First chapter of my next book–Quinton

I started this book four and half years ago for National Novel Writing Month. I didn’t finish it then. Which is okay, even if I didn’t finish NaNoMo I still had the skeleton for a new story. I wanted to finish this earlier. Like much earlier.

But sometimes life interferes.

This book is a departure for me. The main characters are still children, but this is my first PG-13 novel. Do with that as you will.

But the main chapters are still children that feel left out and use friends and community to solve problems. I don’t set out to write books with that theme. The books just appear and that happens to be the theme I write about a lot.

It’s just that this time its 200 years into the future, dragons have attacked, and authoritarism is alive and well. I know super sunny. And yes, there be dragons.

It’s also the first time I shift character focus. One chapter follows Quinton around, then there are chapters that follow his friends around.

I got the idea for the novel with a simple image. A prisoner has been to a jail that is located on the far side of the moon.

That’s all I had for an idea. So I had to fill in everything else around this idea of a prison on the dark side of the moon.

Hopefully it will be out this summer.

Here is the first chapter.

The prison door slid open and prisoner 8311 stepped forward into the center of the room. His binders came off and fell to the floor as the doors slid in a hush behind him. Prisoner 8311 rubbed his wrists and sat down on the bunk that extended from the wall. The pristine white room had a sink, a toilet, a small video screen, a small plastic chair, and a white rug.

“Prisoner 8311 meal time will occur in fours hours, you will be notified when to be ready,” said an electronic voice from the speaker high in the wall.

Prisoner 8311 laid down on his bunk, put his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and tried to nap.

Prisoner 8311 thought about when he was not referred to as Prisoner 8311, but was referred to by his given name–Quinton Alexander. He dreamed about his tenth birthday party.
Which was yesterday.