It has taken a number of attempts at getting something together to send out when looking for an agent. The salesman type writing just isn’t my bag. But, I am finally getting toward something I think will work well.
Paul Simpkins and his close-knit group of friends have run away to return to the hometown they love, but have been forced to move away from. What they find is worse than they ever could have expected. They knew it would be a ghost town, but would have preferred to have been met by actual ghosts, rather than the abandoned husk of a once thriving, if small community.
As they spend a night camping outside the outskirts of town, Paul is awoken by the smell of smoke. He rises from the tent he stole from his absentee father to discover the town being eaten by flames and one of his friends missing. He runs into town hoping to save it, only to get trapped inside a burning building while trying to save the town’s sole inhabitant- a single employee left behind to guard the town.
We are then taken back in time and are shown what has led to Paul’s reckless behavior, and how a whole town of EMPIRE, NEVADA could be closed and its residents forced to move.
I still need to work on it a lot and it is short due to the restrictions of the contest, but it is a world better than where I began.
Empire is really coming along well. I am still doing a lot of edits, and probably will be until someone rips it out of my hands to print it.
My biggest surprise has been just how much I love editing. Seeing the wording improve and characters clarified and given more life is a thrill!
Anyway, please check out the link to Write On Con below. This was a great experience that I suggest any writer take part in. Just reading all of the pitches and suggestions will help out out a ton.
I also recommend the forums on http://absolutewrite.com
Not only is there a great community of writers willing to help there, but there is a treasure trove of information that any writer will find invaluable.
I will try to get posting here more. Teaching is still taking a lot of my time, but summer is on the way!
One last update– I am currently plotting and developing novel #2!
http://writeoncon.com/forum/showthread.php?11254-Glick-25-EMPIRE-NEVADA
Frank M. Anderson's Writing 
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