As you may have recently read earlier this month, I finished writing On the Flip Side‘s first draft on September 30th! Since then, I’ve been working on the outline for my next work-in-progress (WIP), which I’ve been thinking about since the book that originally contains these characters released back in 2018.

The Basics:

Title: Tales of an Awkward Turtle

Series or Standalone?: Standalone/Spin-off

Genre: Contemporary Christian Young Adult Fiction

Sub-genres: Family (Extended Family Issues) | Alcohol Abuse (From extended family member) | Mental Health (Social anxiety/Social awkwardness) | Christian Relationships (Both with family and in dating) | Romance

Main Character: Brandon Andrews (previously featured as Aiden’s older brother in Speak Your Mind!)

Narration POV: Single POV from Brandon’s perspective, told in first person present tense

Setting: Grahamwood, North Carolina: a small, southern fictional town where the majority of my previous books are set. I’m thinking this will take place two school years after the events of Speak Your Mind, so Brandon will be a senior, while his brother and Victoria will be freshmen at Linwood Whaley High.

Age Rating/Content: I’m currently estimating a rating of Ages 13+ due to heavy topics such as dealing with an alcoholic family member from a Christian perspective. Irresponsible use of alcohol will be portrayed in a negative light.

Story Origin:

I first got the idea for Tales of an Awkward Turtle either while I was writing Speak Your Mind or shortly after. I LOVED that cast of characters and knew I wasn’t ready to let them go just yet. I knew Brandon, in particular, would be a protagonist I would have rooted for as a teen and started wondering if I could write his own story. Later, when I found a writing prompt on Pinterest and wrote the flash fiction story, “The Journal”, the plot of Brandon’s book became more clear to me.

Being that Ryanne, Emery’s best friend from The Ballad of Emery Brooks trilogy, is Brandon’s first cousin, I plan to explore how her father’s alcoholism affects not only her as an adult, but also how it affects Brandon’s family. The book will also reflect on why Christians shouldn’t rank sins and how all sins are equally toxic to our walks with God.

My Main Goals for Writing Tales of an Awkward Turtle Are To:

1) Help teens overcome the misbelief that, because they consider themselves socially awkward, that they can’t have an impact for the kingdom of God. In this book, Brandon struggles to realize what his God-given purpose is, and along the way will find out that God can use him and equip him however He sees fit, if only Brandon will follow His lead.

2) Help family members, especially teens, who have an alcoholic family member. I want to show adults who may be alcoholics how toxic drinking is not only on their health and wellbeing, but on their family members’ health and wellbeing as well. I also want to show them that healing is possible through a relationship with Jesus.

Connection to My Previous Novels:

As I mentioned earlier, Tales of an Awkward Turtle is a spin-off of Speak Your Mind, so I can confirm that Aiden, Victoria, Jessa, and McFluffers will be frequently mentioned cast members in this book. Since Ryanne is Brandon’s cousin, and her father is a main cast member, she will also make appearances. As for other characters from my previous books… you know I can’t resist sprinkling them in somewhere. There’s one character in particular from Can’t Beat the Heart of a Carolina Girl who I want Brandon to have a conversation with. 🙂

Progress Thus Far:

This is actually the first WIP (other than The Fall and The Dream, which were immediately written sequels after writing The Crush) that I haven’t previously written any chapters for, so I’m a bit nervous about starting from scratch. Thankfully, I know and love these characters, so I’m super excited to revisit them!

As I mentioned earlier, during the month of October, I’ve been outlining Tales of an Awkward Turtle according to the story beats in the Save the Cat! Writes a Novel method of outlining. As of the time of writing this post (a week before month end), I’ve outlined almost to the All if Lost beat, which falls at the 75% mark. Please pray for me as I continue to outline this story and, Lord willing, start writing the book next month!

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

If you’re a writer, tell me about your current WIP in the comments below!

If you’re a reader, and you haven’t yet read the book that inspired Tales of an Awkward Turtle, stay tuned for a special surprise in November concerning Speak Your Mind as we celebrate the book’s 5th birthday!

Thank you all for your support! 🙂

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀