Jun. 9, 2008
Ch. 3 and I NEED HELP!
Posted in Young Andi Stories
Wow! Saved girl believes in non-stop, nail-biting action all the way around. Here is chapter 3 of
Andi Lost, the Young Andi story she is writing and I am posting on the Andi and Cory blog:
CHAPTER 3.
I'm starting to get a fuzzy idea that I might need your help for the next book. As I read this newest chapter from
Andi Lost, I really liked Saved Girl's idea of the snake. I think it might be an idea I could use and add to Book 5,
Trouble with Treasure. I have even written the rough draft of the first 2 chapters. But ideas are few and far between. I've got a general idea for it (as in a longer-than-usual nutshell summary):
Andi, Cory, and Jenny (from San Francisco) jump at the chance to keep Mitch company on a two-week trek into the Sierras to check up on the Carter logging camp. With an old survey map (AKA treasure map) in hand, Cory is sure they'll strike it rich by nosing around old gold diggings along the way. They come across a shack that looks abandoned. It's not. One of the members of a gang that robbed the Fresno bank is hiding out. Mitch unwittingly sets off a chain of events that kills the outlaw, but leaves him with a bullet in his leg. Alone, in the middle of nowhere, it's up to Andi and her friends to keep Mitch alive long enough for Cory to go for help--and before the other bank robbers return.
A plot like that will take me about 6 chapters to write. I need MORE. More sub-plots, more surprises (like the snake idea tossed in to get the blood moving). Got any ideas? I'm hoping to write the book this summer and submit it to my publisher in the fall. Feel free to send me ideas of what kinds of adventures could these 3 kids get themselves into on a "camping" trip up in the hills that goes bad.
So...please brainstorm with me! You can write sentences or lists or just jot down ideas. Even if I don't use an idea, it might spark me into another direction--full of danger and adventure.
I might even have to start a new category titled "Brainstorming."
Comments
Jun. 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Lyric
Ahh.... Lemme see... I'll think about it for a while and email you back. I wonder what Andi does this time...
Lyric
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Jun. 10, 2008 - Story helpers
Posted by SavedGirl
Dear Mrs. Marlow,
Hmmm. Since it is a mountain you could have a rockslide, mudslide, or avalanche, depending on what time of year it is. You could have Andi become lost maybe by seeing a beautiful baby deer and following it. And you could have something with a fire like Mitch made her wear a dress but she accidentally catches it on fire so she has to wear her beloved overalls. That is all of the surprises I can think of. As for sub-plots perhaps she and Melinda should have a fight before they leave and once danger threatens Andi becomes sorry for what she said and wnats to be able to ask forgivness.
As for the snake I have heard that even back then they knew to suck the poison from the wound.
Interesting Note: Did you know that you can swallow the poison of a snake and it won't hurt you?
If I think of anything else I will let you know.
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Jun. 10, 2008 - Snake
Posted by SavedGirl
You know I just thought of something. The snake may become my trademark for my stories. It is going to be in my Jennie story too. Oh well.
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Jun. 11, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by MargoMargolia1
umm I like the fire idea only maybe Mitch should be sleeping on a blanket and it catches fire and they have to stomp it out or the horses run away or they're running out of food or some bad guy threatens them (hey like my story! remember!) or wait a bad dude usally does threaten them..forget it.
or they could run into Legolas from Lotr! and he brings them to the elvish city and whala your story becomes the next best-selling fantisy story out there! hahaha just kidding!
I'll tell you if I think of anything better!
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Jun. 12, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by sunflower8
I have a great time over there! I feel so embarrased because I say over and over that I would write about our trip and I haven't done it yet!!!! Well I will try and keep my promise about that. We've been pretty busy round our place that's why I haven't been on lately.
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Jun. 13, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by alizona
Hmm, well I don't have much, but yesterday an idea hit me... how about a fire? Maybe you could kind of incorporate that with the snake (haven't read Chapter 3 of Andi Lost, so I'm not sure if it would fit, but you could definitely tweak it if necessary :o). Forgive me if you had a fire in one of the other Andi books, but it's been a while since I read them.
That's pretty much all I can think of for now.
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Jun. 13, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by alizona
Aha, now I read the other comments and they are saying a fire, too, so that MUST be a good idea. LOL
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Jun. 15, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Lyric
First, where was Mitch shot? Like... Is it immediately life-threatening by slicing an artery? Does it get infected and Mitch gets really sick, or can he just not walk. (You can probably guess which one I would choose... :-P) Will Andi have to dig out the bullet, or is that too much for the story?
.~*Brainstorm*~.
No kidnapping. Is Taffy around? Oh! Taffy bolts during the gunfight. Andi is suddenly torn between her brother and her horse. Of course she chooses to stay with her brother at first, but then after (a day? three days?), she decides that Cory's not coming back, and that if she can find Taffy, she can get Mitch back home sooner. So she leaves Mitch in the (capable?) hands of Jenny and goes out to find Taffy. *wandering through forest, despair, etc* We found Taffy! So! We hurry back and find that Jenny kept Mitch alive (only barely, I imagine her to be a terrible cook, so the food was not the greatest). We gather up those two and begin our trek back home (Why are we talking in a plural first person all of a sudden?). So we hurry back as fast as Andi and Jenny can walk (they can't ride Taffy along with Mitch). Hmm... We meet Cory halfway there and more capable people take Mitch, while Andi is chomping at the bit to go back and give a few someones a piece of her mind, and Jenny's right with her. Fortunately, Chad decides otherwise and packs up our heroines to go home. Cory gets to go with the police to the spot, which makes Andi QUITE put out, as you could imagine. Until he gives her a few little pieces of gold he found on the ground during the adventure.
Whew... That help at all?
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Jun. 16, 2008 - <em>Untitled Comment</em>
Posted by Stef
Mine-shaft cave-in? Mountain lion attack? Heavy sack of loot goes over a cliff and someone tries to retrieve it but gets stuck on a ledge? Tornado a la recent Iowa Scout camp disaster? Bear or porcupine gets into food supply? Lightning strike sets off wildfire (as others have said)? Someone gets lost? Skunk spray? Poison ivy bad enough to swell eyes shut (this happened to me! and in Trixie Belden--Gatehouse Mystery)? Avalanche/mudslide is a good suggestion, too.
I've already seen all of these disasters in Wild West books EXCEPT tornado and poison ivy. But I know you can make them brand-new.
Edited by Stef on Jun. 16, 2008 at 9:40 AM
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Jun. 16, 2008 - hey!
Posted by Anonymous
whats up?
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