Wrapping Up No Fracking Way

Some notes on the recently concluded story “No Fracking Way”:


The character of Joe Capri, a.k.a. 10-key, is based on a good friend and law school classmate. For the record, he does in fact own a pinstripe three-piece suit of pure fabulousness. And he is a genius. When he was younger he had a marked ability to find trouble or, no trouble forthcoming, invent it. The latter could be seen by some as a character flaw, one worthy of lecture, but he never gets a lecture from me. Every time I open my mouth to scold, I suddenly remember doing something equally stupid when I was his age, and quickly clam up. He is the closest thing I have on this planet to a little brother. I can't think of a better partner for a case. Except Naomi O'Conners. Someday Naomi and I will write another origin story, and you'll get to see what happens when all three of us work together.

And now, some comments on characters and the writing process. We begin with Bradley Obsert. Brilliant and good-looking, he's every woman's dream...unless that woman is our heroine. There was SUPPOSED to be a love triangle, a Bradley-Maryanne-Matt love triangle. But no, the heroine wasn't interested!

If the story had occurred earlier in the master story line, I could have made the love triangle work. At this stage of the game the heroine's character is so well developed that as the writer, the wisest thing I could do was let her be herself.

That's not to say I accepted defeat gracefully. I tried one more time to make the love triangle happen, at Belinda's funeral. Not only did the heroine not go for it, she put Bradley in his place and then quit her job with Dietrick, Egbert & Drake. The latter was supposed to happen, but not for a couple more stories.

Oh, if you replace the ampersand in the name of the firm with the word 'and' then read the acronym, you get DEAD. The first initials of all the associate attorneys at the law firm, minus Maryanne, spell BLOOD. Belinda was killed, and replaced with Bradley. Needed the B.

The heroine's actions at the funeral precipitated the showdown at the fracking field. The original plan was for her to be on a date with wanna-be vampire Bradley, and for the vampires of the law firm to attack. The big showdown would happen later. However, it's not a problem that the showdown with DEAD happened earlier than originally planned. There's a lot of meat in the master storyline. Thanks to our heroine, we'll be getting to it sooner.

Two things came out of this experience. First, we got a new arch-villain in Bradley Obsert. I was so taken by the back story between Obsert and Joe Capri that I called the REAL Joe and asked for ideas on the back-story. He told me a few tidbits so intriguing, I decided to make the Obsert-Capri back-story the next piece I write for this blog. September / October, I hope.

The second thing gained from writing the story was an increased sense of freedom. I learned what happens when I trust developed characters. The lesson has already found application. I'm working on the first UBA novel. I began with a plan and set ideas about the characters. Three-quarters of the way in, I've thrown preconception to the wind. The characters are people, and I won't force them into molds. As a result, the book has already improved beyond the original plan. It's not a classic horror / paranormal as originally planned. It's a paranormal mystery / thriller. I like it.

That's it for this story wrap-up. Naomi will be posting her new story soon, so stay tuned!