Something Brand New
(An Imitation of Life)

This I my first attempt at writing a novel. It all came into being one evening when I was writing down some of my late Nana's eccentricities. While jotting down some bullet points I had an idea pop into my head, and the next morning I had written the first three chapters of this novel.

The story is about a soul, who is sent down to Earth on a quest to find his future parents. Originally wanting to be a cat or a bird, the soul is given the name of Fred and the form of a human. Dropped, quite literally, into a word that's just a breath away from us livings, Fred has to learn how both worlds interact, and more importantly how to survive.

If you want to read some of the things I wrote about my Nana, then do have a read here.

THE LATE CHRISTMAS

Christmas Eve – Washington DC and the whole city is awash with people, shopping manically; no one sees the many little sideshows that are going on all around them. A young man is trying to bundle a boxed pushchair into the trunk of a car for his pregnant girlfriend, a hot dog stand overflowing with people, a group of carollers giving their best, and outside a hospital a boy sheepishly climbs into the laundry room through a window. Across town the President is entertaining, but he’s not happy, his daughter is absent, she’s dancing the night away… at least she’s happy.

At the same time at Dulles Airport the controllers are watching the blips on their screens, each has it’s own designation, but to their surprise, out of nowhere, a blip gets their attention. No designation, no idea, what is it? No one knows, not even the Air Force who have been tracking it for a while. On board an in-bound plane, the aircrew are only aware that an air pressure warning has gone off, so reducing altitude they are now on a collision course with the intruder. As events escalate the USAF is ordered into the sky. First sighting shows that the blip is the largest target anyone has ever seen, even after something unexplained appears to have broken off of it...

When Santa crashes his Sleigh on Christmas Eve, the whole world watches on, and watches the magic eek away!

MOTHER NATURE

When the most powerful woman who has ever lived is knocked down by a speeding car, the clouds drop from the skies, electricity molecules stop becoming excited and even the magnetic poles become unstable.

Uncertain as to whether she is a saviour or the destructor, a small band of people vow to keep the woman away from the authorities, who desperately want the power of nature itself in their grasp.

If you want an exciting read, then I don't think I can do better - my favourite of all my writings.

They say that an author never feels that he has finished a novel - this one is no exception! I am currently in the process of re-editing it, and adding a new thread that I feel really needs to be told.