D. Fierst

There is Tiger Boat. There is Captain Goat. There’s LD (the Lonely Dinosaur), Gaby the bee, the old cat doctor, a goat king, pine owls… you name it.

But there is more. And some things that are a little darker. I’ve written the Tiger Boat series for a younger group, specifically ages 8-10, but that doesn’t mean that is all I am up to. However, I somehow seem to remain focused at the point of adolescence meeting adulthood, or around there, due to it being such a pivotal age range. Perhaps, as I get older (to my surprise), I find myself more so pitted against the generations older than myself and much more akin to the thinking and attitudes of those younger. Maybe I just see youth as generally an “underdog” in many social situations. Especially within institutional settings.

Trying to understand those younger than myself, as well as perhaps trying to impart the very small well of wisdom I think I might (maybe) have to those younger than myself, I have two other projects in the works in “draft” mode.

Well, that, and the fact that I love zombies (books, movies, series, etc., etc.) and, in general, all things horror and mystery. So, there might be a bit of guilty pleasure in there too.

The first has the potential title of: All I Want is to Not Be Alone. It’s a zombie survival tale that follows the rather handy and very pragmatic 13-year-old Timothy Baker (Timothy, please, not Tim) after being posted out alone in his house 2 months deep into the zombie apocalypse. A supply run goes very wrong and floods his once OK-ish neighborhood with a whole heap-load of zombies. Being a rather rational thinker, Timothy knows his days of local supply runs are over and makes a new plan for long-term survival that will take him from upstate New York to northern Canada…. he knows going north is a zombie trope (he has watched the full YouTube series of “Zombie Sins”, OK…)

The journey is long and hard, but after reuniting with his old dog he reaches his destination and waits out the harsh winter. Come summer, he finds the zombies sparse and food aplenty, but a gnawing feeling that he would like to have any contact and wonders if he is the last human on earth. A tragedy, although expected, sends him out of his usual careful-laden ways, and he discovers a possible companion holed up in an overrun lumberyard. His journey takes him through grief and back to finding what is truly important… not being alone.

Next up is another book more fitting to YA that focuses on a small group of teenage (somewhat goth) friends nearing the end of their group’s bond. The potential title there is: There’s a Ghost Between Us. This follows an almost Scooby-Doo-style mystery when the gang of three almost split (due to various reasons of no longer wanting to complete their once-prized 7-act rock opera) but remain together when the sudden presence of a mute ghost in their clubhouse launches the story.

The ghost seems to want to tell them something, but unable to speak or make any noise, propels the group on a wild goose chase through the small town of Nodding Point Township… on Halloween, never mind you. The journey shows the group the underbelly of what they thought was their easy-going, sleepy, boring town. Unraveling the different players and motives breaks the group apart but finally winds their paths back together to not only find out what the ghost’s message is but who the ghost is.

It’s a study of “coming of age” when the youthful meaning of friendship turns to a deeper understanding. There are a lot of nods to the worlds of Tim Burton, 80’s kid adventure movies (i.e., Goonies), and the musical landscape of Smashing Pumpkins.

There are a few other slowly burning ideas bubbling up… something about a modern-day witch hunt… but all in the earliest of stages.

Step one is to finally take the needed actions to bring Tiger Boat and Captain Goat to life, but that is a topic for another post. Until then, yours truly will keep on working away to bring life to these characters and their worlds.