My New Project (2021)

One of my guilty pleasures is reading romance novels. I have favorite authors and series, but I'll read passably edited self-published digital work as well. Admittedly, this is a waste of time. But maybe... maybe it's research?

An idea came to me mid-winter. An idea for a romance novel. A reverse Notting Hill, where the famous movie star is British and is rescued and enchanted by a book-loving American gal. During a Minnesota snowstorm. I ran with it and spent Christmas vacation of 2020 and January-February of 2021 collecting ideas, creating my protagonists and their world, and digging into the characters' psyches with a goal of actually having character arcs from the get-go. It was distracting, indulgent, energizing work. 

And then the defunct spring musical sprang back to life. I had to choose a direction; with the time-consuming demands of teaching both face-to-face and distance learning simultaneously (a fresh hell), there was room for just one creative endeavor in my life. I couldn't imagine not being a part of the musical, so I chose that direction. By the time it ended, my focus was on graduation activities and the romance was pushed so far to the back of my head I had literally forgotten the characters' names. 

But now it is June. Summer. My time.

First, I printed all my notes from last winter. Aha! Elly Calder. That's your name! Or Charlie. I was thinking about changing it. And Eddie Ashton-Clarke. Plus all your cohorts and family. There you are.

After reacquainting myself with the world of Hartley, Minnesota, I reread Jessica Brody's Blake Snyder-inspired Save the Cat! Writes a Novel to reacquaint myself with his beat system of outlining a plot. 

Next comes the actual outlining. I had solid progress working off a well built outline for SPOTD, so that's the plan. Lio and Lamb probably suffered a bit because I outlined less, unsure of exactly where the story was going. I had a double column day progression excel sheet at one point, but it was more reactive than pre-organized and mostly built to help me follow separated characters over time.

Then it'll be off to the races! For the first time, I'll be using Microsoft 365 instead of installed software. The dynamism of Word + the device sharing of Google Docs? Yes, please. 

I have two favorite bits in the new series. The first is where the female protagonist lives. Instead of a row-house with a striking blue door, Elly (for now) lives in a white farmhouse in Minnesota's rural lake country. It's based on a farmhouse I visited last summer when I was considering a premature end to my teaching career and a move closer to family. I fell in love with the house, but I realized the timing for such a drastic move was wrong. Using it as my character's home was a way to own it without buying it. 

There are very few parallels between my first series (middle grade modern fantasy), my second series (YA traditional fantasy in a created world), and this piece (contemporary romance). And yet, one major inspiration for each was a physical space. For SPOTD, it was the barn at the end of the street where Chase lived. For Lio and Lamb, it was castles. And for Dash Away, it is the farmhouse. 

My second delight is Eddie's imdb.com filmography list. It was delightful imagining a sort of Downton Abbey meets Bridgewater series that has made Eddie famous, although that fame was disrupted by the pandemic. I based the series off actual historical figures from a precise time and place, bringing together people who may or may not have actually met in the 1800's England. 

And nearly as fun to work out was Eddie's next move, which involves one of my favorite London performance spaces, the outdoor theater in Regent's Park. Even though I won't be visiting London again until travel is less fraught and shows have returned to the West End, at least I can visit in my mind.