W.I.P.

Where in the LEPERs is Carmen Wilson?

I am excited about the new project I am working on. This novel is a sci-fi action thriller with superhero mythos. Set in 2069, it centers around the telekinetic fourteen year old daughter of a disgraced superhero once known as Marauder. In the fictional town of Transition City, Tennessee there is more afoot than meets the eye.

Given the advent of chromosomal mutations that began appearing in the children of AIDS patients who underwent experimental treatment in the mid 1970's, the world now hosts a growing community of "Enhanced Persons" comprising somewhere between three to five percent of the population. Some believe that there may be as much as 10% since not all enhanced persons come forward and infant dna testing is still in the works. The government has adopted a Federal Bureau for the study of Enhanced Persons while some state level governments have sponsored teams of, on average, six to eight powered members: League of Enhanced Persons Squads, aka LEPERS. These squads are assigned districts to patrol with primary responsibility to curtail the actions of other enhanced persons who choose to operate outside societal rules.

Within this first novel we meet and interact with some of the Marauder’s old/aging LEPER teammates as well as young enhanced’s stretching their own developing powers. There are, of course, a bevy of enhanced villains to go along with the heroes. And, naturally, nobody really knows how many under the radar enhanced persons (EPs) there truly are. This is of course a society which foments a new breed of hate group: The ‘Humans First’ for one.

Over the preceding few decades USA federal regulations have brought a much greater level of equality to Non-Hetero-Normative Relationships than at any time in the past. The youth of the day don't waste time wondering about someone's sexuality since all are accepted so long as it remains between "Consenting Adults." The LGBTQ community is open and accepted - for the most part. Still, this is at heart a YA superhero thriller there will not be overt sex. But plenty of teen angst, longing, and high school drama.

Nestled in the outskirts of Gatlinburg in this "enlightened" society we find Carmen Wilson and her friends. This group of maybe heroes find themselves at the epicenter of a conspiracy reaching much farther than their little town. Seems someone is breeding mutants for an unknown but most likely nefarious purpose.

The overall arc of this first tale is fairly simplistic in it’s goal: Discover what happened the night Marauder died. This is Carmen’s quest. As previously stated, Carmen Wilson, the Marauder’s Daughter, is joined by a cadre of friends, a bevy of her father’s old compatriots, and a few truly nasty villains.

There is high school drama, powered toddlers, new sports, drugs, holographic tech, and a possibly world shaking plot afoot upon which Carmen and crew stumble.

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Working Title: Marauder’s Daughter

“Where there are Super Heroes, there too shall be Super Villains"…Mind Meld, circa 2036

"Absolute Power?! Hell Yeah! Abso-Eff'in-Tutely!" … Cpt Quirky, circa 2042

"My father lived as a hero and died as a hero. Screw you!"… Carmen Wilson, circa 2069

“My child, worry not about that which you don’t understand, but, rather, about that which you think you do.” … Andrew C. McDonald, circa 2023

For Chapter 1 click here:

https://vocal.media/fiction/marauder-s-daughter