In my last blog I talked about the new story I was working on, tentatively titled Carnival Ink. It was going to be a depression era, kinda bleak story about traveling carnivals. Well…now it’s a play on the Robin Hood mythos. And there are pirates. And magic. It’s interesting how a story evolves, isn’t it?
I wanted the magic. It was important to me to have it, and I had to make it work. We all know that readers don’t really like a story to go, “because magic” so I had to weave it into the story in a believable way, that made it an actual part of the world, not just a mcguffin.
So I took a look at our world, the unrest and the worry and the division, and had an “ah ha” moment. So now my story is alternative history with some pretty major big guys of our past in a whole new light, pushing the story to a reality that isn’t completely out of reach. If magic were alive within us, that is.
The words are flowing and I really, really love the story. It has all of my favorite things. A strong young girl, a sassy pirate, magic and cool steampunk clothes. My goal is to have the story written this month, so I can work on edits and polish it. I want to query this one. Having an agent is the goal, and something about this story makes me feel it might be possible.
sherilyn putnam 