The chapter book is coming along well--I love the characters, and the plot is... well... the plot is... it's on its way. I promise. It's a mystery story, and I'm struggling to figure out what actually needs to happen. I really, really wish I could talk it over with you guys here, but... I'm paranoid. (Hmm... I wonder if a "trusted reader" filter would make me feel any better...) Seriously, it's not like anyone's ever stolen my stuff before; I have no idea why I'm such a freakshow about this.
Back to the story, which has no title yet. I need to read some children's mysteries, I think. I've had Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart trilogy since Christmas and not read it, so I pulled out The Ruby in the Smoke today, thinking that might help. Wonder upon wonders, it's 1) a mystery and 2) set in the Victorian era, so it's good for two writing projects at once! Huzzah! Unfortunately... it is so not a children's book. I'd have to say it's young adult, like Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and Harry Potter and all that. It's a fine line, but I was able to tell by the fact that the sentence structure is much more complex. Oh, and that four people have died grisly deaths so far. Also that.
Had some good freewriting prompts to build characters in workshop tonight; I'll have to post them later. Think I'll go to bed now, which is insanely early for me, but all right. Or at least finish The Ruby in the Smoke so I can go back to the second Sarah Bernhardt bio, which is full of juicy gossip and actually quite good.
