So far, all the writing I’ve shared on this blog has been samples I’ve done with the Creative Copy Challenge. These are fun, off-the-cuff pieces that I put together as practice and to stir my creative juices. Although what I post here are slightly edited versions, I generally try to make them as close to rough drafts as possible, because I like to treat them as a form of improvisation – jamming with my writing, so to speak.
I have no problem sharing them on this blog because I treat them as in-the-moment pieces that won’t have much of a life past the point where they’re originally created.
But is this the only writing I do?
Nope, not at all, and the purpose of this journal entry is to fill you in on what else I have cooking in the pot
The main project I’m working on is my first novel, which has a working title of “Memories in Black and Blue.” It is something I am working on with a retired police officer, whose real-life stories form the backbone of the fictionalized plot. It is the story of the older son of a former officer who has been alienated from his father, but who learns who his father really is by listening to tapes his dad created. The son gets the tapes after his father is shot while working as a part-time security guard. The story is a mix of mystery, memoir, and the struggle between a father and his prodigal son. The rough draft of the novel is currently at about 42,000 words.
I have also recently created a 950-word short story called “Waiting Backstage” and it is currently in submission at Every Day Fiction. This is a piece I created with the intent of making a circle – it begins and ends with the same lines, which brings the story full-turn, but where the meaning of the lines at the end has been changed from the initial opening. I like the structural concept, but I’m not sure how well this particular story turned out. At any rate, this is my first formal submission, and we’ll see how it goes -- although I may have to be patient. They say it can take up to 60 days to learn whether a submission was accepted or rejected.
There are also a couple of other story ideas brewing in the pot, and I will update you once they are completed.
Oh, and of course, there’s always more at the CCC – I’m currently working with a series, a ‘Detroit noir’, I call it. It is set in Detroit in 1949, and is the story of private investigator Nick Sharpe. It’s currently ran through part 7, and I’m having fun channeling Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. I may never post it here since it’s a long series, but you’re always welcome to pop over there and check it out. The first episode was HERE.
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