Current Projects

There are two stories I’m currently working on (though one of them I’ve barely started so it’s hard to truly say I’m working on it). Realistically, I’m still formulating that story, working it over in my mind until it solidifies like congealed milk (yuck). Already, I’ve spent more time doing research on the story and backdrop than I’ve spent on almost all my other books combined. It’s something new to me because normally I just jump in feet first and let the story take me away. This time, however, I’m actually trying to nurture this new style of writing within myself and create a truly reverent story. It definitely won’t be the next great American novel, but I hope it will be better; more laid out and thought provoking than all my other pieces of work. Unfortunately I’m not going to discuss it here other than to give the title (as it stands so far). Originally I was going to call it ‘Golem’ because, as the word suggests, golems are rudimentary living creatures formed of clay and molded for a specific purpose. That title has since changed to ‘Burden’ because of the choice this molded piece of clay must make.

The other piece of work, which I’m more inclined to discuss at the moment, is about a man who dreams reality. After a horrific car accident, one he’s lived through many times in his dreams, the main character Michael has an ability almost impossible to believe.  It’s fostered by the belief that if you die in a dream you die in real life. Because of his deja’ vu car accident in which he’s supposed to die, Michael, throughout the course of his life, has learned to manipulate his dreams so he survives. As it would stand, his first dream out of surgery is of being mugged. Strangely, and more vividly than ever, he avoids dying during this mugging dream by altering it in a of couple ways.  What he doesn’t realize is his dream is actually an out-of-body experience coming true on the other side of the country. Before he knows it, he’s cast into a world where dreams, reality, and perceptions are so intermixed it’s hard to tell one from the other. From this reality, he doesn’t know if he can survive.

Beyond these two novels, I have a few ideas, though the problem is I want the stories to be unique. I want situations compelling enough not to be repetitive, but that’s getting harder and harder to accomplish. As with most movies now, everything seems a cliché with remakes and sequels being the norm. And if you haven’t realized it already, I like avoiding the norm. Nonetheless, I have a lot to work on before I’m done with my current ideas and plenty of time to finish them since ‘Jeremiah Stone’ has yet to come out, followed by ‘Limbus’, ‘Azazel’, and ‘Beginnings’, all from the same series.

Next week, maybe I’ll post a short excerpt from ‘Jeremiah Stone’. We’ll have to see.