I’ve promised myself I will finish writing Jac and the Wild Children before i continue with my next novel. But it is so much easier to do the imagining than the writing. And i have imagined out Jac and have nothing left but to write him down. But i will tell you about my next one anyway.

I am imagining up a story about these students that go to a boarding school on a floating island. It is the most exclusive academy in all the magical kingdoms. It only accepts those with the best breeding, the highest intelligence, the greatest talent and the deepest wallets. Although some incredibly gifted students may get in on scholarships, most of the students are rich and dangerous. Their family trees are rooted deeply in magical history. Every family is riddled with so many secrets and scandals that you could never uproot it all. And everyones past is interconnected as the roots of their family trees criss cross under the soil of time… These are the family’s from which legends are born. In times to come mothers will send their children to sleep with tails of these people. These worlds. Thus i am incorporating as many fairy tale elements into the plot as possible. It’s as if the story is set in the communal imagination of all the greatest writers throughout history. The wizard of oz, Wonderland, Cinderella, little red riding hood etc. They are all a part of the story.

The insignia of the school is a four leaved clover (as it is the carpet of clovers that allows the island to float through the air and visit so many strange and interesting towns). And each leaf represents the four pillars of the institution. Students must strive for Excellence in the four fields of Scholarship, Sorcery, Sportsmanship and Society.

I have 7 main characters. Instead of the story being driven by a main plot, its going to be radical crazy. Each character has their own life, their own goals, their own secrets, their own trials, their own mystery’s and plot events. And they all interweave together to form one big story. In the second year i will introduce 2 more main characters.

I think i got this multi-linear idea from this Role Playing site I belong to: Four houses III. Its set in Hogwarts (for lack of a better alternative) and we all role play various characters and interact with each other. Its like this huge mesh of plot lines, and every one develops their own little stories for each character. eg: Jericho wants to uncover his past, he also wants to hook up with Ava. While Alice wants to come to grips with the fact that she died last year, and she wants to haunt people at the haloween ball, and do well in her Gifted Ghost classes. I’m even considering making THIS book a collaborative writing experience similar to a Role Playing game, but i am so attached to my characters, i don’t know if I could let them go.

Hopefully though my story will be dramatically different from Harry Potter in almost every way (except for the best selling way). Especially since i hold a deep hatred of the series. But i cant help it having some similarity’s. Like the whole magical boarding school thing. But this book is very much my own creation, and my crazy writing style should set it apart.

But, i need your help. I don’t have a NAME for my Academy. Its not a school or a uni but something completely different. They don’t have year levels, they just have to win badges in different fields of study. I also have another story set on this exact same Island but a few hundred years ago. Its a rollicking good tale about the weather man who runs the island, the evil sky pirates, and the Cloud Chasers who harvest the high trees. Because my main characters from that story will eventually build the school where i set my next story, i want the name to relate some how. suggestions:

Cloud Catcher Academy. Cloud Chaser Academy. Harvest Cloud Academy. Also i thought instead of Academy i could use another word like Intellectarium, Brainery or Thoughtarium. Let me know what you think.