Is ANYONE going to give me advice on this?

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Hello, people at WrongPlanet.

This is, I think, the second time I've asked this question. I got no responses the first time.

I'm writing a series of short stories that I intend to direct at a young Asperger's audience.

The hero is an alien who was born to a human mother in the 18th century. He is stuck on Earth (a hostile environment for him) without any real idea who he is, where he came from, or why he is so obviously alien. He is meant to remind the reader of a very young Aspie child. He's quirky, brilliant, innocent, lonely, highly sensitive, empathetic, and occasionally a jerk. And he's very likable.

Unfortunately, the people of the 18th century aren't interested in that. They see his very alien appearance and immediately think "it's a demon". As a result, we have what's quickly becoming an angry mob, and they're after our protagonist's head. Our protagonist is oblivious to this fact.

The deuteragonist (second most important character) is a local doctor. Several years ago, he lost his wife and very young son in a fire. He lost his belief in God as a result of this. He became an atheist and a skeptic. He went with one of the posses that was looking for the protagonist, just so he could prove to them that there was no such thing as a demon. He's in for a shock when he really does meet a "demon"; our protagonist.

Meanwhile, there is another character we should know about. Her name is Anna Ghareeb. It's a pun; in Arabic, the phrase "ana ghareeb" translates to "I am an alien". She is even more alien looking than our protagonist, and she was also born to a human woman. Her mother initially wants to dispose of the [insert: deformed, apparently stillborn, or demonic] infant, but the midwife intervened. The midwife herself was a mother; she miscarried many times before finally giving birth to a child who was a "pinhead" (meaning, the baby had microcephaly). Naturally, the midwife was more tender toward the baby. So Anna Ghareeb was adopted and raised by the midwife. As Anna grew up, she became more and more alien in her appearance. Her adoptive mother observed that while Anna was obviously sentient, and even highly intelligent, she was distinctly nonhuman in her appearance and behavior.

I would like advice on how to continue the story. I realize that this has many disturbing elements to it. I would argue that this kind of writing is for a good reason, as the childhood most Aspies experience has disturbing elements to it, too.

Plus, what do you think of the story so far?

It's rather difficult to give you any writing advice. I can't really give feedback on an idea. There are just too many details that won't surface until the story is written and it sounds as if you haven't actually written the story.

I'm wondering how much writing experience you have. Writing is a very competitive industry. I assume that you are interested in publication through a reputable house. If you are looking at self publishing, I cannot help.

Professional writing requires a very thick skin because you will have numerous rejections - from editors and from the general public. You mentioned that you are looking at a "young Asperger's audience", but that could mean a lot of different things. What specific market are you looking at? How familiar are you with that market? I write SF/F/H and I have limited knowledge of markets for middle grade or younger.

I don't intend to sound discouraging. It just seems to me like you are asking the wrong questions at this point. You can't wait for that perfect idea. If you are a writer, then you have to write.

I am rather slow on providing critiques, but you are welcome to send me a direct message with your story and I will give you some specific feedback. Before you do that, please be sure you are ready for honest comments as I take writing very seriously. I will provide quality advice and an objective critique.

I like the idea so far. I think the best way to find out where to go from there is just to write it. Once I begin to write the story starts to take over and it actually begins to write itself, you might be so lucky. That's the best way forward. Write and write and write.. then rewrite... Good Luck.