WanderingFox here!

I thought this blustery day was a good one for some writing and blogging.

Last year was my first, and it was a disaster. First, I chose to do a humorous story, and that takes a lot of effort. Then my mother got sick, and then my car fell apart, so by the middle of November I just tossed the whole thing aside in frustration. But hopefully, this year will be different.

I actually started with a setting, as well. The October 2005 issue of Discover magazine had an concept illustration developed by Penelope Boston and commissioned by NASA to show how a large Martian lava cave could be converted into a "safe, roomy and inexpensive base." The concept of living in a cave beneath the surface of another planet, where anything that goes wrong is potentially fatal, sounded like a great setting.

The plot then goes from sci-fi to a psychological thriller, of sorts. A small group of engineers and techs are there to set the place up and get it running before the scientists arrive. But when strange things start to happen: strange noises, strange shadows, and just a feeling of being watched, the engineers must figure out if there is really something out there, or if it is their own minds playing tricks on them...Or if there is a third option that no one has yet considered. Whatever it is, they had better figure it out before someone gets killed.

I'm excited about it. I've got my characters, and a basic outline of the escalating tension. I really can't wait to start!