My first novel is a new adventure in AliceLand
I’m excited to announce that I have started writing my first novel! I will be even more excited when I can announce that I have finished my first novel, but that is probably about a year down the road.
This is new ground for me, as I have never attempted to write fiction before. Fiction always felt more intimidating than non-fiction, perhaps because I feel that it reveals more about the author and requires (in my opinion) a higher degree of creativity. In short, there seems to be more room for criticism and failure in writing a novel, which kept me at bay.
Nevertheless, once the idea for this novel came to me I got more and more energized and it just started to flow. Well, “flow” might be a bit of an exaggeration. It takes me an average of about 2 hours to write each page. But so far, I am on track with my goal of writing at least a page a day.
Tentatively titled, Thanksgivings, here is the first page.
Chapter One
Ali sat looking out the window at the driving rain, one hand propping up her chin and the other absent-mindedly stroking the cracked leather upholstery of the well-worn couch. She loved this little hideaway where she could be alone without being lonely.
Ali and Isaac stumbled upon the cabin when they were hiking the backwoods of Mt. Baker. How many years ago was that? 10? 15? No, it must have been 14 years ago, because it was the year they got engaged. It was about this time of year – late November – but the weather then was dry and crisp. The trees were dropping the last of their leaves, carpeting the ground with a mosaic of gold and red and orange. It was a magical autumn.
Today, Mother Nature was showing her more dramatic side. The wind and rain had already been pummeling the area for hours and the weather forecast was for more of the same throughout the night; possibly all weekend.
If Ali were less familiar with this place, she might have been more concerned about being alone on a mountaintop during such a violent storm. But she had arrived a few hours earlier in her ancient-yet-dependable Jeep Cherokee, fully intending to stay put for several days. Despite her family’s protestations, this is where she wanted to spend her first Thanksgiving since the death of her husband and daughter 10 months earlier.
What do you think? Does this leave you wanting to read more?