A neophyte Chicago politician confronts a blackmailer while searching out a family secret—both to protect his father’s reputation and his own burgeoning career.
Antagonists Plot Points
Political operatives threaten Adam with exposure of his father’s role in the death of a young boy twenty years prior—a racist incident that characterized the city’s machine politics. The suspects for this plot are several:
Two fixers from the city council who want Adam to join their ranks in opposition to the mayor.
The mayor’s men, who also want Adam’s loyalty.
Civil servants who support the favoritism and influence peddling typical of the era.
The mob who want to retain influence over the city council.
In other words, all the men who want to maintain power and stop change or the discovery of their prior misdeeds.
Breakout Title
The City Divided by the River
He Pulls a Knife
A Light Upon a Lampstand
Living in the Flicker
Nothing Hidden That Will Not Be Made Known (used prior)
Nothing Hidden (used prior)
Genre and Comparables
Crime novel
Three-Fifths - John Vercher - a crime novel with themes of social justice, racism, the past catching up to you
Blacktop Wasteland - S.A. Cosby - a crime novel about a young man trying to escape his criminal past and his family legacy
Core Wound and Primary Conflict
A young man determined to reform Chicago’s political corruption discovers his own naiveté about his father’s role in the racism of the Daley era, then must risk his new career to discover his family’s secret past.
Other Matters of Conflict - Two Levels
Inner conflict - Adam starts with a naive belief that his father was a good man working in a corrupt system but gradually realizes that the system corrupted everyone it touched, potentially including him. It raises the central question: to what degree must we atone for the sins of our fathers?
Secondary conflicts - Along the way, he develops a love interest in an old friend from childhood who can help him discover the truth about his dad. He also comes into conflict with his best friend, the journalist Danny, who challenges his idealism. Likewise, he tries to save a constituent from eviction, using his new political power for social good rather than to maintaining the old system of favoritism and prejudice.
Setting
Chicago in 1967 and 1986, illustrating the corruption and racism that built the city into its modern form. I used both real and invented settings, including:
O’Malley’s bar (invented) - which embodies the Irish political establishment
the Art Institute
(old) central library (since replaced)
City Hall/Council Chambers - the center of civic power
Marshall Field’s department store - Walnut Room restaurant - a local tradition
Arties’ blues club (now defunct)
the El trains - where Adam meets his constituents
a traffic island on Chicago’s central shopping district where he rekindles an old crush
Lake Michigan waterfront
Grant Park (downtown along the lakefront) in a snowstorm
Lake Shore Drive
the Granada Theater (since demolished) - where he meets his blackmailer
Daley Plaza (beside city hall, named for the former mayor) - where Adam strikes a deal with the mayor
New York Pitch Assignments - March 2022
in New York Write to Pitch 2023 and 2024
Posted
Act of Story Statement
A neophyte Chicago politician confronts a blackmailer while searching out a family secret—both to protect his father’s reputation and his own burgeoning career.
Antagonists Plot Points
Political operatives threaten Adam with exposure of his father’s role in the death of a young boy twenty years prior—a racist incident that characterized the city’s machine politics. The suspects for this plot are several:
In other words, all the men who want to maintain power and stop change or the discovery of their prior misdeeds.
Breakout Title
Genre and Comparables
Crime novel
Core Wound and Primary Conflict
A young man determined to reform Chicago’s political corruption discovers his own naiveté about his father’s role in the racism of the Daley era, then must risk his new career to discover his family’s secret past.
Other Matters of Conflict - Two Levels
Inner conflict - Adam starts with a naive belief that his father was a good man working in a corrupt system but gradually realizes that the system corrupted everyone it touched, potentially including him. It raises the central question: to what degree must we atone for the sins of our fathers?
Secondary conflicts - Along the way, he develops a love interest in an old friend from childhood who can help him discover the truth about his dad. He also comes into conflict with his best friend, the journalist Danny, who challenges his idealism. Likewise, he tries to save a constituent from eviction, using his new political power for social good rather than to maintaining the old system of favoritism and prejudice.
Setting
Chicago in 1967 and 1986, illustrating the corruption and racism that built the city into its modern form. I used both real and invented settings, including: