Current projects
Gearing up for much accumulation of word count in June’s Southern Cross Novel Challenge, a NaNoWriMo-style “competition” hosted by a group of writers from New Zealand. Goal: 50,000 words total, on any project. The projects at hand:
Irish Roots
aka New Roots
aka Blah Blah, A Fairytale of Ireland
aka Desperately Seeking a Title
A novel about a woman who finds out that the great aunt who just died wasn’t her last relative. She has to go to Ireland to settle another great aunt’s estate, where she discovers her family isn’t what she thought.
The spark: (1) I edited a book about identity and Ireland called Of Irish Descent. In laying out the whys of her project, the author talks about how interested people are around the world about their Irish heritage. “Why do they care so much?” she asks, and I thought, “And what if they don’t?” (2) The push-me/pull-you of families. Love, companionship, support, but also duty, expectations, fighting. Can you be your true self with your family? Even if we aren’t close to our relatives, are we starting with a blank slate? (aka I wish I’d know how many eccentrics were in my family tree when I was in high school).
Current word count
Charity Store
aka Will Rock for Food
A three-episode video tale about the staff and customers of a charity resale shop.
The spark: my pal Ken the filmmaker. He started with the premise, a couple of characters, and a lot of production notes. I’ve been building the script, which is giving me cause to think about the nature of charity and of need.
Current page count
Zach and Parker and the Super Bracelets of Doom
a play about finding your inner superhero
The spark: editing a book about a family of acrobats while one of my kids was in a production of Willy Wonka. The kids have such fun putting on a show, and they’re not afraid of the fantastic. The side benefit: I get to brainstorm with all the kids in my life, which seems apropos to the theme. Plus I get to talk about things like evil minions.
Current page count
Ann Marie Gamble 