A Nameless Naturist Novel

Well, it seems that I am writing a new novel. And before you ask, no I haven’t finished any of the other projects that I have been involved in since my last novel, Aliens Among Us. This latest project is different again than others in the past. I began the story on January 4th, took a week off to visit grandchildren and the story now sits at 37,000 words. Each day as I write, I am surprised at the unexpected twists and turns of the story. I literally don’t have a plan. That is the ultimate definition of what a “pantser” is in the world of novel writing. There is no wonder why this work-in-progress still doesn’t have a name.

The protagonist tells his story in the first person. Now, I am not really a fan of first-person point of view novels but the muse doesn’t really care what I think. Anyway, to continue, the protagonist is a university professor in a fictitious small city in New York state. Again, this is a radical shift for me in terms of setting. The one good thing is my experience with university life gives me some grounding. You write what you know is the prime directive given to writers. Even fantasy is grounded in life as known by an author – characters, conflicts, etc.

Back to the story. The main character is not a nudist/naturist at the beginning of the story. He does navigate towards that identity with some difficulty. All seems to be fine until … well, that would be a spoiler, so I will leave it at that for now. As to be expected, there will be some fairly major bumps along the road.

There is a second thread wending its way through the story. it takes time for that thread to intersect the first thread [I’m at that point in the story]. The two come together when the protagonist’s career and freedom are threatened. The second thread comes into existence just as the protagonist of the novel begins to be aware of social nudity. One gets the sense that this thread is perhaps just a dream state, not reality. That idea falls apart when the two threads appear together. I can’t tell you more, because I haven’t written it, it hasn’t been revealed to me. Damn muse. I’m still in the dark. Maybe next time I write here I will have a better report to give about the story.