I am going to write to market, and because the market wants horror and YA and fantasy (those are the most popular markets in no particular order…not that you could tell by my sales figures…), I’m trying to blend all three in the established fantasy setting I have which I cheekily call ‘The Tyroverse’. This is where The Quietest Heart takes place, as well as my often delayed sequel to it, the even more often delayed Unbroken and the never delayed because it’s going through yet another revision in my head before being put on paper again The Marvelous and Malefic Doomsday Medicine Show. This place has more dead stories in it than a body farm.

This story concerns itself with a family coming out of a city-state called Tarjen. Tarjen could be politely called a ‘hermit kingdom’ where information going out is tightly controlled. Think of it as a meritocracy-favored North Korea, but one where the people actually want to stay.

Except for the main character’s family, who voluntarily choose to leave the mountains because their eldest daughter would face conscription in the Tarjen Armed Forces. They leave, find a village to live in, meet a crazy teen boy and the daughter finds out that the peaceful village holds a dire secret. What fun! Madness, mayhem and frolicking abound in this book.

I am cheating a little bit and I am using the “Save the Cat” way of organizing this story. Usually, I depend on the Five Act Structure…but I have a sneaking suspicion that my story is being evaluated by the Cat method, and that could be the reason why it’s not getting any traction. So, I am going along in hopes of eventually getting along.

In the end – Save the Cat is the Monomyth that Joseph Campbell made famous in Hero with a Thousand Faces. Save the Cat was made for movies, but now it’s been co-opted into every story telling medium out there. I’m not complaining about it’s use. It is really useful for organizing a coherent story.

What I am going to complain about is that it’s now a checklist. Did you use this percentage of the story to establish? As such-and-such a page, this needs to happen. The “Sex at 60” rule – which is not going to make an appearance in the book – and a lot of other nitpicky things. Storytelling is a lot more than checklists, slots and percentages. It’s about evoking feelings, stirring memories and teaching through tales. I don’t think agents and editors really want to take a chance anymore. Which is a shame, because I am sure that there are a lot of good stories out there that are being passed over.

Well, that’s it for now – I need to work on the outline and see how I am going to cater this for YA horror…and I should probably read a YA horror novel just to see how much I can get away with when it comes to horror.

Ta-ta for now!

Okay, I’m think I’m going to throw in the towel on The Show Must Go On sooner than later. I haven’t gotten a bite on anything yet. I don’t think that sending out more queries is going to solve this particular problem. Not taking self-publishing off the table or even doing the more daunting gender flip. I believe in the novel, and I believe in the story it tells – but apparently, I am the only one.

Serve Me Now continues along at its slow pace. I need to light a fire under me when I get home. I was originally looking to have this done by the end of this month. By word count, I’m halfway through. Story wise…well…we’re not at the gory scenes yet, but we’re getting there. I am really trying to focus more on the dawning horror of her situation. This is supposed to be cosmic horror without the tentacles.

I’m just bummed, but I know I must press on. The Show Must Go On might not be the barn burner that I was hoping for, but I’ve got other projects. Certainly, one of them will catch someone’s eye, right?

Well, that really all for now. I should get back to work. Have a good day and I’ll talk to y’all later.