I’m not arguing that the world needs another work of fiction, but I’ll be supplying it anyway. I’m about to get started on a novella about my neighborhood, Frogtown.

Some beginnings are less grand.

You may know that we’re in the middle of the light rail construction project around here. University Ave. is ripped up from sidewalk to sidewalk. Neighbors close to University complain that their homes are being shaken apart.

The idea behind this bit of fiction is that all this shaking opens up a long-closed portal to the Underworld, releasing characters who have been trapped there. A crime spree ensues, which engages the attentions of a local private investigator known, not entirely with his approval, as The Fatman. The title for now is Nobody Fools The Fatman.

To use the terms “marketing scheme” and “my novel” in the same sentence is a touch of humor; nonetheless, I’m pleased to announce that I have a marketing scheme for Nobody Fools The Fatman. I plan to release it in serial form. Announcements for the novel will appear at bus stops along University Ave. These notices will include a QR code that readers will be able to scan with their smartphones. They can read the day’s installment as they take the bus to work. Right outside the bus window will be the novel’s millieu — glorious Frogtown, with its passel of characters.

I suppose I’ll become famous and make a few million dollars as a result. Will I forget about the little people? You know it. Talk to me now, while you still can.