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Half-Baked Books: Ideas for My Future Novels

March 26, 2014
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My fans often ask what I'm working on, what I plan to write next, to which I typically respond, "Mom, Dad, stop bugging me and pass the potatoes." Today, however, I’ve decided to share what's in my novel hopper. And while I'm aware that publicly sharing my ideas for future fiction projects brings with it the risk of another writer stealing one and running with it, I'm putting my faith in the artistic authenticity and common decency of authors. Plus I know a kick-ass intellectual property lawyer.

Following are several ideas I have for novels – some of which I've already started, some of which are merely visions I had after ingesting the wrong (read: right) type of mushroom.

Novel idea #1
Jake Killian must travel to Bali to find and rescue his drug-addled brother, an ex-patriot artist who has fallen for a dangerous woman and crossed the wrong locals. Jake’s “to do” list once he arrives: Exchange money; buy sunscreen; find brother and, if he’s alive, bring him home. Tentative titles: The Seminyak Express; Down and Out in Nusa Dua

Novel idea #2
Charlie Braun has had enough. Exasperated and overwhelmed by the speed of modern living and society’s overreliance on technology, he decides he needs to get away. A remote cabin in the woods, a small bungalow on a secluded beach – these aren’t really options for Charlie, as he’s an incurable agoraphobic. He comes up with a possible solution: Voluntary imprisonment. All he needs to do now is decide what crime to commit so that he can “escape”. Tentative titles: Sabbatical on Cell Block Nine; Freedom in a Cage

Novel idea #3
Three gritty friends – all in their late 70s/early 80s – are fed up over the rapid decline of their community. Nearing the end of their lives and feeling they have little to lose, the trio decides to team up and take on the city’s most violent and unjust inhabitants. They use their elderly image and assumed feebleness to deceive criminals, gangbangers and bullies and lure them into their vigilante lair, all the while driven by the team’s mantra: “Getting even is more rewarding than getting old.” Tentative titles: Fire in Autumn; The Gray Goons

Novel idea #4
A group of three 40-something friends each receives the same bizarre email from a fourth friend – a man who none of them have been in touch with for years and who, based on his email message, is losing his mind. Now all the friends need to do is find out where in the world their troubled friend is and come to his aid before it’s too late. Armed with only a few cryptic clues, a common bond and a quest for adventure, the friends set out on a road (and air and rail) trip of a lifetime. Tentative titles: Searching for Sanderson; The Four

Novel idea #5
William, a once great but now struggling novelist, is visited and tormented by several of his incomplete characters – all of whom are furious over the fact that he has left them stranded in abandoned manuscripts. Each character demands that William complete the book in which he or she is currently “stuck”. Several threaten him with grave physical harm if he even thinks about killing them off before fully developing them and giving their stories a proper conclusion. Is this the end for William, or the best thing that could ever happen for his writing career? (I’ll ping Woody Allen to see if he's interested in the film rights.) Tentative titles: Character Flaws; Writing Wrongs


Which of the above books would you be most interested in reading? Which one(s) would you pay me NOT to write? Share your answers in the ‘Comments’ area below – unless you intend on being critical, in which case just send me a telegram.



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