Friends, part 3: The Fictional Side

Hello friends of Simon,

One day I hope Simon and Sally will have a lot of friends. Readers of their story will hopefully feel as close to them as I do. Their story is maybe completely fictional, but I think without even trying to Simon is going to have a lot of me, growing up, in him. Simon is an artist, but an unrecognized one. He loves to doodle, mostly at school during class, because at home he is not encouraged in it. After Simon's mom passed away, Simon's dad changed. Instead of the nurturing and supportive parent he used to be, he turned serious and no-nonsense like. Because a great part of who Simon used to be was being creative, and this is no longer recognized, he struggles with who he is and where he fits in. As such Simon tries to belong at his school by wearing brand name clothing, sneakers and carrying a mobile phone. However, he is increasingly feeling out of touch.

Empowerment is a huge thing in young adult novels and is the linchpin on which normal everyday kids turn into something unique. There comes a point in every kids life where they stop just 'being a kid' and want to 'be themself', whatever that means. And what does it mean? This search for an identity, a unique 'me', someone who is seen by others as an individual? This existential question, whether solved or not, returns later in life as the mid-life crises many men go through. Are they their job? Their role as a husband or parent? Who are they, these 30-somethings. As mortality becomes more of an issue and parents pass away, and ones own body stops looking trim and fit people start wondering what their legacy will be, what they've added to humanity.

So, as such, the best 'coming of age' stories or 'hero's journey' novels are about self-realization through empowerment. Nancy and I are playing with the idea of each writing our own version of Simon and Sally's adventure, because it would allow us to write from our own personal background, using our own style. The world in which they adventure would remain the same, and the 5th book (which is all about Simon and Sally working together) would be a joint work, but the previous 4 books would be in fact 8 stories. Readers could then follow either Simon, or Sally, or both. I have already mapped out a set of personal problems that need to be resolved for both characters, a unique journey into where these kids start and how and with what realizations they develop into empowered unique people. They just happen to also be prophesied heroes.

From Simon's point of view, he will first lose his old friends and family (and indeed the very world he comes from), only to pass the magical portal into a new magical world, where new friends await, who will be better suited to assist him on his journey. Alix and Maya and Karl are these friends. He will also have a mentor (not unlike Gandalf, Dumbledore and Obi-Wan Kenobi) and a pet monkey who provide further help. Simon's new friends will each add to the mix of intelligence, comic-relief and emotional soundboard providing the 'Holy Trinity' of fiction. At the end of each book Simon (and hopefully Sally) will have progressed naturally along a predestined path of character development the likes of which have been unseen yet in young adult fiction.

And I will blog about it along the way. As I will of any new friends I might get in my personal life and with this blog. Stick with me. I'll take you places, my friends.