JCC Writing Class--2019

What a good group this has been! Claire, Matt, Kade, William, and Clark all showed up with novels already underway and ready to work on polishing and/or adding to them.

They said I could share with you the blurbs (one of my assignments) for their novels-in-progress. I have a feeling these books will make it into print before long. I'll keep you informed.

Claire's YA in progress is Would Your Crush Come to Your Funeral? 

"Asha Cynthia Khalidi is just like other girls: she tries to do well in school, enjoys her hobbies, and is always thinking of ways to get her crush’s attention. There’s just one difference: Asha is also dead.

As a recent member of the dearly departed, Asha is overwhelmed by the afterlife and its seemingly endless rules. She misses her parents, her cat, her sleepy suburban hometown, and Penny, the most beautiful girl to ever walk the halls of Haybury High. It’s also hard to leave behind her comfortable bedroom, her brand new car, and the clothing collection she’s spent years assembling.

When a cute, smart-talking girl named Li shows up claiming to be her spirit guide, Asha is pulled into the dizzying process of saving her own soul. The lucky souls who pass all the tests get to go to A Better Place, where they’ll live in eternal bliss. The ones who don’t risk suffering as ghosts forever.

As more pieces of her memories return, Asha begins to suspect her life wasn’t nearly as rosy as she remembers it. When a frightening demon begins to haunt her every step, Asha realizes that the only way to find peace is to pass on to. Li knows the way, and wants Asha to come with her. All Asha has to do is let go of everything that made her human.

Matt (who turns out to be writing about my stomping grounds -- what I called Bear Tree Creek in the Elizabeth books) titles his book Troublesome Gap.

"Chance Creason is an FBI Agent in search of his missing partner, who disappeared investigating mysterious occurrences deep in the hills surrounding Asheville, North Carolina. 

While looking into the disappearance, Chance uncovers unrest among the mountain folk, spurred on by strange occurrences emanating from the mountains themselves. Mysterious lights float up out the mountains. Locals seem to take on different personalities for days on end. Researchers find evidence of foul play among ancient Native American sites. Trackers find electromagnetic devices scattered along mountain trails. And all trails lead back to Troublesome Gap…"

Kade (An Uncommon Barrier) "Throughout the fabric of history, Uncommons and Hunters have stayed along the edges of society. A centuries old battle pulls Tink into the conflict when the Hunters zero in on her location in New York City. All because her parents had met and fallen  in love. On a bus heading for Asheville with her best friend Nat, they meet another Uncommon with his Protector on the way to camp. A special camp for Uncommons and Protectors. 

Filled with many unanswered questions and the knowledge she is more unusual than any of the others at Camp, it takes four months for Tink to settle in. When she is blamed for the Hunter's finding the boundaries of Camp, she becomes filled with a desire to return home.  With Nat getting kidnapped and a dead raccoon showing up with a note, Tink has to make a choice. It doesn’t help a boy shows up from the Hunters camp promising he isn’t the enemy. But can she trust him? He could answer many of her questions. At what cost? And what is she going to do about Nat?"

William (One For My Baby) " How far will Professor Stetson Marbray go to avenge his wife’s death?  He’s already pledged to sacrifice his own life, but is he willing to expose his secret past?  Join Marbray as he navigates a maze of cold war intrigue where everyone - both friend and foe - wants to stop him."

Clark (Rain for the Confluence)  "When seventeen-year-old Brett Vanderley experiences a loss of a neighbor, his lifetime girlfriend, he resolves to cast a cage of steel about his heart to ensure it could never be crushed again. Yet when young Gracie Britton is ripped from Ohio and her family settles in a small north-Florida town in 1976, Brett is compelled to have her gain a secure foothold in a place that she sees as primitive and mundane. His efforts whisk Gracie to an alluring landscape along the banks of the Suwannee River and into the multitude of voluminous crystal springs uniquely found in the unspoiled region of Florida.

 But each encounter to achieve his ambition cultivates a heartfelt bond that neither wants. Gracie holds hope that her sharp intellect will land her in a large mid-western university despite having to graduate from the unremarkable high school. Brett’s pursuit is a predictable straight line to sustain the family farm. The gravities of culture, ambitions, and parents weigh heavy on their deepening relationship, but it is the captivating raw nature of the Suwannee that ultimately decides the course of their affection."

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It turned rainy Wednesday, curtailing my picture taking. Also, this was a short week and I didn't have time to visit the other studios as I was trying to get through the material I usually cover in a longer week. I'll be returning home this afternoon -- where I hear it's been raining too.