I now have a workable first draft of Dead Reckoning at 28,000 words. YaY! Let the cutting begin.
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I haven’t been taking time off though. I’ve been working on a sequel to Dreams Die Fast. So far, Dreams Die Hard is at the 15,000 word mark, which, given my intent to keep most of the stories I write at the 20 to 30 thousand word mark, is about half of the way completed to pre-draft form.
Dreams Die Hard picks up where its predecessor leaves off. Frank and Tammi have hit the road and are on their way north into El Lay in an attempt to disappear into the bright lights and big city. On the way, someone offers them a Molotov cocktail – and Frank doesn’t even drink. Person or persons unknown are making a desperate attempt to put fear into someone, unbeknownst to Frank, who was up to their eyeballs in the dealings that went on back in Bombay Beach on the Salton Sea. Somehow, I don’t think Frank is going to find what he’s looking for in El Lay.
Thus, part three of the trilogy, Dreams Never Die is in beat sheet form. Frank just might have to move on yet again. Will he ever find that special someone who wants to become a part of his life? Will he ever get off the never-ending road? Only time will tell.
I’ve been plugging away on Dead Reckoning, an adventure thriller about a couple of hapless drifters who take the bait and subsequently wind up being chased up the Baja by banditos in search of their missing goods. Not content to keep to themselves, they wind up spending time on a beach with two gringas who aren’t as innocent as they might appear.