I’m announcing that I’m beginning to write a new novel. (Actually, the plan is to write a full trilogy). I don’t know how long it will take, I won’t release it until I’m completely happy with it. However, it is now in the works.

For me, many of the most interesting stories begin with “What if?” I don’t literally mean the first two words of the novel are “What if?” but instead the question that the novel addresses is what if…?

What if…

A boy could run away from home and make a home in a snowy part of the mountains? (My Side of the Mountain)

We could bring dinosaurs back to life? (Jurassic Park)

We could travel through time? (Back to the Future)

We could interact with the strange and fantastic worlds of Gulliver’s Travels – which in itself is a series of What Ifs? (On Swift Wings)

Alright, that last one is a shameless plug, but it really is how that story began. What if a modern person interacted with those islands, as opposed to a man from almost three hundred years ago?

I have found that when I start a new story, if I’m not answering a “What if?” then I’m not really exploring anything that I find compelling enough to continue, and I’m sure my reader would notice that the story lacks any real oomph.

So it is with the new novel, and so begins the seed for this new tale. What if…? (No, I’m not going to reveal it yet.)

Now I’ve got my what if, I’ve considered what a story in that situation could be, on to the next phase, broad and detailed planning.