Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Off on a Tangent -- Again


Okay, so I've sketched out the story arc for "book two" of "Legacy" and I've been scribbling scenes for the first part of the story. All pretty bad, but I at least have something on paper. Naturally, as I'm struggling with the story setup my mind wanders to my other unexecuted story ideas stuffed in binders and lining the shelves.

Yep...I did it again. I picked up another old story and started working on it while letting "Legacy" percolate on the back burner. I haven't completely set it aside -- I have been adding pages. But I've returned to "Wizard's Window" with some new angles.

Zoe, the protagonist of Wizard, is 14 years old. Her family relocated from the Seattle area to the Portland suburbs during the summer before her freshman year in high school. To Zoe's irritation, her younger brother Robert immediately found friends in their new neighborhood. Zoe has yet to meet anyone her own age in their new environs. Equally frustrating, she loves to ride horses and was taking lessons on school horses before their move. She's gone online to locate stables near their new home, but her parents are so busy with a new job and unpacking that they haven't had time to check out the barns.

It's the worst summer of her life. But wait...it gets worse when a young wizard inadvertently brings Zoe into his world and can't seem to return Zoe to her own world!

Most of my story ideas for YA fantasy are set in alternative worlds. But I have some story ideas set in a present-day suburb of Portland. The suburban location and a hunter-jumper stable are common threads for these stories. One story is a murder mystery, the other two are YA stories with fantasy/mystical elements. On the one hand, using common settings for several stories simplifies world building. On the other hand, it's kind of fun creating a connection between characters from completely separate stories.

I am such a Gemini...bouncing from story to story.

As long as I keep applying ink to paper in the form of words maybe I'll get somewhere.

2 comments:

Shared Glory said...

I remember the Wizard's Window! You sent us a binder on that and I still have it in my room at home! Too fun! I'll be looking forward to any developments on that front! ;)

Oregon Equestrian said...

Yes...you two helped me with this one. I've made some changes to your ideas, but will keep many of them.