Entry two from an NYC Starbucks — this time from the one on Broadway at 72nd Street, near my hotel. I’m sitting at the same table as a young man who looks like a Jewish cross between Steve Buscemi and Matthew Broderick, so it’s like two celebrity sitings in one. My laptop is cooler than his though.
This is the final day before NaNoWriMo starts. I’ve got only the vaguest idea of the plot, but I do have the key triggering event: A woman has been stood up for a date. She becomes angry, leaves a nasty messages on his phone and email, then gets a call from the police. He was killed in a car wreck on the way to the date, and they wonder if she knows anything. Things happen from there — she tries to figure out what happened, it’s unclear whether he really is dead, he turns out to have connections to the criminal world, etc. As defined in my list of required novel elements, there will be guns, death, romance, humor, deception, and an ambiguous ending.
What I don’t know yet is who this main character will be. It’ll be easiest to write if she’s like me. I’ve decided to name her Michelle — when I was born my parents called me that for about a day. Eventually they changed it; aparently it was the name of one of Dad’s old girlfriends and I suspect Mom nixed it. It’s still not clear why they named me Cynthia, it’s not a family name…but I digress. The point is, this Michelle will be the other-me, who does the things that I shy away from. But she can still have all my neuroses and foibles. Lucky girl!
There will also be a sidekick friend, a mentor on the police force like a youngish cop who perhaps has a crush on our heroine (but that won’t be the real romantic interest I think). And an antagonist. I’m assuming at the start that the louse missing date will be the antagonist, but ii think he will turn out not to be the main bad guy. He may even morph into a good guy by the end. Anything can happen!
If you want to check my progress, here’s my NaNoWriMo profile page. Be sure also to check in on my Writing Buddies — great novelists all.
I love the ideas for your book. Good luck on Day One!