Roya Fetova
A Crowdsourced Novel
Read it here – Say what comes next.
On a soft summer night, Frank Smith strolled around his neighborhood when two men in dark suits came beside him and took firm hold of his arms. “You’re coming with us, Mr. Speck.” A black limo rolled to the curb and the men propelled him into the back seat. The door slammed and they pulled away.
Crowded between the two, he became aware of the smell of sweat and garlic. The driver wore a black leather jacket and shoulder-length hair. Frank looked from one man to the other and settled on the older one. “My name’s Smith. You’ve taken me for somebody else.”
The man sneered. “Don’t insult my intelligence. We know all about you, Mr. Speck.”
“No, really. You’re making a mistake. You can check my driver’s license.”
The other man stuffed a bag over Frank’s head.
What happens next? TAKE YOUR TURN [click here]
IF YOU ARE READING THE CROWDSOURCED DRAFT OF THE NOVEL FROM THE BEGINNING — Chapters are in reverse-chronological order. Scroll up. Click on next chapter.
HOW TO PLAY–Just for fun, I’m taking this blog in a new direction—an interactive story like the one Nate and Zachary play in my novel. With many players, a few rule changes are in order:
1.) KEEP IT SHORT – It’s easy to play Nate’s game. Just enter your idea as a comment like, “their jeep drives off a cliff.” Don’t worry about form—just suggest the next step in the story. I’ll pick one, write it, and post it as a scene in serial form.
2.) KEEP IT CLEAN – I hold the veto pen. Since this is an experiment, I get to add rules as we go along.
3.) SHARE – Your posts are a precious gift to me. Maybe you’ll help write my next novel. Maybe we’ll just have a great time. I take you at your word that all ideas are your own original thoughts. No criticism. No arguments. No lawsuits allowed. Let’s have some fun.
To get us started, I’ve taken the first turn. Now it’s your turn.
The Gamemaker's Father 
Oooh! It reminds me of Hitchcock. I can never think of what comes next.
Don’t worry about that, Melissa, just enjoy the story as it unfolds. You’ll think of something another time.
Frank tried not to panic. He raked his mind to remember all the mystery novels he had read or movies he had watched to help him know what to do next. He slid his hand slowly into his jacket pocket to silent his cell phone. He thought he might find it useful later and didn’t want a incoming call or text to be cause for these goons to take it away. Frank also tried to count the number of turns the driver made and listen for clues that might help him pinpoint their location. He guessed it was twenty minutes from the time his evening walk was abruptly interrupted until the Limo pulled into a garage. The garage door closed and the car doors opened. (next)
Just a note to all of you. Lee is an experienced writer and poet. He’s helped me out with a fully written draft–and nicely done. I don’t expect you to put your entries in prose like he did. Just say what happens next–a quick note–and I’ll do the heavy lifting.
Thanks, John for the nice words. It’s your story/game—so feel free to edit or reject any post fro me.
Lee, you did me a favor by writing such a complete draft and I thank you for it. Feel free to do that any time–I love it. But I don’t mean to place that burden on everybody. It might scare some away.
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