Testing...testing 1-2-3...is this thing on?

Yo! I'm J. P. Alcott and I like pizza, Halloween, and a cappella music. I also like writing, so here's a list of some (possibly) upcoming stories.

Coming Up:

The Friend

The Origins: So, I’m a skeptic. I’ll believe it when I see it, and I’ve never seen it, so I hesitate to say anything is “based on true events.” But a friend of mine told me this little story about her son and Wal-Mart, and it struck a nerve, so I decided to embellish a tiny bit (okay, okay, a massive amount; I call it creative license) for a story. The “Friend” is based on this child’s description of a completely colorless figure: white skin, white clothes, even white eyes. And he only saw this Friend in one particular section of one particular Wal-Mart…but that doesn’t mean it stayed there. Or that little Jacob is the only one who saw it. Which is where my embellishment comes in.

The Sketch: I see this strange startling figure with a slightly hunched, gaunt frame. Its thin hair is a grimy white color. Its eyes are a disturbing milky white, and the rest of its face is almost skeletal…I’m thinking the mouth, when it opens, is traversed by white gauzy ribbons of…something. Like a mummy who got a mouthful of shroud when it was buried. Its white clothes (probably soiled and yellowed with age) are in tatters and hang down to the floor (I’m thinking it’s wearing a ragged cloak of some sort), almost but not quite covering its bare, bony feet. Think Dementor (disclaimer: JK Rowling's invention, not mine), only all white and with an actual face, which in my opinion makes it that much more frightening. Not sure yet if it’s a malicious force or not.

The Summary: Three people at the local Wal-Mart: a lonely sixteen year-old with a secret everyone seems to know; an overworked nurse who is looking for odd babysitting jobs to make ends meet; and a little boy with extraordinary powers and uncanny connections to them both.

Beyond that and some seriously disjointed dialogue, I got nothin'. Hopefully that nothin' will turn into somethin' pretty soon, though. Keep your fingers crossed, and I'll do the same.

Stuff In the Works (Some Longer Than Others):

The Beacon Women: A Tragicomedy in A Bunch of Acts, with Some Serious Stuff Thrown In

Avery is up Poo Creek without a paddle. He's been kicked out of his Ohio home, sucked into his grandma's world of Georgian decorum, caught and released (repeatedly) by his band, and ogled by the coffee shop barista down the street. He has a job at a secondhand bookstore, and the only ones who know he's not actually a guy are his employers, The Beacon Women. A play in I don't know how many acts, about a female-to-male preoperative transsexual. And the things that make him squirm. Like that barista, and the price of surgery. M, M, very M for language. The f-bomb is dropped pretty frequently (maybe even once by Granny), and there are some suggestive jokes cracked. Oh, and there's a Bad Guy. His name is Homophobia.

Story Hour

Thirty-something Rhode Island librarian Elinor Bastion thinks "Story Hour" is a lame title. But who is she, besides a pillar of the community? Well, funny you should ask. She's also crazy surrogate aunt to sixteen year-old Darius Walker, who is currently working through what it means to be a young gay black man with a flair for the dramatic. Oh, and she's a bachelorette. Maybe that new community theatre production (you know, the one with two male leads?) will bring some eligible bachelors into sleepy, semi-coastal Bakersville. I know I'm counting on it! High T, at the moment, for some slightly abrasive language. Might go up if this thing takes off.