About

This is a double experiment for me as I am comparatively new at writing fiction, so part of the experiment is simply to see if I can tell an interesting story.  The other part is for me to write some of my ideas about our national politics and the remedies we need to take, embedding them in the story so they feel more like part of an adventure rather than me lecturing to the reader, which I'm otherwise prone to do. 

There is a further experiment at play here in producing this novelette in serial form. While the initial chapters are more nailed down in my thinking, I'm quite open to plot suggestions from readers, so the story might morph in unpredictable ways, once we get well past the opening.  Also, it seems possible to write more than one version of the story, based on taking a readers suggestion in one version while ignoring the suggestion in another.  I don't know if I am capable of producing multiple versions at the same time or if that will screw up my thinking.  Perhaps I would write one version and when it is done go back to write another.  We'll see.

One other issue is whether the story is believable, though improbable, or if it is too incredible to be believed.  Readers might comment on that at various junctures in the story.  I'm guessing that those who don't find it believable will stop reading without getting through it all, while the serial nature of the presentation might find those who think the story is believable eager to read the next chapter when it appears.  At least I hope that to be the case.

One other remark that might help the reader gauge how long this experiment will last.  My targets are for individual chapters to be 7 or 8 pages long (in their PDF versions) and for the entire book to be somewhere between 100 and 120 pages, not counting acknowledgments, preface, and other matter that fills books these days.  You can do the math based on that information.  We'll see if I can stick to that plan.