I’m pretty sure I don’t want to read that last episode. Bars with Internet are dangerous things, to say the least. Moving on…

I was going to write something lighter this year for NaNoWriMo. I was going to get a little bit silly and maybe even include the Epic Weasel, the Universe’s first convertible spaceship. Pink planets with wine-cooler oceans, and the revolutionaries who brought them beer. That kind of thing. You know, an autobiography.

Then there was the story with the all-female, all-babealicious NASCAR pit crew, Pit Kittens. A friend came up with the title. I already know the cast – the sinuous, dangerous motorcycle rider, the hot-tempered buxom redhead machinist, the mechanical genius who wears lace beneath her lab coat, and, of course, the twins. Oh, the shenanigans!

But then I got another idea, for a psychological thriller kind of thing, where the man in the middle is just as messed up as the people he is tracking down. That seemed like a pretty good idea, but it’s not growing in my head the way a healthy story does. Two good scenes, a few decent situations, one good character, but it’s stagnating in my head.

So then I got another idea. It’s perfect for NaNoWriMo – it plays out over a set period of time (why not thirty days?) and so in the thirty chapters things can move and change, but continuity won’t be a problem with this one. I’ve gone so far as to outline the thirty chapters. I have some good phrases in my head, and I hope I can remember them when it’s time to pick up the pencil and start the examination.

Except that more than half the time I hate the idea. It’s got lots of great potential for themes touching on the nature of who we are, but it’s dark. Dark done well can make the rare glimpses of light that much brighter, but dark done poorly is just a non-stop bummer. (Speaking of which, last week I had the cover over at Piker Press. It’s a story I particularly like for reasons I can’t put my finger on, but ultimately it lacked the glimpse of light. It was more of a episode than a story, I guess.) But there is light in this dark, dark, story, and it ends on a strong note, with a new voice filled with life and hope. When I’m in a particular mood I love the idea.

I don’t think I can maintain that mood for thirty straight days.

I think it’s time for a new poll…