An Experiment | No. 2

by Brett

Before returning to the experiment, a quick note of BSP. My latest adult thriller, NO RETURN, hits bookstores today! Yep, today. Here's a quick description:

An F-18 Navy fighter careens out of the blue sky above the Mojave desert. A TV cameraman who grew up in a small town just miles away can see what is going to happen next. Frantically, Wes Stewart races to the downed jet and tries to save the pilot’s life. When the plane explodes, Wes escapes without harm—and plunges into a murderous conspiracy.

It’s been fifteen years since Wes has been back to the desolate land of his childhood. Now he finds himself up against the U.S. military, the local police, and someone who is tracking his every move. In the moments he spent with the dying pilot, Wes discovered something that could get him killed. But while he tries to untangle a web of lies and secrets surrounding the crash, another danger is stalking him. And this one he will never see coming.

You can read the first chapter here. Thanks!

I now return you to my regularly scheduled post:

Okay, a quick refresher...I've decided to use my posts here at ADR3NALIN3 to develop and write a YA novel using your input. (Read more here: An Experiment | No. 1.)

Last time we discussed genre, and I asked for your input as to which you'd like to see me work in. Now, as I hinted at before, this isn't going to be a complete democracy. I'll be taking in your thoughts, but will make the final decision (for the most part) myself. The majority of people who responded seemed to be leaning toward Thriller. There were several votes for detective, some for real world sci-fi, and a few for real world fantasy. The rest were scattered around.

So, after considering everything, here's what I'm thinking: I'm going to blend a few of these together. No, this isn't me taking the easy way out. I just think it would be more fun. So here's where I'm at.
• Thriller, check.
• Detective, semi-check (leaving this one open until the story develops some.)
• Real World Sci-fi, probable check.
• Real World Fantasy, probably not, but leaving the door open also.

A thriller with a mystery to it, that's first and foremost. Over this will be a real world sci-fi architecture, or, potentially, a real world fantasy architecture. (And, yes, there's always the possibility of those two combining.) Cool with everyone?

All right. So I'm not quite ready to start working out plot yet. What I need first is some characters to build around, specifically a lead character(s). While a book might have a good story, without good characters, it's going to suck, plain and simple. Character is everything, so that's where we're going to start.

To do that, I need to make some choices...rather, I need your help in making those choices. I have a few different questions that need your responses to. Unlike with genre, I'm going to go with the majority rule on these and see where that takes me. So, here we go. First:

1. What kind of lead is this story going to have?
a. Female
b. Male
c. Female and Male duo
d. Female and Female duo
e. Male and Male duo

Just so you know, I enjoy writing both female and male characters, so don't let that worry you. Plus I think there are some great stories out there that have dual leads—working as a team, or even coming at a problem from different directions.

Let's keep going...

2. Age? (can have two different answers if you went the duo route)
a. 16
b. 17
c. 18
d. 19
e. older (specify)
f. younger (specify)

3. Life growing up?
a. Single parent home
b. Dual parent home
c. Raised by relatives
d. Foster child
e. other (specify)

Let's give our lead (or one of our leads) something they're really into.

4. Obsession?
a. Music (specify type)
b. Movies (specify type: sci fi, comedies, james bond, etc.)
c. Manga
d.TV shows (specify type: obscure, cop drama, 70s sitcoms, etc.)
f. Other (specify)

I could keep going with these, but I think that's enough to get us started. Looking forward to what you have to say. And never be afraid to add any additional comments, too!