When it's done marinating

I've had an idea that's been marinating for several weeks. This is often how stories begin for me; a hint of an idea tickles my brain and soaks there for a while before finally becoming something workable. It may be a concept, or a setting, or a character.

In this case it is a teenage girl named Tessa, and yesterday she decided that she had been marinating long enough. She barged into my thoughts and insisted that I begin writing.

So I did.

I ended up with two short poems that tell a little bit about where she came from and shed a bit of light on her problem.

It looks like I have a new novel on my hands. Here goes!