Sunday, April 13, 2008

BookList...no, not theirs, mine!

Inspired by Melissa Marr, here is a list of my previously written/trashed/published/soon-to-be-published/hopefully-will-be-published/will never see the light of day novels:

First, back in high school, a contemporary YA trilogy about a girl named Kelly who, after getting thrown out of multiple boarding schools, is sent to live with her father on a remote Scottish island. Yeah, like I've ever been to Scotland.

Book #1: I barely remember, other than Kelly's a brat and she has a governess (do people still have those?) and she wants to fix her dad up with the governess, but Dad marries someone else and totally pisses her off and gives her another excuse to be an even bigger brat than she was at the start of the book. Riveting? N-o-t!

Status: Trashed.

Book #2: Kelly's father's ex-girlfriend Françoise (yeah) sends her wimpy daughter Cecily to spend the summer with Kelly. Midnight antics, horse shows, and surprise twin siblings for Kelly. Oh! And Françoise was a wonderfully WICKED, insane, filthy rich and Positively Obnoxious Character! Kelly's old governess ends up marrying Françoise 's current boyfriend--the only interesting storyline in the book. I guess this is what happens when you watch too many French films + suck up all those nasty romances your mother warned you about.

Status: Trashed.

Book #3: Kelly moves back to New York with her family, attends a public high school for the first time, gets involved in the drama club, and falls in love. Zzzzzzzzzzzz! Sounds like a lot of the twit-lit currently floating around out there now, doesn't it?

Status: Trashed.

OK. Then, a few years later I wrote Book # 4: A Hint of Madness which was ripped off from just about every gothic book/movie/whatever I'd ever seen or read. Alethea runs away from her (second) abusive husband and returns to her spooky old home town that she hasn't seen in 20 years when, as a child, her mother inexplicably dragged her away from there and refused to discuss it since. Alethea moves in with her old best friend, Barbara, and strikes up a romantic relationship with the guy next door. But, wooooOOOoooo!!! Things are weird. Barbara has two sisters--Bonnie, who was mysteriously crippled, or blinded (hell if I can even remember) years ago, and Brynn, who--more woooOOOooOOOooo's!--was recently released from a mental institution! Gee, that's never been done before, right? Anyway, it turns out that Barb's in love with Alethea.

Status: Trashed. Go ahead. Steal it. Make my day.

Book # 5: Before/After (contemporary YA) published in 2007.

Book # 6: Say the Word (contemporary YA) to be published next winter.

Book # 7: My current WIP, tentatively titled Love Me Back (contemporary YA...gee, ya notice a pattern emerging???) which I need to finish, revise, and then it's up for grabs, assuming anyone wants to grab it.

Status: Not Trashed.

Book # 8: Working (joke) title: The Dogfather--not your typical A Boy and his Dog story. I have a couple thousand words. I was going to make this an MG but decided the gory end might be too traumatizing. Also, I may do this one in free verse. If I do it at all.

Status: Not Trashed YET.

Book # 9: A "sequel" to Before with about 40K done. Actually, not a sequel, but another character's story. If Before ever goes anywhere--which so far it has not--I may finish this one. Otherwise, I'll chalk it up as a lot of fun.

Status: Probably Trashed.

Book # 10: A Shawna sequel, taken place a year after STW ends--which I trashed because she'll be 19 and too old for YA. But I was pretty far along before I decided to can it.

Status: Trashed.

My fingers are out of breath.

ETA: I forgot MY GHOST STORY! Halfway through the first draft and currently collecting dust. And this one is not YA.

Status: Not Ready To Be Trashed Because Certain People Will Kill Me.

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