Happily Christo and Natalie and I are no longer standing on the corner watching all the buses go by. Ours has stopped, the door has opened, and we have hopped on.

We have a story!

At least we think we do. And we’re giving it a shot. It remains to be seen how long the euphoria lasts. But at least the bus hasn’t passed us by. We even have something of a route map. Though I don’t put a lot of stock in them as they’ve been known to mess me up before.

Still it’s fun to be underway. Keep your fingers crossed that we have a good trip.

We get to go to Brazil for part of it. That should be exciting. Sadly I’m not going to get to go in person. Not this time.

But I have a friend who lives there, and a son who spent a year working there, and surely there must be some of you out there who would like to chime in with details I can’t live without.

Christo’s father is a former footballer (soccer player for the Americans among us) from Brazil. I haven’t decided where he’s from yet. Sao Paulo? Rio? Fortaleza? My son’s friend from work was from Fortaleza so he spent time there. My friend lives outside Sao Paulo. I have another friend from Rio.

But Brazil is a big country. Suggestions, anyone?

I’m filling the box for Christo. And while I’m at it, I’m filling a couple of other boxes as well.

Remember George, the physicist who never comes out of the lab? He’s on the list, believe it or not. He’s actually going to get a book! He even has a heroine. Who knew!

So does Demetrios, his brother. Not the same heroine, I’m happy to report.

Three new heroes. Yikes.

So Christo and Nat and I have to get moving — otherwise Demetrios and George will be misbehaving. Heroes don’t like to stand around. If they have to wait in line for their books, they are inclined to be difficult.

That’s what I feel like I’m doing.

Me and Christo and Natalie, all of us together — not quite looking at each other as people at bus stops don’t — while we wait for the bus to come along and pick us up and take us where we need to go.

That would be to The End.

But first we need to have the bus show up, and then we need an open door. The bus had better show up by Monday when I intend to start C&N in earnest. The door had better materialize by then, too.

It feels odd to have a story and no way in. I usually have a first scene in mind long before I ever get to the book. And ordinarily that’s good and works well — except in the case of Flynn and Sara where it worked for about 35 pages and then not only the door vanished, but the bus did, too.

So I’m working at coming up with some scenes that will work for them — something that will throw them right at each other — so I can step back and let them carry on from there.

I like them both. They don’t much like what they know about each other at the moment. So that’s good. A little conflict never hurt anyone.

I hope.