When The Shade Of The Moon Meets The Sleep Of The Pill

As you may know, inspired by your poll votes and comments, I've been playing with an idea for a fourth moon book. Playing with is clearly not the same as working on, since I refuse to commit to work until I find out if Houghton Mifflin Harcourt wants a fourth moon book. They have standards too, you know.

But I do love playing with ideas, and mostly I've been thinking in terms of setting The Shade Of The Moon 15-18 years later (or as I fondly think of it, Peyton Place The Next Generation). This would allow me to catch up with all the characters while seeing what the world looks like and having teens as my focal point.

But I noticed the character that was intriguing me the most was Alex. I kept picturing him as angry, angry at Miranda, once he finds out the truth, angry at God, angry at the government, angry even at Julie, but most of all angry at himself. Anger like that might not last 18 years, but it would affect who he becomes. I had a glorious moment or two of picturing Alex as a terrorist, but I also thought of him as a community organizer, and also a successful politician.

Last night I bumped into one of those can't fall asleep nights (blame it on the excitement of American Idol's Top 9- Paul's dazzling teeth alone could cost one an hour's sleep), and I got to thinking about Alex again, and what becomes of him smack after This World We Live In. Once Miranda tells him the truth, he'd break away (he has the least at stake in remaining with the Evans family unit), to go off and be angry. Well, angry young men are at a premium in the post LAWKI world, so I imagined him doing all kinds of highly dangerous work, and because he doesn't care if he lives or dies, becoming almost legendary in the jobs he accomplishes.

Then I thought of my dream matchup, Miranda from Life As We Knew It and Chris Flynn from The Dead And The Gone, and I came up with a way they might meet. Then I started thinking about how people would be writing letters all the time, which is just as much fun as writing diary entries, maybe even more fun, because Miranda could write a letter and so could Jon and so could Alex and anyone else I wanted to write letters for and The Shade Of The Moon would be a collection of their letters.

The next thing I knew I was popping sleeping pills in a struggle to fall asleep (which is after all what sleeping pills are for), but my mind was still racing. Things get a little hazy at this point, but it would seem I got up and typed some notes, just in case I wouldn't remember what I'd come up with between 1/2 and 1 full pill.

Now I know there are those of you who hate spoilers, but I don't see any of this as spoilers given that I don't even know if HMH will ever want a fourth moon book, not to mention that the brief description I gave of one in an email was more Peyton Place the Next Generation than Miranda/Alex and Co. one year later. But if you don't want to read the following notes, feel free not to. And if you do read them and still don't understand, well, that's what sleeping pills do to the creative, restless, bad typing mind!

Miranda is pregnant and tells Alex the truth about Julie’s death. Alex is enraged and cannot delal with Miranda, He goes away to dangerous locations, and is in a statet of ratge, whih he works through by taking on the most dangerous tassks- suicidal explosoions of ovoklandodo a dbd wirb in highly nuclear reastor plants, Each job he gets there is an assumpton he will be survive, but a t he does, his lesson and fame inceases.

Jon goes ijto the safe town but find its veryundomfortabke, and seazies a chance at an aeducation as a physicial sassistant, sartting at atge 16, He leadsv gthe safe town to to go the school, and there meets Dris fliyynm who believes in talking about th past, and rereverals hi connection to Ales, and wishes to get back tin trouhc with hin, Chris suggested using Miranda as a go belieteween.

Nirada neantime hs gotten a gjobm maybe thgrough Haon’s health teachting skating and skwining t the kids in the safe tiow, Sje lives outside of town with mom and dad abut has a card that allows her access to the safe townm as slong ashs she leaves each night. A family that has lot chuildene is informed of her daugther Juliet and suggests they be abkkiwed ti aditot her, Nurabda ciykd serve as west nurse and hen babby nurse for Julies first two years or so, until they could get a proper nanny for her, They would help set Miranda up with a husband so she coulc sart a a family of her ow,=, and if she were abke ti concentric herself sge cikd ve k=limited contact with Juliet, who of course would not be known she wss her nother. Then Lisa dies ian a pandemic, one whih traps Miranda in the twon and Juliet outside with Mom. /the family agreeds to adopte gabe as well, assuring Miranda and dad that the children would e brought up to understand the are kid, Miranda cold stay with the children unil they are 4, at want hoint, she would leave the familu. Dad supports this idea as being best for the children; Mom is opposed. Oppossiley Mom dies in the thir pandemic.

At somoe point Chris comes to the ssafe town and meets Mirnada. Tney;ve already exchanged letters, bt they find hey ae very tttrachd t each oher, When Alex find s out this provokes a severe reaction in him since he was aways comeptietornve with Chris in hisgh scool and now he’s losing ht o erh again.

No wond on Matt abd Syll how left right away so hey wouldn;’tbe stuck with Mom all the time, Maybe Momn founds ou what’s hppening with her dna work, helping bringing families together buy tryacking their names and dna, as different arts of the countri are made livaeabe again

Vyt bbiijss end, maybe Miranda is raising Juliet and Gabe with Chris, or maube possibly Alex.Mom mau be died in he third pandemic. Conditions are slowly getting more stablelsnf Dvooyrt yhinkd zi h

ETA(and an oh dear ETA it's about to be). I should have spell checked before putting the notes in. Poor blogspot is gonna have a nervous breakdown!