Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve often thought about writing a book.\u00a0 I started one in college \u2013 the draft has long since disappeared.\u00a0 I write blog posts that could be expanded into a book.\u00a0 And I know a couple of people who\u2019ve written books, I could get tips and advice from them.\u00a0 But every time I start, it turns into a lot of work and I am not known for my patience.<\/p>\n
Maybe a book of short stories centered around a common theme, like \u201cThe Martian Chronicles,\u201d self-publish on Amazon and retire on the royalties? Still too much work.\u00a0 What if I crowd-sourced it?\u00a0 What if Shot In The Dark readers each took one story idea and ran with it?<\/p>\n
Story One: Chad is a 20-something White male who suffers from mental illness but won\u2019t take his meds because he doesn\u2019t like the way they make him feel.\u00a0 When the voices in his head get too loud, he does crazy stuff that gets him arrested.\u00a0 But by the time of his commitment hearing after the 72-hour hold, he\u2019s back on his meds and coherent, his parents swear he\u2019s gentle and kind, his ACLU lawyer argues he\u2019s not a threat to himself or others, and the judge releases him.\u00a0 Until one day when he\u2019s off his meds, a girl in a coffee shop snubs him as a \u201cnobody\u201d and moments later he sees CNN talking about somebody who shot up a school who\u2019s now famous.\u00a0 The voices convince him to pursue fame by committing his own massacre.\u00a0 How he plans and executes the crime . . .<\/p>\n
Story Two:\u00a0 Patricia, the mother of one of the people Chad killed, is media-savvy and politically connected.\u00a0 Her incessant television appearances produce a groundswell of Right-Thinking people who convince the President to issue an Executive Order repealing the Second Amendment and appointing her Gun Czar with authority to rid the United States of privately held firearms.\u00a0\u00a0 How she plans and executes the seizure . . . .<\/p>\n
Story Three: Charlie, a farmer near St. Cloud, who owns shotguns for bird hunting and rifles for deer hunting, hears about Patricia while eating breakfast at the local diner but thinks little of it until Deputy John pulls his squad car up to the farmhouse saying \u201cI\u2019ve gotta take your guns, Charlie, it\u2019s the law.\u201d\u00a0 What happens next . . . .<\/p>\n
Story Four: Dante, the owner of a recreational pharmaceuticals distribution franchise in Frogtown, sees Patricia on the television while eating lunch at White Castle and frowns.\u00a0 How will he defend his territory from poachers and his profits from thieves?\u00a0 How he circumvents the law . . . .<\/p>\n
Story Five, Six, Seven \u2013 you get the idea.<\/p>\n
Joe Doakes<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Hmmm.<\/p>\n
Writing a book via semi-crowdsourced blog posts?<\/p>\n