How it all began--June 9, 2009

Last fall (2008), in a desperate attempt to break through a writer's block, I signed up for a MALS class in Writing Prose. The assignment for this graduate level creative writing class was to complete 10 stories in 16 weeks. I wrote a new short story every week. It was wonderful. A dam broke, and the creative juices flowed forth. Four of the stories were following five North Carolina siblings as they were summoned to an adventure in the future by a telepathic Great Blue Heron. My classmates told me that the short stories were the beginning of a fascinating novel I should pursue. In late October, I was invited to a local Writer's meeting and learned of NaNoWriMo due to begin in 2 days. It is an annual challenge for writers to complete a 50,000 word novel in thirty days (Nov 1--30). I took the challenge and using the short stories of the five siblings I began to write around them and fashioned about 80 percent of the novel I now call "The Green Chronicles: Saving Dallas." On Dec 19, 2008, I completed my first draft. By April 15, 2009, and 18 revisions later, I mailed off the 222 page manuscript to three New York publishers of children's fantasy middle-grade fiction. And, now I wait. Check back for future blogs about why the story is called "The Green Chronicles." Are there more to come?

Day 1

This is my first blog about my new novel, The Green Chronicles: Saving Dallas. This is a middle-grade eco-adventure story featuring five children who travel into the future to save the people of Dallas from a terrible fate.

Please check back for more information. For now, visit my website at: www.dgoodrumwhite.com