Dance, Dance – No, NOT About Fall Out Boy

I’m extending Dance, Dance into a full-length thing.

I remember posting about this a while back – I’m not sure where, though, as I’m having difficulty locating the post.  To refresh your memory, it’s the backstory for Ian Drake.  (So far, I also have backstories for Zoe Lee, Sofie Beretta, and Gary Logan.)

In the story, he’s a freshman in high school, putting Dance, Dance about a year before The TECH Project.  He’s just gone from a Catholic grade school to a public school, and he’s also trying out for a major company ballet.  Issue?  His new friends at school don’t know about his dancing.  And what’s going to happen when they find out?

Very fun to write.

Anyhow, I’m extending it from a 4,000-word short story into something bigger, maybe a novella or novel.  I’m not sure how long it will end up being…

That’s the latest writing project, in any case.  If you’re interested, I can tell you more.  My mother and sister are getting a little annoyed with my babbling.

On a Roll!

Two more stories popped out yesterday!

Okay, okay.  I can’t much take credit for one.  It was inspired by a song I was listening to yesterday.  The song, “Light Up the Sky,” is on Yellowcard’s Paper Walls album and can be found in music video format here.  Amazing song.

But the story – incidentally also called Light Up the Sky – is narrated by a young man whose love is about to go to war.

The other story I wrote is called The Hardest Part of Leaving and goes in the third book in The TECH Project series.  It’s rather sad and morbid, but I wrote it for a friend because his birthday was on Wednesday.  He’ll like it.  I think.

In other news, I have recently discovered the Paper Walls album.  I really love it.  There’s a music video I found that’s done to the song Fighting using clips from Transformers.  (The new movie.)  Here it is for you to enjoy:

It’s a decent video.  I also found a video using clips from Jumper to the song Shrink the World, which is a really weird song but very fun.

I think I’ve infected you enough with my Yellowcard mania for now.  Have a nice day and keep writing!

Hope! At Long Last!

Elation!

I finally wrote something new last night.

Not that I haven’t been working dutifully (read: two paragraphs per day) at the sequel to The TECH Project.  I have.  I’m at a wonderful part right now, fraught with drama and tension.

But!  This is the first short story I’ve written all summer.  It’s entitled “Dirty Work” and chronicles one of the adventures of the Team Erie Canal Heroes before they are the Team Erie Canal Heroes.  It’s narrated by Ian Drake, of all people, and talks about his misadventure during and after the first “team mission.”  (As he explains, it wasn’t much of a mission to begin with.)

In other news: I may be releasing some chapters of The TECH Project on audio in late July.  My cousin is coming for a visit – haven’t seen her in years – and since she’s an aspiring actress, I asked her to do some voice aciting for me.  She’ll be Vera’s voice in the novel, meaning that only a few chapters will be posted.

Maybe I won’t post them.  I think I will, though.

Anyways, opinions: do you want to read “Dirty Work,” or shall I leave it for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards?

Another Short Story

Read title.

I managed to knock off another short story this past weekend, although “short” would have to be looked at in… we’ll call it “perspective”.  It’s nearly 4,500 words long.

!

It’s not a bad story – I thought it was good, even if other people didn’t – and it actually pertains to this blog.  I made it a goal to write one short story about the background of every character from The TECH Project.  The first was My Sacrifice, a story about Zoe Lee and her origins as the leader of Team Erie Canal.  The second, the story I just finished, was titled Dance, Dance, a tribute to Ian Drake’s freshman year.  (Not to be confused with a Fall Out Boy song of the same name.  They have nothing to do with one another.)

There are still ten stories left to go.  I have a plan – of sorts – for all of them.  But I really liked this last story.

If anyone would like to read it, just comment with your e-mail in the comment or in the response, and I’ll e-mail you a copy.

Meanwhile… I should be hearing back from that one last agent sometime this week, more towards the end of the week.  I can’t express how hopeful I am – even though I’m probably just going to get rejected again.

“Don’t hope more than you’re willing to work.” – Novelist Rita Mae Brown

CWIM

I have discovered the greatest resource in children’s and young adult writers’ known market: the Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market, published by Writer’s Digest Books.

The books is full of all sorts of helpful things, including a listing of agents, tips on writing query letters, a magazine submission section, and even a comprehensive listing of publishers. I bought it at Barnes & Noble for less than $30, which isn’t too bad.

How did I happen upon this, you might ask?