For this SSS I’m going in a somewhat different direction, in honor of NaNo 2012.  I’ve decided this year I’m going to start working on Jasper’s Fall, which takes place a decade before Jasper City.

When I plan, I tend to write out a summary first of what I want the story to be, as if it were going to be on the back of the published book.  Using that as a starting point, I brainstorm from there and end with writing the outline.  It was coincidence that this summary turned out to be six sentences long.

“It is the twenty-second century.  The North American continent is beaten, scorched, and all but destroyed by a war with no end in sight.

Two brothers, Edward and Calvin Jasper, are part of a unit who tried to defend their homeland and failed.  When they stumble across a camp of civilian survivors, Edward finds inspiration to abandon his hopeless cause and start over.  He’s moved to build a great city and bring civilization back to the land.

It isn’t long before Edward realizes just how hard his cause will be.”