I decided in March that I needed to write a new series geared for boys due to the fact that my YA mysteries are girl characters and the boys aren't reading them. I've been steady researching for the series since I had the first title, which came about from one of our Sisters in Crimes meeting here in Columbia, SC.
The series will be an adventure series with boy characters (maybe a girl or two but the main characters will be boys). I'm calling it a South Carolina Directional Adventure Series because the titles all are compass points (directions) and also contain small town names that all start with the compass direction (N, S, E, W).
The first title West of _________ came about from our March meeting of Sisters in Crime. Our guest speaker was talking with one of the members and telling her where he was from and trying to give her some sort of landmark or area that she would recognize. He was from Lugoff, which if you are from the Richland County, Kershaw County or any other county that is relatively close to that area you would know where Lugoff is. The member wasn't really familiar with the area so he gave her a landmark, well it is West of Wateree, which isn't really a town but more a state park/water area. After a few minutes of conversation, our past president, Paula Benson, spoke up saying that West of Wateree would make a good title (directing it to all of us, not just the writers of adult mysteries). So for the whole week I had been thinking of how I could use West of Wateree as a title for a children's book or possibly a mystery for boys. When I went to Anderson on March 25 to have Anita Fricks sign copies of A Moose in the Shower I told her that I needed to write an adventure series for boys. She didn't say much to that other than, yes you do. I visited with her and family and came back to Columbia Saturday evening/night. Sunday night when I was supposed to be sleeping I was very restless so started brainstorming about titles for the new series. I decided it would be cool to do a compass directional type series since I already had West as one title.
The next one that popped into my head immediately was North. North of North came to mind due to the fact that if you locate North, SC, on the map you will see that it is actually south of some small towns as well as Columbia (Swansea and Gaston are actually a bit west and south of Columbia but they are north of North, SC).
Now that I had two titles, I had to find South and East. From days as a medical transcriptionist and having many unusual town names dictated and not knowing the states or areas that well, I had a website that I used quite often to look up town name spellings. I got on the internet on my phone (if we had wifi in the shelter, I would be on my computer all the time when I wasn't working) and pulled up the website I was in need of and went to South Carolina and then clicked on the E listings. The first town that caught my eye was Eagle Point, but then I found a better one. So, East of Effingham was the next title I came up with. Effingham is the home of McCall Farms where they employ over 800 people in the plant. They are known for canned foods like the Glory foods and boiled peanuts and tons of other products everyone is familiar with.
Now for south. I had to have a cool name that would attract boys' attention. I wrote down Snow Junction first and then scrolled a little more and found the coolest name of a town yet. I have since found out that this town really doesn't have much in the way of being a populated town at all. I've been told there is only a park located at the place that is named as a town. I've also been told that James Brown (the "I Feel Good" singer) was born near this town. Less than 20 miles from this town is the Savannah River Site. The town's name, you ask? Spiderweb. My south book will be titled South of Spiderweb with the adventure having to do with the Savannah River Site or the "future city" competition that is held each year for middle grade students.
North is a railroad town and so I'm thinking the adventure will have to occur in Swansea or Gaston which are both north of North and possibly be railroad related. Effingham being a farm town will probably be something 4H related or some sort of farm type competition with the students working on something to help the environment. Wateree will be a junior park ranger or something on those lines adventure.
The characters names will be alliterative to the titles so for South of Spiderweb I have Sean Southers; for North of North the name will be Nolan Norris (Norris means north); East of Effingham will feature Ethan Easton; and West of Wateree a simple name Wade West (sounds like a play on words having to do with water).
I have signed up for Camp NaNo which starts July 1; the goal is 20,000 words for me (5000 words per story, but may have to make them a bit longer. These will be illustrated stories so I hope to end up between 100 and 150 written pages with illustrations interspersed throughout the stories. Chasity Nicole is already sort of brainstorming the covers for me so once I actually have a cover or two I can share with you.
More postings as I progress. See you all in the postings. Mrs. E :)
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