Linden

I'm very proud to say that I took that picture. In fact, that pencil is resting on a page of Linden! How exciting. Edited in Micrografx Picture Publisher. Website designed using NetObjectsFusion.

I'm a creative writing major set to graduate in 2010. Within a few years, hopefully I'll be working at a publishing company, but I am also considering grad school.

My favorite book is The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.

My favorite places are Schloss Neuschwannstein in Germany and Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Projects

Linden

When Lynda Daymor receives a cryptic message from her grandmother, she leaves her walled-in home town with her best friend, Kyle. Together, as the first to leave their enclosed home town for decades, Lynda and Kyle explore their surrounding kingdom and investigate the secrets behind the basic infrastructure holding their kingdom together... or pulling it apart.

About

"Linden" was inspired by a dream I had my sophomore year of high school (2003 - 2004), in which a little red riding hood figure sneaks into a magic shop late at night, lets in a "wolf" (werewolf) and then helps him steal a magic wand by standing guard outside the shop in case the owner comes back. Sure enough, she does - and as a light snow begins to fall, the little girl shouts "Hello Miss Murdoch" very loudly as a warning to the wolf, who runs out the back door. The owner, hearing this and suspecting foul play, runs to chase the wolf, but in her old age she is unable to keep up with him, and so she collapses to her knees into a layer of inch thick snow. The little girl walks over to her and hugs her. Needless to say, I have strange dreams.

Perplexed by this little girls actions - first betraying the shop keeper and then comforting her - I set out to find out what happened in this story by developing it. Linden is the result.

While Linden does bear a resemblance to the famous fairytale "Little Red Riding Hood," there are marked differences that make this novel truly stand out from its inspiration. There is a little girl with a red riding cloak, an ailing grandmother who sent it to her, and a strange wolf Lynda meets in the woods on her way to her grandmother's house. However her actions and her agency push this story away from the traditional Little Red Riding Hood.

Setting

Linden takes place in a world similar to our own, but very different. Magic and werewolves exist and are common knowledge. Most of the story takes place in a countryside similar to the Bavarian Alps; one particular feature takes inspiration from the Marienbrucke by Schloss Neuschwannstein.

The kingdom is Ethoridor; the capital city is Linden, which was once a great town with a huge Linden tree at the center. However many years ago, a large flood ruined the city and what's left is a strange place where the common mode of transportation are boats (similar to Venice). The main character, Lynda, is from Hallton, a town nestled i a small valley.

Main Characters

Lynda Daymor, the protagonist of the story, wears the trademark red riding cloak, sent to her from her grandmother.

Kyle Westfield is her best friend and rival. The two share an intense rivalry that has last since childhood.

Progress

I am currently on draft five of Linden. I wrote drafts one - four for an independent study in high school. Since then I have worked on it on and off, finding little time to squeeze it in between class work. However I hope to publish Linden some day.

Miscellaneous

A three page sentence: one of the first scenes of Linden. This was an assignment for my Genre Fiction Writing class.

Coming soon...

An excerpt of Linden

"Schlagen Sie vor, dass die Kokosnüsse abwandern?"