NY PITCH CONFERENCE Assignments
Nan McCann/ A MAN OF TWISTED WORDS:
A Peter Churchill mystery
Assignment #1
Write your story statement.
A Scotland Yard forensic linguist, reeling from dual heartbreaks of death and divorce, has less than 3 weeks to decode historical documents to save the United Kingdom from a Prime Minister who is a Russian agent. Then, he discovers his own family is involved. Does he choose family or country?
Assignment #2
Sketch the antagonist. Keep in mind their goals, background, and ways they react to the world around them.
The antagonist, GEORGES DELACROIX, is a double agent for the UK and Russia, with decades of experience in deception, forgery, and assassination. He has sworn allegiance to the Communist cause, and his motivations are personal, professional… and urgent.
Dying of cancer, with only weeks to live, Delacroix has a fierce thirst for personal retribution, and a need to succeed, no matter the cost… all providing him with vital incentives to murder, financially ruin, blackmail or eliminate all from his past who threaten his resolve to achieve his goals. Georges Delacroix is crafty, dogged, and unforgiving, with the tools and the determination to triumph.
Delacroix has created an elaborate linguistic maze, the Manifesto, a palimpsest (a document whose writing has been effaced, to make room for additional writing. Monks, in medieval times, did it to conserve parchment). This ploy was designed to place the opposing socialist candidate, a mole and a puppet for Russia, at the head of the British government, accomplishing a long-held Russian goal.
On a personal level, in retaliation for a decades-old romantic snub by Peter Churchill’s mother, Delacroix targets her son, Peter, a renowned forensic linguist for Scotland Yard. Within days, he turns Peter’s cerebral life upside down with burglaries, threats, and physical attacks.
Delacroix is a complex and worthy opponent for Peter Churchill, an antagonist who has the ability to bring about ruthless devastation as he targets not only individuals, but a nation.
Assignment #3
Conjuring your breakout title.
A MAN OF TWISTED WORDS
THE SORBONNE CONSPIRACY
THE WORDMONGER’S DECEPTION
Assignment #4
Deciding your genre and approaching comparables. Who compares to you and why?
My genre is Mystery. It is a high concept, forensic linguistic mystery set in present-day London.
It resembles the Elizabeth George, ‘Lord-of-the-Manor-as-Sleuth’ type of genre. A Lord Peter Wimsey meets George Smiley read or, rather, a 21st century Downton Abbey mystery… only with forensic linguistic puzzles, Russian skullduggery, and a Gordian knot of complicated relationships, all threatening the survival of British democracy.
Forensic linguistics, the intersection between language, crime, and the law, deals with forged wills, ransom notes, plagiarism, verification of authorship, threats, etc.… word puzzles, of a sort.
This mystery centers around a student Manifesto and Peter’s ability to discover who is its author, and therefore, a murderer, and agent for Russia.
Susan Elia MacNeal, and Kate Quinn and Cara Black are similar current reads. These combine history, intrigue, and international protagonists who are navigating the challenges of being placed in the bull’s eye of unfamiliar, life-threatening situations, while having to rely on intellect and determination to solve the crimes. However, with a ticking clock, forcing the decoding of intricately plotted puzzles, and with international espionage at the crux, one might be reminded of Dan Brown and John LeCarré with their similar types of enigmas, betrayals, and adversaries.
Assignment #5
Write your own hook line (logline with conflict and core wound following the format above).
A Scotland Yard forensic linguist, reeling from the recent deaths of his father and older brother, and a difficult divorce, has less than three weeks to decode historical documents to save the United Kingdom from a Prime Minister who is a Russian agent and murderer. Then he discovers his own unconventional family is involved in the past crimes and are now in grave danger. Does he choose family or country?
Assignment #6
Other matters of conflict: Two more levels.
Sketch out the conditions for the inner conflict your protagonist will have. Why will they feel in turmoil? Conflicted? Anxious? Sketch out the hypothetical scenario in the story wherein this will be the case—consider the trigger and the reaction.
Next, sketch a likewise hypothetical scenario for the “secondary conflict” involving the social conflict. Will this involve family? Friends? Associates? What is the nature of it?
Peter Churchill’s inner conflict:
Dr. Peter Churchill is an ivory tower academic who delves into lexical riddles for Scotland Yard and MI5. It’s a safe, cerebral job that keeps him out of danger.
Or so he thinks.
When an ailing French professor, GEORGES DELACROIX, hands Peter a packet containing coded, historical documents, he throws Peter into unaccustomed emotional and physical turmoil.
According to the odd visitor, the author of this student Manifesto is a double agent and the murderer of Peter’s uncle, whose assassination, he claims, is the catalyst for upcoming political mayhem. Delacroix demands that Peter authenticate the documents to prevent a Soviet agent from becoming prime minister. Or, rather, thwart a murderer from continuing his elimination of all who had known him in the past.
Peter’s inner conflict centers on his fear that, in many ways, he is the wrong man for the job. He’s coping with the recent deaths of his father and older brother and his own PTSD from being the sole survivor of that car accident. Although he’s a forensic linguist, he agonizes about the consequences of his inability to solve the linguistic puzzle within three weeks. Such an outcome, which rests solely on his shoulders, would bring about the downfall of the democratic system of government in Britain.
In addition, he is concerned not only for his own survival, but that he might be incapable of saving his mother from harm. As a member of the British aristocracy and as a well-educated, well-connected peer of the realm, Peter is quite far from being a James Bond or Jason Bourne. He doesn’t even possess the typical street-smarts of the average Brit. He’s terrified of failure. As he’s thrown into this chaos, he battles self-assurance, a ticking clock, a sense of powerlessness, and the terror of becoming the target of an assassin.
Scenario #1:
“Professor, our surname is Churchill. But the fact is we all live, and have always lived, mundane, uneventful lives. Our family delves into dull social niceties, boring fêtes, and excepting those of the gossipy kind, no explosive secrets. All our connections are linked with centuries old family rivalries, not Machiavellian political intrigue.”
“You could not be more mistaken.” Delacroix said, looking at the package. “What happened in the past is merely a catalyst. The genesis for what’s happening now.”
“The election?”
“Of course.”
. “Hang on. You’re still missing one of the activists, Professor.” Peter counted on his fingers.
“Yes. Well done. The last member of the Sorbonne Seven was your uncle. He was assassinated for his allegiance to MI5.” Delacroix waited for the words to register with Peter.
“MI5? Ozzie? Not a chance. He was an easy-going, gregarious, upper class… er…playboy. He wasn’t even twenty-one. Spy? No. He’d be as likely a spy as I am.”
“And what better cover? He had contacts, connections, an extrovert nature, and an evident surplus of patriotism. He was a spy. As was I.” Delacroix continued. And this concerns more… much more… than your uncle’s death forty years ago. It was not an accidental death… it was a planned elimination. An assassination. What happened to your uncle was one of three successful murders that occurred during the Sorbonne Protests in 1968. The other two unfortunate students were ‘fall guys.’ Bad luck on their parts. Your uncle was the actual target.”
“Ozzie…targeted? For what?” Oh Lord, I’ve let in a nutter.
“It is complicated. His murder was planned, executed, and the first gambit in an elaborate political chess game that continues today. You have three weeks.”
Delacroix wheezed the final few words. His energy seemed to have fled again, leaving a frail, elderly figure in its stead.
The man seemed to be on the verge of breaking down completely. Peter wondered if the professor’s near collapse came about only after he accomplished his mission. He’s thinking he’s hooked me.
“Being blunt, I work for Scotland Yard as a consultant, not as a policeman. I’m no James Bond. Far from it. I’m simply an academic, a research geek, who was about to leave for Christmas holidays until…”
“A mad Frenchman intruded?” Delacroix asked.
“Well… yes.” Peter ducked his head in apology.
“Peter, I am here to secure your help. I’m not asking you to be… James Bond. I am dying.”
Peter froze and looked at the Frenchman who retrieved his handkerchief and wiped away the beads of sweat that now lined his upper lip.
Delacroix continued, “It is only to seek your aid as a forensic linguist that I have come out in this blizzard to warn you of the danger to your mother. And to your country.”
Peter’s secondary conflict:
Peter Churchill, who has grown up on a Downton Abbey-like estate, has had all the luxuries, education, and attendant benefits anyone could desire. He knows all the etiquette requirements of hobnobbing with Royalty, of using his mind to solve forensic linguistic riddles, and of maintaining a calm, stress-free life.
Yet, while he has abundant material advantages, he has always lacked familial closeness and ordinary friendships. He yearns for both yet is unsure about how to achieve genuine love and friendship, not tied to his wealth and status.
While he is confident of his professional and societal capabilities within his own upper-class sphere, he struggles as he pursues romantic relationships, and normal, collegial comaraderie. He recognizes that many of his quirks of personality were brought upon by his demanding, criticizing father… who was patently unfatherly. He also wrestles with his own inadequacies as he’s forced, within a very short time, to become someone far removed from whom (and what) he has been for thirty-five years. As he uncovers his family involvement in decades-old crimes, he also grapples with his long-held perceptions of his own father as an aloof, degrading pater familias.
Both his inner and secondary conflicts reflect Peter’s fear of not measuring up to his own standards, his family’s standards, and the normal societal standards of your typical Brit. He also fears failure by lacking enough pluck and courage in dangerous, physical circumstances.
Sceenario #2:
Peter knew that his grief for his father was unfathomable. Even, as his brother had said, absurd. Yet, it, also, was pervasive, if inexplicable. He should…of course he should… feel relief. No more goads or gibes. No more frantic struggles to satisfy a demanding patriarch.
He made a face, remembering the times that he had failed. As a Churchill, second best was not tolerated. He winced as he remembered the one time that he offered an excuse for not achieving the top mark. His father, who seemed very tall to the eight- year-old Peter, said in a steely voice, finger stabbing at Peter’s chest, “You are a Churchill. You have failed to live up to the responsibilities of our name. Never accept second best. Never give nor accept excuses. Never shame yourself, or me, again.” His father’s words had seared and molded him.
Peter glanced at his brother and snorted, “Tollie, look at us. Until I was ten, I didn’t realize that living in a sixteen-bedroom residence or that having a full staff of butlers, housekeepers, cooks, nannies and groundskeepers was outright unusual. Finding the right woman has, at least so far, dissolved into two scenarios. Both are untenable. A, the wonderful woman is over-awed, awkward with, and uneasy at our lifestyle. All she truly wants is a decent, respectable bloke with a normal life. Not a posh, pampered existence. For example, I’d met a lovely woman, an architect, and things were going well indeed until one day she phoned me at home.”
“And?”
“And she jumped right into the conversation before any greetings were spoken, saying breathlessly, and apparently quite sexily, that she’d just been shopping and had bought lovely, lacy, red lingerie for our date that night.”
“Sounds great to me. And…”
“Benton said that he’d replied, and I quote, “Yes, Madam. I will be happy to give Lord Churchill your message.” That was the last time I heard from her. And, then there was, Lucy. We’d gone to see something at the theatre, School of Rock, as I recall, and arrived home quite late. Benton delivered my breakfast tray the next morning, as usual, to me in bed. With Lucy, entirely unclothed and mortified, beside me. Our life just isn’t for everyone, you know.” Peter said.
“Too right.” Tollie nodded.
“Or B, she’s another Gillian who is salivating for and chuffed at the lifestyle, wealth, title, and attendant benefits. Her goal is to flaunt her new status to friends and family for all she’s worth. Like Gill, she is in love with… not me, Peter Churchill…but with the life of privilege. Either way, it’s been a tough challenge to find the right person. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Not so easy, is it?” Tollie agreed. “But, Peter, there will be one. Okay, don’t laugh, but I have this prickle of a premonition. You’ll find the right person. I know it.”
“Well, I’m still waiting for that prickle. And, after Gillian, in truth, I don’t know what I want. The divorce was one of the hardest things I’ve done and I’m not sure I’ve come up for air yet. God knows, it’s not that I’m not lonely. I have only just realized how desperately I crave…”
“Finding someone isn’t easy for anyone. I’m still in the ‘fingers-crossed’ stage,” Tollie interrupted.
:
Assignment #7
Sketch out setting in detail. What makes it interesting enough, scene by scene, to allow for uniqueness and cinema in your narrative and your story?
London: Many of the scenes take place within the opulent, rarified world of the British aristocracy. Much happens within exclusive London restaurants, residences, and hotels as Peter Churchill frequents Le Gavroche, the Wolsey, J. Sheekeys, and the Savoy Grill on a regular basis. Clandestine meetings take place at the Ritz and the Dorchester Hotels, with their expansive lobbies, massive fresh flower arrangements, and uniformed staff serving tea and cocktails at a slight beckoning of a hand. The reader is immersed in Downton Abbey-esque affluence and comfort.
Hartsford Abbey: Peter’s branch of the Churchill family lives at the elegant family estate, Hartsford Abbey (think of a 16th century palatial property) situated on 12,000 hectares of lush, green terrain, forty-five mutes from London. No neighbors, no noise, no crime, no bangers and mash, no DIY. The ending of this mystery is again at Hartford Abbey… in their hunting lodge. And once again, the refined life of the Churchills is highlighted, as Peter solves the mystery and brings the traitor to justice.
London: St. John’s Wood: Peter’s London house is set in St. John’s Wood (a posh area of London, home to Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Kate Moss, and Bill Nighy). Wellington Park bookends the High Street where luxury shops and classy cafés attract Londoners from all over the city. The aim is to give the readers a chance to be part of this genteel lifestyle as they come in contact with the beauty, serenity, and ease of lavish living that few experience.
Brixton: Hartsford Abbey and St. John’s Wood are contrasted with Brixton, a crime-ridden, dodgy section of London where one of the assassins and his senile mother live in a dingy, cramped, two-bedroom flat. The difference between the two environments is a stark reminder of how circumstances can, often, dictate one’s choices and life consequences.
Paris, France: The Sorbonne: The past is also brought into focus with a few scenes set at the Sorbonne in Paris during the 1968 student protests that nearly brought down the French government. and was on the brink of ousting DeGaulle from leadership. The chaos, with Molotov cocktails, hurled cobblestones, gendarmes’ batons, and student placards illustrate the students’ impetus for change, and the formation of the Sorbonne Seven (the gang of student activists,) that result in giving rise to life choices that diverge from those of traditions long held by parents. It is the catalyst that begins this mystery.
Aix-en-Provence: Aix-en-Provence, the home of one of the Sorbonne Seven activists, is another setting which is brought into focus as a shelter from the threats of murder and is also a place of serenity and upper-class living.
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NY PITCH CONFERENCE Assignments
Nan McCann/ A MAN OF TWISTED WORDS:
A Peter Churchill mystery
Assignment #1
Write your story statement.
A Scotland Yard forensic linguist, reeling from dual heartbreaks of death and divorce, has less than 3 weeks to decode historical documents to save the United Kingdom from a Prime Minister who is a Russian agent. Then, he discovers his own family is involved. Does he choose family or country?
Assignment #2
Sketch the antagonist. Keep in mind their goals, background, and ways they react to the world around them.
The antagonist, GEORGES DELACROIX, is a double agent for the UK and Russia, with decades of experience in deception, forgery, and assassination. He has sworn allegiance to the Communist cause, and his motivations are personal, professional… and urgent.
Dying of cancer, with only weeks to live, Delacroix has a fierce thirst for personal retribution, and a need to succeed, no matter the cost… all providing him with vital incentives to murder, financially ruin, blackmail or eliminate all from his past who threaten his resolve to achieve his goals. Georges Delacroix is crafty, dogged, and unforgiving, with the tools and the determination to triumph.
Delacroix has created an elaborate linguistic maze, the Manifesto, a palimpsest (a document whose writing has been effaced, to make room for additional writing. Monks, in medieval times, did it to conserve parchment). This ploy was designed to place the opposing socialist candidate, a mole and a puppet for Russia, at the head of the British government, accomplishing a long-held Russian goal.
On a personal level, in retaliation for a decades-old romantic snub by Peter Churchill’s mother, Delacroix targets her son, Peter, a renowned forensic linguist for Scotland Yard. Within days, he turns Peter’s cerebral life upside down with burglaries, threats, and physical attacks.
Delacroix is a complex and worthy opponent for Peter Churchill, an antagonist who has the ability to bring about ruthless devastation as he targets not only individuals, but a nation.
Assignment #3
Conjuring your breakout title.
A MAN OF TWISTED WORDS
THE SORBONNE CONSPIRACY
THE WORDMONGER’S DECEPTION
Assignment #4
Deciding your genre and approaching comparables. Who compares to you and why?
My genre is Mystery. It is a high concept, forensic linguistic mystery set in present-day London.
It resembles the Elizabeth George, ‘Lord-of-the-Manor-as-Sleuth’ type of genre. A Lord Peter Wimsey meets George Smiley read or, rather, a 21st century Downton Abbey mystery… only with forensic linguistic puzzles, Russian skullduggery, and a Gordian knot of complicated relationships, all threatening the survival of British democracy.
Forensic linguistics, the intersection between language, crime, and the law, deals with forged wills, ransom notes, plagiarism, verification of authorship, threats, etc.… word puzzles, of a sort.
This mystery centers around a student Manifesto and Peter’s ability to discover who is its author, and therefore, a murderer, and agent for Russia.
Susan Elia MacNeal, and Kate Quinn and Cara Black are similar current reads. These combine history, intrigue, and international protagonists who are navigating the challenges of being placed in the bull’s eye of unfamiliar, life-threatening situations, while having to rely on intellect and determination to solve the crimes. However, with a ticking clock, forcing the decoding of intricately plotted puzzles, and with international espionage at the crux, one might be reminded of Dan Brown and John LeCarré with their similar types of enigmas, betrayals, and adversaries.
Assignment #5
Write your own hook line (logline with conflict and core wound following the format above).
A Scotland Yard forensic linguist, reeling from the recent deaths of his father and older brother, and a difficult divorce, has less than three weeks to decode historical documents to save the United Kingdom from a Prime Minister who is a Russian agent and murderer. Then he discovers his own unconventional family is involved in the past crimes and are now in grave danger. Does he choose family or country?
Assignment #6
Other matters of conflict: Two more levels.
Sketch out the conditions for the inner conflict your protagonist will have. Why will they feel in turmoil? Conflicted? Anxious? Sketch out the hypothetical scenario in the story wherein this will be the case—consider the trigger and the reaction.
Next, sketch a likewise hypothetical scenario for the “secondary conflict” involving the social conflict. Will this involve family? Friends? Associates? What is the nature of it?
Peter Churchill’s inner conflict:
Dr. Peter Churchill is an ivory tower academic who delves into lexical riddles for Scotland Yard and MI5. It’s a safe, cerebral job that keeps him out of danger.
Or so he thinks.
When an ailing French professor, GEORGES DELACROIX, hands Peter a packet containing coded, historical documents, he throws Peter into unaccustomed emotional and physical turmoil.
According to the odd visitor, the author of this student Manifesto is a double agent and the murderer of Peter’s uncle, whose assassination, he claims, is the catalyst for upcoming political mayhem. Delacroix demands that Peter authenticate the documents to prevent a Soviet agent from becoming prime minister. Or, rather, thwart a murderer from continuing his elimination of all who had known him in the past.
Peter’s inner conflict centers on his fear that, in many ways, he is the wrong man for the job. He’s coping with the recent deaths of his father and older brother and his own PTSD from being the sole survivor of that car accident. Although he’s a forensic linguist, he agonizes about the consequences of his inability to solve the linguistic puzzle within three weeks. Such an outcome, which rests solely on his shoulders, would bring about the downfall of the democratic system of government in Britain.
In addition, he is concerned not only for his own survival, but that he might be incapable of saving his mother from harm. As a member of the British aristocracy and as a well-educated, well-connected peer of the realm, Peter is quite far from being a James Bond or Jason Bourne. He doesn’t even possess the typical street-smarts of the average Brit. He’s terrified of failure. As he’s thrown into this chaos, he battles self-assurance, a ticking clock, a sense of powerlessness, and the terror of becoming the target of an assassin.
Scenario #1:
“Professor, our surname is Churchill. But the fact is we all live, and have always lived, mundane, uneventful lives. Our family delves into dull social niceties, boring fêtes, and excepting those of the gossipy kind, no explosive secrets. All our connections are linked with centuries old family rivalries, not Machiavellian political intrigue.”
“You could not be more mistaken.” Delacroix said, looking at the package. “What happened in the past is merely a catalyst. The genesis for what’s happening now.”
“The election?”
“Of course.”
. “Hang on. You’re still missing one of the activists, Professor.” Peter counted on his fingers.
“Yes. Well done. The last member of the Sorbonne Seven was your uncle. He was assassinated for his allegiance to MI5.” Delacroix waited for the words to register with Peter.
“MI5? Ozzie? Not a chance. He was an easy-going, gregarious, upper class… er…playboy. He wasn’t even twenty-one. Spy? No. He’d be as likely a spy as I am.”
“And what better cover? He had contacts, connections, an extrovert nature, and an evident surplus of patriotism. He was a spy. As was I.” Delacroix continued. And this concerns more… much more… than your uncle’s death forty years ago. It was not an accidental death… it was a planned elimination. An assassination. What happened to your uncle was one of three successful murders that occurred during the Sorbonne Protests in 1968. The other two unfortunate students were ‘fall guys.’ Bad luck on their parts. Your uncle was the actual target.”
“Ozzie…targeted? For what?” Oh Lord, I’ve let in a nutter.
“It is complicated. His murder was planned, executed, and the first gambit in an elaborate political chess game that continues today. You have three weeks.”
Delacroix wheezed the final few words. His energy seemed to have fled again, leaving a frail, elderly figure in its stead.
The man seemed to be on the verge of breaking down completely. Peter wondered if the professor’s near collapse came about only after he accomplished his mission. He’s thinking he’s hooked me.
“Being blunt, I work for Scotland Yard as a consultant, not as a policeman. I’m no James Bond. Far from it. I’m simply an academic, a research geek, who was about to leave for Christmas holidays until…”
“A mad Frenchman intruded?” Delacroix asked.
“Well… yes.” Peter ducked his head in apology.
“Peter, I am here to secure your help. I’m not asking you to be… James Bond. I am dying.”
Peter froze and looked at the Frenchman who retrieved his handkerchief and wiped away the beads of sweat that now lined his upper lip.
Delacroix continued, “It is only to seek your aid as a forensic linguist that I have come out in this blizzard to warn you of the danger to your mother. And to your country.”
Peter’s secondary conflict:
Peter Churchill, who has grown up on a Downton Abbey-like estate, has had all the luxuries, education, and attendant benefits anyone could desire. He knows all the etiquette requirements of hobnobbing with Royalty, of using his mind to solve forensic linguistic riddles, and of maintaining a calm, stress-free life.
Yet, while he has abundant material advantages, he has always lacked familial closeness and ordinary friendships. He yearns for both yet is unsure about how to achieve genuine love and friendship, not tied to his wealth and status.
While he is confident of his professional and societal capabilities within his own upper-class sphere, he struggles as he pursues romantic relationships, and normal, collegial comaraderie. He recognizes that many of his quirks of personality were brought upon by his demanding, criticizing father… who was patently unfatherly. He also wrestles with his own inadequacies as he’s forced, within a very short time, to become someone far removed from whom (and what) he has been for thirty-five years. As he uncovers his family involvement in decades-old crimes, he also grapples with his long-held perceptions of his own father as an aloof, degrading pater familias.
Both his inner and secondary conflicts reflect Peter’s fear of not measuring up to his own standards, his family’s standards, and the normal societal standards of your typical Brit. He also fears failure by lacking enough pluck and courage in dangerous, physical circumstances.
Sceenario #2:
Peter knew that his grief for his father was unfathomable. Even, as his brother had said, absurd. Yet, it, also, was pervasive, if inexplicable. He should…of course he should… feel relief. No more goads or gibes. No more frantic struggles to satisfy a demanding patriarch.
He made a face, remembering the times that he had failed. As a Churchill, second best was not tolerated. He winced as he remembered the one time that he offered an excuse for not achieving the top mark. His father, who seemed very tall to the eight- year-old Peter, said in a steely voice, finger stabbing at Peter’s chest, “You are a Churchill. You have failed to live up to the responsibilities of our name. Never accept second best. Never give nor accept excuses. Never shame yourself, or me, again.” His father’s words had seared and molded him.
Peter glanced at his brother and snorted, “Tollie, look at us. Until I was ten, I didn’t realize that living in a sixteen-bedroom residence or that having a full staff of butlers, housekeepers, cooks, nannies and groundskeepers was outright unusual. Finding the right woman has, at least so far, dissolved into two scenarios. Both are untenable. A, the wonderful woman is over-awed, awkward with, and uneasy at our lifestyle. All she truly wants is a decent, respectable bloke with a normal life. Not a posh, pampered existence. For example, I’d met a lovely woman, an architect, and things were going well indeed until one day she phoned me at home.”
“And?”
“And she jumped right into the conversation before any greetings were spoken, saying breathlessly, and apparently quite sexily, that she’d just been shopping and had bought lovely, lacy, red lingerie for our date that night.”
“Sounds great to me. And…”
“Benton said that he’d replied, and I quote, “Yes, Madam. I will be happy to give Lord Churchill your message.” That was the last time I heard from her. And, then there was, Lucy. We’d gone to see something at the theatre, School of Rock, as I recall, and arrived home quite late. Benton delivered my breakfast tray the next morning, as usual, to me in bed. With Lucy, entirely unclothed and mortified, beside me. Our life just isn’t for everyone, you know.” Peter said.
“Too right.” Tollie nodded.
“Or B, she’s another Gillian who is salivating for and chuffed at the lifestyle, wealth, title, and attendant benefits. Her goal is to flaunt her new status to friends and family for all she’s worth. Like Gill, she is in love with… not me, Peter Churchill…but with the life of privilege. Either way, it’s been a tough challenge to find the right person. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Not so easy, is it?” Tollie agreed. “But, Peter, there will be one. Okay, don’t laugh, but I have this prickle of a premonition. You’ll find the right person. I know it.”
“Well, I’m still waiting for that prickle. And, after Gillian, in truth, I don’t know what I want. The divorce was one of the hardest things I’ve done and I’m not sure I’ve come up for air yet. God knows, it’s not that I’m not lonely. I have only just realized how desperately I crave…”
“Finding someone isn’t easy for anyone. I’m still in the ‘fingers-crossed’ stage,” Tollie interrupted.
:
Assignment #7
Sketch out setting in detail. What makes it interesting enough, scene by scene, to allow for uniqueness and cinema in your narrative and your story?
London: Many of the scenes take place within the opulent, rarified world of the British aristocracy. Much happens within exclusive London restaurants, residences, and hotels as Peter Churchill frequents Le Gavroche, the Wolsey, J. Sheekeys, and the Savoy Grill on a regular basis. Clandestine meetings take place at the Ritz and the Dorchester Hotels, with their expansive lobbies, massive fresh flower arrangements, and uniformed staff serving tea and cocktails at a slight beckoning of a hand. The reader is immersed in Downton Abbey-esque affluence and comfort.
Hartsford Abbey: Peter’s branch of the Churchill family lives at the elegant family estate, Hartsford Abbey (think of a 16th century palatial property) situated on 12,000 hectares of lush, green terrain, forty-five mutes from London. No neighbors, no noise, no crime, no bangers and mash, no DIY. The ending of this mystery is again at Hartford Abbey… in their hunting lodge. And once again, the refined life of the Churchills is highlighted, as Peter solves the mystery and brings the traitor to justice.
London: St. John’s Wood: Peter’s London house is set in St. John’s Wood (a posh area of London, home to Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Kate Moss, and Bill Nighy). Wellington Park bookends the High Street where luxury shops and classy cafés attract Londoners from all over the city. The aim is to give the readers a chance to be part of this genteel lifestyle as they come in contact with the beauty, serenity, and ease of lavish living that few experience.
Brixton: Hartsford Abbey and St. John’s Wood are contrasted with Brixton, a crime-ridden, dodgy section of London where one of the assassins and his senile mother live in a dingy, cramped, two-bedroom flat. The difference between the two environments is a stark reminder of how circumstances can, often, dictate one’s choices and life consequences.
Paris, France: The Sorbonne: The past is also brought into focus with a few scenes set at the Sorbonne in Paris during the 1968 student protests that nearly brought down the French government. and was on the brink of ousting DeGaulle from leadership. The chaos, with Molotov cocktails, hurled cobblestones, gendarmes’ batons, and student placards illustrate the students’ impetus for change, and the formation of the Sorbonne Seven (the gang of student activists,) that result in giving rise to life choices that diverge from those of traditions long held by parents. It is the catalyst that begins this mystery.
Aix-en-Provence: Aix-en-Provence, the home of one of the Sorbonne Seven activists, is another setting which is brought into focus as a shelter from the threats of murder and is also a place of serenity and upper-class living.