The Problem with Noticing

I am in the midst of a radical experiment. I’ve never been an outliner when it comes to my fiction but there is a first for everything. So I’ve backed up, set aside the 25,000 or so words I’ve written on this project, and started over from scratch. As a first step, I wrote the back cover copy I imagine for this story. Give it a read and let me know how it grabs you. What kind of story do you imagine this to be? Could this character interest you enough to read more than the front and back cover? Is there enough of a seed of a plot to make you want to know more?

Ashen angels whisper at the far edge of the creosote flats, the persistent hum of their wings hinting at rescue from our darkness. But then in the acrid void they grow silent. Of course they must. After all, Rand Jackson once killed an angel.

Rand is a mystery to the 421 souls of Destiny, Texas. After failing to make his weekly appearance at Vera’s Cafe for over three months he returns as though he had never been away. And this time, the normally silent man who reportedly lives in a hole in the ground somewhere midst his ten thousand acres of nothing can’t force himself to leave.

He is is the unlikeliest of heroes: a man who seemingly cares for no one, talks to no one except himself, and appears determined to achieve obscurity even faster than the town that barely knows him. For longer than he can remember, Rand has simply wanted to be – Gone.

But after evading his gift of “noticing” for years he has returned to town with it tagging along for the ride. That unwelcomed ability leads him to a terrified old man who offers a chilling warning:

“La leyenda negra,is here among us but the people of Destiny don’t see him. They all just sleep. And even when they are awake they don’t see that the Black Legend is among them every day. But you can; you are their only hope.”

This unsolicited vote of confidence compels Rand to complete a puzzle he knows he can’t ignore. But he learned long ago: “call it blessing or call it curse, it doesn’t really matter. It just is what you are”.