Last night my daughter asked me, "What if it rained chocolate?" I told her I'd be outside with the biggest bucket I could find. I further postulated that if chocolate did indeed rain down by the bucketsful then we would most likely be sick of it. It would become commonplace. She shrugged and took another nibble of her mini Krackel ® bar. It was a silly thought. Pure silliness without a hint of an inner critic.
I wonder what happens to people to make them one day start questioning the practicality of their thoughts. Maybe my daughter will ask a classmate the same question and they'll tell her it's stupid. I guess that's how it may start. It's a shame. As a writer-wannabe I'm always asking myself 'what if' questions trying to come up with a story idea. Most are shot down as "stupid" by my inner critic. Others hit the "it's been done" barricade. I'm sure many flutter at the edges of my brain like ghosts, just wisps of an amorphous thought, and evaporate before I can grab them. Like dreams that fall apart upon waking.
In less than two weeks NaNoWriMo will be in full swing. I should be working on an outline. I've got nothing. Maybe if I eat a bunch of these mini chocolate bars something will come to me...besides five extra pounds around my waistline.

November is coming up quickly and I don't have a solid story idea yet. I've been running 'what ifs' through my head for weeks now and coming up dry. I thought maybe a Dylan-centric novel that could possibly tie in with The Paradoxical Sleep, which was last year's NaNo novel. (Unfinished at 35K) Or maybe Jennifer Runyon, the female lead, could move on to a new adventure. Perhaps she and Winston go on to solve other murders with Chuck the incredible cadaver dog. What if they are called to an old house or hotel or whatever that is purported to be haunted and they are hired to find any human remains. Come up with the solution and work backwards to the crime. Maybe write a story with Dylan and his ability to see flashes of the future. Maybe he moves quite a bit so he doesn't get to know the people who die violently in his visions. Maybe he doesn't watch the news anymore because he's tired of seeing the aftermath of things he wished he could change. He got tired of being treated like a terrorist whenever he would try to stop the inevitable chain of events that came to him without warning.
It seems like each major player has pulled back from other people for different reasons. Winston because of the failed rescue attempt of a little girl. Jennifer because she lost her Marine boyfriend in Iraq. Dylan because death follows him.
I need to come up with a loose outline this time. Last year was way too chaotic for me. I've got three weeks to come up with an idea. The pressure!