Having Too Much Fun with Clowns

I've mentioned before that I enjoy creating chapter titles. I see them as opportunities to pique the interest of readers. My latest project is going to have some of the weirdest and most interesting chapter titles I've ever written. What is that new project?

A sequel to Shadows of Tockland, of course.

Now, if you've never read Shadows of Tockland, I highly recommend you give it a chance. It's hard to think of another book or movie that bears similarity to it. Let's summarize: in a post-apocalyptic version of Arkansas, a young man runs away from home to join a traveling clown troupe. Along the way, they encounter a city full of plague-ridden maniacs and a rampaging army from an empire called Tockland. It's brutal and strange, and the response has been mostly very positive.

Anyway, I've finally gotten around to writing the sequel, which is tentatively titled The Dust-Lords of Tockland. It takes place on the northern border of Nebraska and the future nation of Lakota. Lots of strange and terrible things happen, building to some interesting revelations. Is that vague enough? Well, let's just say Cakey the Jacked-Up Clown and Disturby Dave get up to some dangerous shenanigans while touring a new town.

On to the chapter titles. I've written the first four chapters, and here are the titles:

Chapter One: The One and Only Tiny Barrel-Shaped Lady

Chapter Two: Motel Memories

Chapter Three: Let’s Please Ruin Our Careers

Chapter Four: Everybody Loves a Clown with a Knife

See what I mean? I'm enjoying writing the novel very much, but I'm really looking forward to creating the chapter titles. This story is going in some weird, weird places, friends.

In the meantime, read the original right now, if you haven't already!

Northwest Arkansas Author Book Fair

Well, I had an interesting time at the Springdale Public Library today. It was the Second Annual Northwest Arkansas Author Book Fair. A whole bunch of local and regional authors were there from 2-4pm, selling books from a variety of genres and chatting with folks. Here was my spot.

I wound up sitting next to an author named Dusty Richards. You can see his name and his books in the picture there, but that's obviously not him sitting beside me. That is his wife, Pat.

Anyway, I spent most of those two hours talking about everything under the sun with Mr. Richards. For those who might not know him, he is a fairly accomplished, award-winning author of western novels. He told me he's written somewhere on the order of 197 novels, so it was fascinating talking to him, hearing stories about meeting people like Larry McMurtry, talking to the ghost of Zane Grey, and seeing a lynx walk across his yard out near Beaver Lake. He gave me a free signed copy of one of his books before he left. Oh, and here's his Amazon page, in case you want to peruse his many, many books.

In between stories, I sold a few books and talked to a few readers and some other fellow writers. It makes me realize I need to be more plugged into the local writing community, so I guess I'd better get out of my little box here and start attending conferences and such.