I've been working on Mermaid Summer.
It seems middle grade fantasy works better in first person in the present. So that has been the change to the existing scenes. Now it's time to turn my attention to the "muddy middle".
I have a fairly high action climax with running about in mazelike environments and some real danger. The important thing - one important thing - is the kid's lib aspect. The protagonist has to be active and deserted by their adults, even if those are well meaning and don't know their daughter is in peril - it's important the kids rescue themselves as much as possible.
My Women in Media writers' group has been super helpful, like always, with useful notes and feedback. But you know, there is a lot of validation too in the enjoyment the ladies seem to be getting from this. My eventual plan is still to consider this IP and write a family movie script out of it, that I hope will become a franchise.
Here's my sketch of Lira.
Excerpt:
I’m still a bit shivery as I sit on the rock ledge and check my stuff. The first thing I do is pull out my towel to get a little warmer. The sun will have to get higher to get over the trees. I wonder if Lira’s scaly tail will transform out of the water.
“What?” Lira asks. I must have been staring. So I ask her, “How long can you stay out of the water?”
Lira thinks it over for a moment. “I’m not sure. I’ve never tested it, but if I dry out I’ll die.” Then she scoops up some lake water with her tail flukes, which are able to move independently, and splashes it over herself. Lira wants to know how I came to be living here, so I give her the quick life story. It could not possibly be as interesting as Lira’s life. But Lira is amazed to hear that I have lived by and even swum in the ocean, saying it’s “like a dream.”
