a novel is born...sort of

As I patiently await word back from the publishers I sent my latest book, Avondale, to, I figure there are wiser ways to spend my free time, other than petting Sadie's belly and sleeping in late, like starting the process of writing my third novel. Starting a new book is like working out after you haven't hit the gym in months. I try and exercise my writing muscles daily, but when it comes to a novel, it's like running a marathon, endurance and eye on the prize are key. Before I actually begin writing a book, I take notes for months; it's kind of like being pregnant for 9 months before you know if you're having a boy or a girl, that's how my novels usually develop. Ideas are jotted down in my journal and expanded upon until the day comes when I feel that it's time to begin. I know that some writers use elaborate outlines with every twist and turn, cliffhanger and climax documented, but I'm just not one of those writers. It sounds cliche, but usually my ideas come to me in my dreams. I can't help it! I write mainly sci-fi/fantasy and my dreams are well suited for it. How it goes is, I wake up in the morning ready to revel in my nocturnal brilliance and revolutionize the world of children's literature, only to read my chicken scratch and realize that I must be semi-delusional. But! on occasion, there comes a time when my scribbles actually do make sense and I think that I may be on to something! After that the story grows in my conscious and my notebook until it is time to give birth, and even afterwards, when I am knee deep in the story, my characters keep growing.

So, two tentative titles for this book currently stick in my brain- Red Balloon (which to my chagrin and possibly naivete, I discovered is close to a French Film and book named, The Red Balloon, already in existence - drats! Is this a slip of the unconscious, a locked away memory from childhood?......maybe, but my red balloon story is different), or Andorra's Balloon - of course either is likely to change once I'm done.....

9-07-09 UPDATE: I've decided that naming this novel, Red Balloon, would be totally lame for a number of reasons, and with that said, am now going to call it, Trevelyn's Shimmer, when referring to it from here on out.