Category Archives: Park People

Setting the Stage: Global Warming and a Bolide Impact

Next month is National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for short, in which the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. The story I’m writing this November has a working title of “Park People.” It’s a science fiction thriller. I’ve never written a thriller before. So far it’s been an interesting process.

Right now, I’m working on outlining the plot and developing the necessary characters. For fun, I thought I might write up some background research, needed to make the story work right. Here’s how I’ve set the stage:Continue reading “Setting the Stage: Global Warming and a Bolide Impact”

Character Sketches – Matthew Denisen

He was raised in a single-wide trailer deep in Appalachia by his mother, a single mom. His father is the quintessential deadbeat dad, who walked out when Matty was 9. That night, his father had come home drunk and proceeded to beat the stuffing out of his mother. Matt jumped in to defend his mom and ultimately had to pull a gun on his dad to get him to leave. His dad never came back.

Matt knew there was more to life than this stupid podunk little town of 1500. He had watched enough television to know that if he could just get to the city, he would have it all. He’d dropped out of school at 17, just six months before he should have graduated. But his mom needed him, and at 20 he still lived in that single-wide.

Only nine months ago, his mother had suddenly died. An aneurism took her and left Matt with nothing, except for that crummy old single-wide trailer.

With no cash and no real prospects, he tossed a few things in his beat up truck, gathered his dog, Bo, and started to leave. Then all hell broke loose.