Prepping BZ...

Man, I have a cast of characters in this story --

Alex Lunquist -- 11 years old, stubborn and angry, typical kid.

Taylor Castillo -- 11 year old genius, Alex's best friend, gets lost in techno-speak.

Billy LeGrande -- 11 year old brat, sneaky, just like his dad.

Morika -- 11 year old brat, queen of toys and you're not.

Morika's Mother -- trendy, entitled, condescending, crass.

Cheyenne -- 11 year old brat, Morika's best friend...for now.

Mrs. Rutledge -- crossing guard, gruff but cares about the kids.

Mr. Smith -- owns Joys Toys, his dead wife's store, old-fashioned but not unwilling to change.

Mr. LeGrande -- obnoxious and entitled, wants Joys Toys location for his Virtuoso-Splosion.

Mrs. Castillo -- Earth mother who's happiest baking a cake, level-headed.

Mr. Castillo -- Top-level Computer Nerd who gets lost on the internet.

Julia Lundquist -- Real estate agent, caring mom to Alex but close to losing it.

Hal Lundquist -- Techno-dad, restless, one of those "grass is greener" types.

Bagh-Star -- 6 neon vapors in varying colors, leader 1st seen as hologram of Hal then as Tesla, speaks with German accent.

Chester Harry -- clumsy fisherman dude, not very bright.

Hex-on -- silver orbs that turn themselves into likenesses of Chester, very 3-stooges in quadruplicate.

Ms. Chris -- MESSIES agent, dressed in beige, too cool for you.

Mr. Carter -- Beige MESSIES agent, dressed in beige, even cooler.

CPO -- Navy Liaison to the Beige Pair, aware of reality...maybe too perfect a Navy man...

Mrs. LeGrande -- Stepford wife

Mr. Eberhard -- droning teacher

Mrs. Freeman -- principal, caring but no-nonsense.

Coach -- at school
Rowdy -- Alex's friend in Albuquerque

I've already got notes on how to dig into Alex's past and why he hates to move, and how this is affecting his relationship with not only his mother but his father. Same for Taylor; Alex is her only friend and she doesn't want him to move, either, because then she'll be alone. The story's going to have a serious undertone...which I don't mind...but I need to keep it joyful enough for kids, too. That'll be a challenge...

Well...that and making the Chesters work on the page instead of on film.