This has to be the strangest story origin of anything I’ve done.
I was a guest on the NSFW Show, an Internet comedy/talk show hosted by Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young. The theme of the show was a “choose your own adventure” book, which happened to be the children’s book Bone Travels On by Ann M. Martin.
Bone Travels On is a delightful little tale of a lost collie pup. You choose where the pup goes and help Bone along on his adventures. The story is harmless—unless, that is, it is read for comedic effect by the deviant minds of NSFW. The end result is recorded for your viewing pleasure, and you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/RKhk1nNOrKw
Be warned—I laughed so hard I literally cried. I laughed so hard I almost peed myself. Well, maybe I actually did—but only a little. I advise you to watch it when you’ve got an hour to kill.
The purpose of that exercise was to entertain the viewers and also get them to participate in providing me with elements for a story I would write specifically for the show. It was supposed to be about a 3,000-word story and/or a script that the NSFW cast could act out live on the show. I wound up writing 13,000 words—these things happen.
I think you’ll dig Beam Up in Aisle Five. If there were parts of it that seemed strange, go back and watch the video I linked above. You might have to read the story a second time to see all the references I crammed in there.
And if you happen to be a fan of NSFW, and you’re here because of that, I salute you! I hope you enjoyed the read.