Figuring out who I am as a writer has been an ongoing process. Rather than selling out, trying to write a different kind of story has freed me from self-imposed constraints. The result is a story far more “me” than any of my previous novels have been.

Opinions about which is the best story vary, but technically speaking, each of my novels has been better than the one before. Whippersnapper is the best yet, and more fun than a barrel of monkeys. If people enjoy the reading half as much as I’ve enjoyed the writing, I might just have a hit on my hands.

As always, the story is told from multiple points of view. This time, all three characters narrate a portion of every chapter. Whether that’s the case with the final version remains to be seen, but for the first draft, equal time works.

I started writing without any preconceived notions about where the story was going. Each new chapter more or less dictated what came next. About 40,000 words in, all the strands came together in my mind and I could see a way to “the end.”

Tellumo Magnamater is a fresh out of college, first year English teacher at Salt Lick County High in Fallisville, Kentucky — a made-up place located between Lexington and Cincinnati, Ohio. He’s passionate about teaching, up on all the latest technology, and totally overwhelmed by his new job. His two mothers instilled in him the need to take care of his body, and inadvertently, a preference for older men.

Peggy Tucker, a widow approaching her sixtieth birthday, is hellbent on marrying again. She works at the local driver’s license office, supplementing her meager income with religious fancywork she sells online. After one trendy diet or another for more than thirty years failed to achieve the desired results, she joined the gym.

Peggy and Tellumo set their sites on Oliver Crumbly, a fifty-something gay man, single again after yet another failed relationship. Oliver is stuck in the past with his rotary dial telephone, record albums, and paper maps. He has no confidence in the younger generation, and is convinced life-sucking technology like smartphones and the Internet are hastening the end of the world.

Things are coming along nicely. I have a May 1 deadline to finish, but believe the first draft will be done before then. I’ll definitely keep you posted.