Heidi

I went to one of Michael's Monterey retreats. In fact, I came up with story idea a few days beforehand, when reading that he was looking for high concept. I hear this event will be next-level, sometimes brutal. Brace yourself for a Morrigan-like experience.

First-Seven Assignment for Shakespeare in the Park I. Story Statement: Joy is an extraordinary genius with an ordinary life as a high school science teacher. She years for a soulmate who gives her the sense of importance, connectedness, and specialness she’s missed since losing her dream career and family thirteen years ago. In the short run, she wants a project to help her recover from being dumped by her long-time boyfriend Fredrico. II. Antagonistic Force 1. Primary plot – Joy-Shakespeare romance Antagonistic force: Shakespeare’s belief that he is the actual Bard. Antagonists: · Joy, who envisions her soulmate as someone who is neither delusional or four hundred years old. · Fredrico, the ex, to whom Joy is still attracted, at least at the beginning. He's marketing genius, Page Six-documented hottie, and e-business entrepreneur who’s gambling sites include BigCalls.com. Fashionable, gorgeous, and the epitome of cool, he sees all other human beings are fungible, but his aloofness and wit entertain Joy, and as his girlfriend, she was wined and dined and treated to a life of luxury. · Suzanne (see #3, below). · Nicholas Spence, the most attractive parent at the school, a psychiatrist who pursues Joy. Without meeting Shakespeare, Dr. Spence dismisses him as a run-of-the-mill mental case in need of a social worker. 2. Status-quo subplot Antagonist: Regan, the corporate-minded incoming headmistress who intends to increase enrollment at Joy’s elite, Upper East Side school through edutainment. For the science faculty, like Joy, this means replacing lectures with extravagant lab demonstrations. Regan's agenda offends Joy’s academic sense of rigor, as she’s a trained theoretical chemist who focuses on rigorous concepts. It also terrifies her, b/c she’s clumsy and afraid of Bunsen burners. 3. “My Fair Lady” subplot Joy asserts that she can pass off Shakespeare as the ultimate AP English teacher at her school—she just needs to teach him some teen slang and a few memes. Antagonists: · Suzanne, Joy’s no-nonsense best friend and dean, whose fault, aside from her occasional harshness, is an obsession with attractive men. Originally, she dismisses Shakespeare as a nut. Later, after being turned on by his powerful readings from Titus, she decides he has charisma and becomes a secret advocate. · Regan, the micromanaging headmistress who inserts herself into the hiring process as the ultimate decision-maker in selecting the next AP English Teacher. · Joy, who is more out of touch than she realizes and teaches Shakespeare outdated pop culture references instead of the newer ones he needs to engage today's students. 4. Joy’s returning to research subplot Antagonists: · Joy. Although she wants he status of a university professor, she doesn’t really love science as much as teaching it. · Regan. If Fredrico had proposed to Joy on their five-year anniversary, as Joy expected, she would have quit teaching high school, affording her the time she needs to retool her research career. Antagonistic force – Lack of funds, time needed to regain skills. 5. Is he or isn’t he Shakespeare? Antagonist: Joy, her inner scientist won’t let her go there . . . at least not first. 6. Joy’s relationship with her long-time boyfriend Fredrico. Antagonists: · Reagan, for whom Fredrico leaves Joy at the beginning of the story. · Suzanne, who refers to him as Fredric-hole. III. Breakout Title · Shakespeare in the Park · The Taming of the Bard · My Fair Bard IV. Genre/Comps Genres: Romantic comedy, Upmarket Fiction Shakespeare in the Park might sit on a bookshelf alongside Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey, For the Love of Bard by Jessica Martin, The Dead Romantics, Ashley Poston, and This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub (not a romance, but similar setting, themes). Full of wordplay, this story should also appeal to subscribers of Wordle and fans of the movie Shakespeare in Love. V. Logline A disillusioned, modern-day science teacher is wooed by a man who claims to be Shakespeare. VI. Since losing her family and a promising career, Joy’s lived an arm-length life centered around safe choices—a distant boyfriend who checks the traditional boxes, a job she can do in her sleep. She wants a soulmate who makes her feel important. But she also wants to avoid risk. Can she allow herself to fall for a man who offers no pretense of security? Secondary. Joy been teaching the same way for years—focusing on concepts rather than engaging in the experiments that intimidate her. When the incoming headmistress attempts to reverse that structure, will Joy accept the opportunity for growth? (No, she’ll try to block the woman’s hire, resist her changes, and devise a Pygmalion-like bet, in part to mock her approach.) VII. Setting Modern-day Upper East Side. At Joy’s private school, teachers are politely treated as servants by Real Housewife of New York-type parents. The school is filled with students who are social media driven—more interested in what teachers “like” than know. Central park. The lush greenery is where Joy retreats after being dumped by Fredrico and where she meets Shakespeare and the magic of their relationship begins. Background: Joy’s from New Orleans, an old fashioned, slow-moving city in contrast to the fast-paced NYC.

Hello Emma, I enjoyed your dynamic intro. Your book and mine seem to have a common element, a protagonist who longs for a more romantic time and is confronted with it. I look forward to meeting you.

My novel is about a heartbroken, modern-day science teacher who is wooed by a man who claims to be Shakespeare. 1 Joy looks up at the autumn sky and sees a sign: a white “H” within a bright green square, a logo that reminds her of summer vacations. “Who knew we had a Holiday Inn?” she says to Fredrico. “Who cares?” She could change the subject to something more relevant to him—like the spa facilities at the new Ritz Carlton, or his resemblance to a 1970’s George Harrison—but instead of working that hard, she lets the conversation drop. The restaurant is just a few blocks from his West Village apartment, and she wants to relax and take in the unseasonably warm weather before dinner. Along the way, her thoughts return to summer. She doesn’t intent to talk about her memories. Or her parents—Joy never does that—but after a few minutes of silence, she finds herself reminiscing aloud, conveying more about her childhood than she’s shared with Fredrico over the entire five years they've been together. She tells him about Destin, Florida, a beach resort about two hundred and fifty hundred miles from New Orleans, and the Holidome, a tiki-themed Holiday Inn where she and her parents used to stay. To her, it was the best place ever. Her mom and dad would watch from the bamboo-covered bar all day while she swam in the indoor pool or played video games. With plenty of other kids around and a seemingly endless supply of quarters, there was no need to go outside. “I guess I didn’t spend a lot of time looking out the windows”—she laughs—“because when I was ten, Mom confessed we never got to Florida.” “Huh?” Fredrico says, lifting his head from his phone. “The Holidome was in New Orleans, less than eight miles from home. Dad would get on I-10, drive around in giant circles, and wait for me to ask, ‘Are we there yet?’ As soon as I did, he’d say, ‘Yes, we are!’ and turn onto the hotel exit.” “That’s nuts.” “No, it was brilliant!” Almost thirty years later, Joy’s still impressed by her parents’ efficiency. In her mind, the Florida ruse isn’t much different from Santa Claus, but apparently, Fredrico disagrees. “You should be much more fucked up,” he tells her. “What do you mean more fucked up?” “Less trusting,” he says, but she can tell he's holding back.