What future Island of Fog tales would YOU like to see?

This is a hot topic for me right now. Currently I'm working on Book 8, Prison of Despair, and it's going great. I'm already at Chapter 11, a little under halfway through and ahead of schedule. Then I'll be moving straight on to Book 9, Castle of Spells. But I'm already thinking about what comes next...

For a long time now, I've had it in mind to write individual spin-off stories surrounding the Island of Fog series but involving characters other than Hal and his friends. So you'll have the 9-book core series, and there will be any number of one-off supporting tales about varying characters -- for instance, one book might be about Queen Bee and her Swarm, and another might be about Bo and Astrid growing up, and another might be a character we've never actually met before, and so on. These books will have the series title "AN ISLAND OF FOG TALE" to tie them to the core series.

The question is, what should be my first? I have a number of ideas knocking about but am unable to decide what to tackle first. Chronological order doesn't matter. Some will take place in the past, some in the present, others in the future.

I always had one idea in mind where, in a world largely recovered from the virus, a sullen youth gets a job at a special kind of zoo where certain "fantastic creature from another world" are gathered. The zoo's ethics are already in question over this, but the owners insist all the creatures were rescued or born in captivity. Yeah, right. Of course, people are drawn to the spectacle of dragons, unicorns, and other amazing animals they might not otherwise get a chance to see up close. But as the youth delves deeper, he discovers a darker side to the zoo -- the "underground exhibits" where some of the more intelligent species are held captive, like centaurs and naga and goblins.

This raises all sorts of questions that we humans don't normally have to think about. To us, anything non-human can be put in a zoo. But what about centaurs, which are only half human? Or goblins, which are not human at all but speak almost perfect English? Obviously they shouldn't be kept as exhibits in a zoo! Yet they're just as interesting to look at as dragons and unicorns, right?

I thought this would be an interesting tale even if it's only vaguely related to Hal and his friends. Or I could write about something closer to the shapeshifters as mentioned above -- how Queen Bee formed her Swarm, or how the twins, Bo and Astrid, were fostered and pushed into the Oracle business. Or what about a family emerging from a bunker and going to live in a bright new world of monsters? Or the reverse: a boy or girl who grew up in that same bright new world of monsters and foolishly cross over into a dismal, abandoned city of scrags? How would someone who's learned to tame unicorns and steal dragons' eggs cope with dangerous gangs of scarred virus survivors?

Then there are short stories. I can see these being more directly related to Hal and his friends. For instance, we could get into Abigail's head when she first discovers she has wings -- or any of the shifters, for that matter. It would be interesting to see their side of what we know as Hal's story.

And there's something else I want to do. Recently, I've been in contact with Deb Potter, who writes "choose your own adventure" books where the reader is faced with a choice of what do to next, such as going down the ladder into the hole or through the door behind the suit of armor. The story then continues with that choice in mind. Check out her books. They're for readers 9 and up.

I've been meaning to do a "choose your own adventure" for my own series, a completely new story where you read for a bit, then make a choice of how the story should continue, then another choice, and so on until you either save the day or die horribly. (Well, maybe not die horribly.)

Anyway, I'm just spit-balling at the moment. But I'd be interested in some feedback on this. Do any of these Fog-related ideas grab you? Do you have ideas of your own? Anything you'd like written about? If you shout loud enough, or if your idea appeals to me, I might just work on that next.