Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
about the blog . . .
The bad news is, I haven’t been updating a lot lately. But you knew that.
The other bad news is, I haven’t been updating at least in part because of a lot of rocky stuff going on here, but fortunately it’s all stuff that’s either fixable with money or not as serious as first suspected.
The good news is, the main reason I haven’t been updating a lot is because the writing is going well. Just passed the 80K word mark, and it looks to be a 90K to 100K-word novel before all is said and done. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
And thus (like that, Dean?) this is a call for readers. Some time down the road, after I’ve finished the story and had a chance to edit it, I would love to have a couple of folks read through and give me their impressions. This will no doubt be several weeks from now. Let me know if you’re interested; perhaps I could even figure out how to convert to a pdf or other format, if it would make it easier for people to read.
Opening paragraphs below the fold, if you’d like a teaser.
Gator and Shark Save the World
1: THE RIPPIN’ PROLOGUE
July 22, 2026
It is I, Kathryn Melissa Buscage, the media’s darling, America’s First Daughter, the bane of her father’s short sorry existence, and of course co-saviour of the world. I am 17, or will be soon enough. I am Kath to my friends, Widget to the Secret Service (may they saute merrily in Hell for that and other atrocities), and forever Shark to my beloved grandfather, Gator.
I am all of those things, but I am also thoroughly fucked up and over, so please forgive a little bluster. How would you like it if you’d saved the world, only to be told you weren’t done yet? I’ve earned the right to gloat for a few days or hours. I may not get another chance.
There is so much you think you know. The assassination. Secure Governance. Obliged deportations. The storm. The Beast (hah! They would call it the Beast). You probably think you understand the chain of events, but truly you understand very little. You don’t know my story.
I’ve decided that what my tale needs is a rippin’ prologue. You shall have a prehistory, a time capsule interred before my birth – before Gator’s birth, too. You shall encounter the primum movens: the prime mover, the first cause.
There are many people in this prologue. They don’t matter; they’re all dead. What they did matters. What they awoke. What they intrigued.
Oh, you’re going to love this.
***
D.
It occurs to me that that date, July 22, 2026, probably needs to change. One year earlier would make more sense.
Sign me up. (Quid pro quo — if I ever finish my undine novel, I’d like it if you were to read it. I have always respected your opinions, ever since the early WBBS days.)
Thanks, Pat. It’s a deal.
I might be interested 🙂 i like her voice so far!
If you like her voice, you should like the novel. I’ll email you when the time comes.
Me! Me! Although if you remember from WBBS I’m not nice, I’m honest.
I was hoping you’d say yes. And whoever said I wanted nice? Honesty is the only thing that matters here.
As someone lucky enough to have seen some of this fine work already, I heartily recommend it!
thanks, Kira 🙂
If there is an easy way to read it, I’m probably in too. I like the first two paragraphs. Is this going to be sci/fi/teen novel?
I don’t expect to get to my own writing until the dust has settled on my move, but I already know how I’ll open even if I have no real plot.
A prologue? I hate prologues, but I like this girl’s attitude.
It’s Chapter 1, but it functions as Prologue. My way of cutting it both ways. It’s definitely SF, and while I suspect it will have huge teen appeal, she swears way too much for this to pass as YA Fic.
If you have Word on your computer at home and don’t mind reading off the computer, that would be the easiest way to send to you.
How’s retirement so far?
I’ll have to see if that will be possible. My computer knowledge is not very good as you know.
Retirement won’t kick in until August when I know I won’t be going back to school. For now, it just seems like another summer.But the prospect of having more time to do what I want, that’s looking pretty exciting.