/16 Evan Lewis
    11/23 Eric Beetner
    11/30 Nigel Bird
    12/7 Kassandra Kelly
    12/14 Graham Powell
    12/21 Patti Abbott

    I will try to bring it back to Graham's person being jealous of my original character. I hope this is doable. Sometimes I wonder why I have a brain that thinks up stuff to make us all busy. But there you are. Let me know if you've had second doubt. Patti

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