R.I.P. "The Story Store" - Long Live "Losing Normal"

After two-plus years of clinging to a title that I should have known wasn’t working 18 months ago, I finally let go of it.

It wasn’t just that the title didn’t fit: the whole concept began to feel shoehorned in to another, very different story. I got feedback on that from the very first (thanks, Mel Gilden!), but you know how hard it is to kill all your darlings.

The story originated in a dream, which I think made it harder to give it up. Something sacred about my dreams, I suppose. But, as tends to happen, the story took another direction, one that was very different from the kind of fantasy world I’d begun with.

The new title fits because my hero, Alex, needs things to be normal, and things are getting less and less that way.

Please enjoy the first ten pages. Let me know what you think.